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Women's Network PEI Newsletter Article:
Parental Benefits in Ottawa: June/July 2005

On May 4, from 8:30 to 12 pm, we had the opportunity to meet with a number of representatives from Status of Women Canada, Human Resource and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), and Social Development Canada to discuss a gender review of maternity and parental benefits legislation. Aside from Laurie Ann, Sandy and myself, the roundtable included:

• Duy Ai Kien - Acting Chief, Program Analysis and Development, Women's Program, Status of Women Canada
• Michele Bougie, Senior Policy and Program Analyst, Gender-Based Analysis Directorate, Status of Women Canada
• Barbara Flint, Policy Analyst, Policy and External Relations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
• Sheila Regehr, Acting Director General, Policy and External Relations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
• Nanci-Jean Waugh, Director, Communications and Consultations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
• Martha Wilson, Director General, Policy and External Relations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
• Andrea Simpson, Officer, Prince Edward Island Program and Development, Status of Women Canada
• Dan Charrette, A/Director, Program Assessment, Employment Insurance Policy, HRSDC
• Francois Henault, Senior Policy Analyst, Intergovernmental Relations, HRSDC
• Adrienne Ten Cate, Senior Economist, Labour Market Policy Research Unit, HRSDC
• Natalie Dupont, Policy Analyst, Social Policy, Family and Caregivers, Social Development Canada
• Kevin Dobbie, Assistant Director, Economic Security, Social Development Canada
• Laura Etherden, Policy Analyst, Early Learning and Child Care Task Force, Social Development Canada
• Liz Sutherland, Senior Policy Analyst, Horizontal Initiatives & International Relations, Social Development Canada

The discussions that entailed were informative, reflective, and intense. It was a chance for people from different governmental departments to have an open discussion as to how positive changes can be made for parental and maternity leave. Everyone left with a sense of possibilities, and the information shared was beneficial to all.

We were also able to meet with representatives from the Canadian Policy Research Network (CPRN) to discuss our recommendations. CPRN is one of Canada's leading think-tanks, specializing in social and economic policy research and public engagement. They are a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization.

Politicians

Since my last couple of trips to Ottawa, I have definitely gained new respect for the amount of hard work that our MPs, Cabinet Ministers, Senators, and their staff do while in office. During our whirlwind visit this May, I have been able to witness the dedication and commitment that many of our politicians have for Canada, our provinces and territories. Laurie Ann and myself worked out our hours for the week, and including travel it amounted to almost 70 hours. This was an exhausting week for us; but it appears to be routine for many of our political representatives and their staff.

We were able to have lunch with Lawrence MacAulay, MP from Cardigan who was gracious enough to introduce us to a number of contacts. While we were meeting with Mr. MacAulay, we met up with Shawn Murphy, MP from Charlottetown, and were able to personally thank him for all the work that he and his staff have done for this project. Last April, Mr. Murphy made a presentation about Maternity and Parental Benefits to the entire Atlantic Caucus and his staff helped to pave the way for a number of meetings for us.

Aside from local representatives, we had the opportunity to meet with:

• Michael Savage, MP and a member on the Standing Committee on Health.
• Ms. Anita Neville, MP, and the Chair of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. She is also the Chair of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, as well as a Member of the Standing Committee on Justice, Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. During this meeting, we were also able to meet with the assistant to Jean Crowder, MP, and the assistant to Lynne Yelich, MP. Ms. Crowder is the NDP critic for Status of Women. Ms. Yelich is the Conservative critic for Status of Women. Both Ms. Yelich and Ms. Crowder are Members of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. Following our meeting with Ms. Neville, we were able to have an impromptu meeting with Ms. Yelich, as well.
• Senator Libbe Hubley, an Island senator.
• Senator Lucie Pepin. Senator Pepin is a Member of the Senate Standing Committee – Social Affairs, Science & Technology, and a Member of the Senate Standing Committee – Human Rights
• Madame Helene Chalifour-Sherrer, Principle Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office.
• Senator Catherine Callbeck. Senator Callback is a Member of the Senate Standing Committee – Social Affairs, Science & Technology. Senator Callbeck is also an Island senator.
• Ms. Francoise Boivin, MP and Liberal Party Women's Caucus Chair.

We were also able to meet with the staff of The Honorable Tony Ianno, Minister of State (Families and Caregivers); Alexa McDonough, MP; The Honorable Claudette Bradshaw, Minister of State (Human Resources Development); The Honorable Maria Minna; Robert Thibeault, MP, Parliamentary Secretary, Minister of Health; and the Honorable Ken Dryden, Minister of Social Development, in order to distribute our information.

It was a week of information sharing and idea generation. All of the people who we met with were gracious with their expertise and knowledge, and this graciousness was much appreciated by Women's Network PEI. We have much more to work with, and our direction is clearer than before. We still have a way to go; but we have a couple of new maps to guide us down our path.

mailing address:
P.O. Box 233,
Charlottetown, PEI C1A 7K4

phone: (902) 368-5040
fax: (902) 368-5039
e-mail: wnpei@wnpei.org