Concerning the recent meetings to the Standing Committee on the Status of
Women, I've a bone to pick with the federal government and some of my sisters.

From the Committee's Nov 30th news release: 
"The House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women is
undertaking a study on the potential impact of changes to the level of
funding to Status of Women Canada and to the terms and conditions relating
to the Women’s Program in that department. The committee will hold hearings
on this issue in Ottawa on December 6th and 13th, 2006, and will be directly
contacting the groups selected to appear."

The following were the groups/persons who were selected by the Committee to
appear.

Dec 6, 2006 Meeting Witnesses: 
1. Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action. OTTAWA 
2. National Association of Women and the Law. OTTAWA
3. National Council of Women of Canada. OTTAWA 
4. Native Women's Association of Canada. OTTAWA
5. Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women. OTTAWA 
6. Disabled Women's Network of Canada. NORTH BAY 
7. Fédération des femmes du Québec. MONTRÉAL 
8. Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women - Newfoundland and
Labrador. ST.JOHN'S 
9. United Nation Platform for Action Committee Manitoba. WINNIPEG

Dec 13, 2006 Meeting Witnesses 
1. Canadian Labour Congress. OTTAWA 
2. Association féminine d'éducation et d'action sociale. MONTRÉAL 
3. Gladys Hayward Williams, past member, Manitoba Association for Home
Schooling. SPRINGFIELD, MB
4. Parents for Healthy Teens. SPRINGFIELD, MB
5. Sexual Assault Centre London. LONDON
6. Regroupement provincial des maisons d'hébergement et de transition pour
femmes victimes de violence conjugale. MONTRÉAL
7. YWCA Canada. TORONTO
8. Collectif Féminisme et Démocratie. MONTRÉAL

Of the 220 organizations and groups that submitted requests to appear before
the Committee, 17 were selected. Of those 17, one was from the eastern
provinces, 13 were from Ontario or Quebec and three from Manitoba. Of the
latter, two hailed from Springfield and one Springfield resident represented
herself, not an organization. (In principle, I don't object to this.
However, the Committee's own criteria is that witnesses be representatives
of "national organizations" [incorporated] or organizations whose work is
national in scope.)

NONE of the witnesses were from west of Manitoba, NONE were from Canada's
north, and it's questionnable if ANY of the organizations were solely
comprised of and led by women of the population on whose behalf they were
speaking. For example, WISE is comprised of and led by women in poverty.
There was NO ONE at those hearings who was herself a woman living in poverty
and who spoke on behalf of an organization's membership of other women
living in poverty.

That has been the pattern for all hearings, since time immemorial. National,
incorporated organizations get invited, virtually by default, to appear
before the Committee; these organizations almost exclusively have their base
of operations in Ottawa or Montreal. Provincial, incorporated organizations
may get invited, if their work is deemed to be national in scope. More
rarely, a community-based group (incorporated or not), and individuals in
the guise of representatives of an organization, will receive an invitation
if it is from a constituency of one of the Committee members.

Well, here's the news... National movements and organizations - incorporated
and not - DO form outside central Canada. Like most non-profit organizations
or coalitions, we begin at the grassroots and build across the country. 

To me and the women of WISE, this is a burning issue and speaks to the
problem of voices unheard. It isn't just about the insult to northern and
western Canadians in being so often ignored by our federal government. It's
also about how some national feminist organizations perpetuate the problem
they're supposed to be working to eradicate.

Rather than having so many of 'the usual suspects' speaking at the table at
the recent hearings, how much more powerful it would have been had those
invited representatives stepped aside to let representatives from smaller,
community-based groups speak for themselves. (If individuals can find ways
to get around the rules, so can national organizations!) 

As things stand now, while some national feminist organizations recognize
the value of leading from behind, others in virtue of their privileged and
self-decreed positions as spokespersons 'for' certain populations
effectively silence them. Their front-and-centre position contributes to the
marginalization of the women on whose behalf they exist to serve. 

Awareness of this problem is crucial. The federal government must look at
its criteria for evaluating who can speak at Committee hearings and who
cannot; and for space to open up for marginalized women to speak ON THEIR
OWN BEHALF, national feminist organizations must move over to make room. 

Ocean, WISE Coordinator
http://www.wise-bc.org/

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