Letter: Action Plan on Women in the Economy Taskforce

(November 17, 2020)

Over 60 women’s organizations and equality-seeking organizations have signed a letter calling on Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Freeland’s Women in the Economy taskforce to be representative of experts on care and members of civil society who work on economic justice – not just members of the business community.

COVID-19 has highlighted the exacerbating economic inequality impacting women. Women are the ones most likely to be paid lower wages, on the frontlines, and responsible for care work. This reality is especially  amplified in the case of Black, Indigenous, racialized, (im)migrant, and senior women. As well as, women living with disabilities, and members of the 2SLGBQTI+ community.

This task force cannot solely focus on “business, boards, entrepreneurship, and STEM” as a pathway to women’s economic empowerment, since it is ignoring the immediate needs of women workers marginalized by the pandemic and the centrality of care to the well-being of society and the economy.

Read the letter here