Sunday March 8, 2026 | VICTORIA, BC [Posted at 11:26 am PT | Updated 1:24 pm]
Editorial by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
March 8 is International Women’s Day.
There is recognition that more progress needs to be made for women.
Both the prime minister’s and BC premier’s statements indicate progress but that there is a long way to go for more. The federal NDP statement is more direct about problems and solutions.
- Prime Minister Mark Carney’s statement leads with a historical perspective on women’s defiance: “Our democracy is stronger when it reflects the people it serves. Since Agnes Macphail became the first woman elected to the House of Commons more than 100 years ago, women have won voting rights, property rights, reproductive rights, and parental leave. This progress was achieved because, again and again, women have refused to accept a system that did not see them, hear them, or reflect them.” [See full statement]
- BC’s statement from Premier David Eby and Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity Jennifer Blatherwick highlights the international theme for the day: “This year’s International Women’s Day theme of ‘Rights. Justice. Action. For all women and girls’ is a statement of shared determination to advance the rights and empowerment of women and girls.” [See full statement]
- The federal NDP statement is direct, saying “the impacts of gender inequality, misogyny and patriarchy remain far too common in Canada” and points out that “attacks on gender equality are increasing at an unprecedented rate”. And within the political system: “When Prime Minister Carney eliminated a Minister of Women and Gender Equality from cabinet, women’s organizations came together to force him to reinstate this essential role.” [Full statement / link to come]
- Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre takes a refreshing tack on recognizing women, calling them in a statement today “the backbone of our nation” who are “at the heart of our families and communities”.
Gender equity in BC:
Tomorrow, BC’s Gender Equity Parliamentary Secretary Jennifer Blatherwick will be holding a roundtable and press conference about gender equity issues.
Federal strokes:
Rechie Valdez, Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism), issued a statement for International Women’s Day noting International Women’s Day as “an opportunity to celebrate the progress women have made as leaders and decision-makers, and to reaffirm Canada’s commitment to gender equality as a driver of Canada’s economic growth”.
Valdez points out that “gender equality is not only a women’s issue, but also an economic issue that affects everyone”.
Clear-eyed perspective:
While women have made great strides in terms of involvement in business and politics — and have excelled in gaining much higher levels of education compared to generations past — overall the reality for women in Canadian society is complex and loaded with enormous challenges.
Areas of income equality (at all age phases) are clear. Less clear are the social, psychological and spiritual impacts on women that can run deep not just for themselves but by transference to their families as well.
Women’s rights are inextricably entwined with human rights, and rights of the soul (which our modern society tends to interpret as ‘mental health’ or strains upon overall socioeconomic and sociocultural functionality).
Women’s health continues to endure continued challenges including strains in health-care systems that impose challenges on pregnant women (and infant birth outcomes as a result). Challenges of domestic/intimate-partner violence continue in a social structure that oftentimes results from immense pressure on family economics. As affordability challenges deepen, many women who are mothers of young families may be cutting back on their own good nutrition in order to see their children get meals.
===== ABOUT THE WRITER:
Mary P Brooke has followed women’s issues since the 1980s. She is the proud mother of four now adult children, and a delighted grandmother.
Ms Brooke has been a business woman throughout her career including as a journalist, editor and publisher.
Through her B.Sc. in foods and nutrition Ms Brooke sees challenges to women’s health during economy’s affordability challenge and food-quality challenges.
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NEWS SECTIONS: WOMEN IN SOCIETY | EDITORIALS