All posts in category Niki Ashton

And the attacks on our rights continue…

the regina mom is getting rather sick and tired of the anti-abortion crowd’s attacks on women’s reproductive rights.  They don’t have a leg to stand on, and they know it, so they come out with backdoor attempts, overloaded with emotion, to restrict our access to a basic medical procedure.

This from MPs Vellacott, Benoit and Lizon, which really digs into the glurge, is the latest attempt. The Sixth Estate takes it down quite handily.  Vellacott’s attack follows a long string of attacks including the recently defeated Motion 312, the oft-introduced, many-named and always-defeated Bill C-537 as well as the also-defeated Bill C-484, to name a few, from the “pro-life” extremists recent years.

And now, the National Post’s Jon Kay propagates on their behalf, spreading misinformation to Canadians, breeding confusion and forgetting entirely that the Canada Health Act exists. Fortunately, bloggers like DAMMITJANET! are ever vigilant, not only calling him on his lies and mistruths but also following publicizing his conniving on Twitter and blogging that, too.

Lest we think bloggers and tweeps are the only ones following this, note that Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett was in on the tweeting and now has a blogpost challenging Kay’s misrepresentations.  And here’s NDP MP Niki Ashton’s statement in the House of Commons from earlier this week.

the regina mom is grateful for these strong women in the House of Commons as well as for those who, like the good folks at DAMMITJANET!, keep her apprised of the situation around women’s reproductive freedom in Canada.

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2 Comments
by Bernadette Wagner on February 2, 2013  •  Aside  •  Permalink
Posted in abortion, activism, Canada, feminism, NDP, Niki Ashton, Stephen Harper, women

Posted by Bernadette Wagner on February 2, 2013

https://thereginamom.com/2013/02/02/and-the-attacks-on-our-rights-continue/

Save the date! #SWF13

the regina mom is so very excited! As you regulars are aware, she attended the Women’s Forum des Femmes in Ottawa in October and had a fantastic time.  So, she brought the idea home and is happy to invite you to save the date!

—–

Saskatchewan Women’s Forum 2013

 

If you are interested in women’s rights, in connecting with individuals and organizations who have been working on women’s issues recently and through the decades, and in spending a weekend learning, having fun, and moving a women’s agenda forward in our province, then:

 

Please set aside Friday, January 18 (evening) and Saturday, January 19, 2013!

 

We are a coalition of women and organizations who have come together to plan a Saskatchewan Women’s Forum taking place at the Bessborough Hotel in Saskatoon. For too long, we have been having conversations in isolation from each other about the current context that women and women’s organizations find themselves in. So we are creating this opportunity to collectively develop how we can move forward on the issues that we care about.

 

We are currently finalizing our program, which will be centered on women’s stories and respectful of intergenerational, intercultural and diverse experiences. If you are interested in attending, please respond back to us (at michelle.beveridge@oxfam.ca, 306.242.4097)) and we will ensure you receive the program and registration package by mid-December.

 

In the meantime, please save the date! And get in touch with us if you would like to be part of the planning, to volunteer at the forum in any number of capacities, or have other ideas for us.

 

Registration is $50/person. (Please let us know if you are in a situation where you would only be able to attend with a reduced rate, or conversely, if you are able and willing to donate  money to assist in covering a portion of registration for others.)

 

Sincerely,

Michelle Beveridge and Katelyn Jones, Oxfam Canada, Saskatoon

Sue Delanoy, Elizabeth Fry Society, Saskatoon

Diane Fletcher, Vadis Group, Saskatoon

Lori Hanson, U of S, Community Health and Epidemiology, Saskatoon

Laura Hopkins, Saskatoon Women’s Community Coalition

Lori Johb, Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, Regina

Audra Krueger, U of S, Centre for the Study of Co-ops, Saskatoon

Darla Leard, Canadian Labour Congress, Saskatoon

Barb Macpherson, YWCA Saskatoon

Adriane Paavo, Prairie Lily Feminist Society, Regina

Priscilla Settee, U of S, Native Studies, Saskatoon

Lenore Swystun and Samantha Mark, Prairie Wild Consulting, Saskatoon

Laura Westman, Saskatoon

Bernadette Wagner, Regina

 

1 Comment
by Bernadette Wagner on December 3, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in activism, ecofeminism, economics, environment, feminism, First Nations, Niki Ashton, reproductive freedom, Ryan Meili, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, sexism, women, writers, youth
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Posted by Bernadette Wagner on December 3, 2012

https://thereginamom.com/2012/12/03/save-the-date-swf13/

Post-conversation with Ray Boughen, MP for Palliser

the regina mom received a call from her Member of Parliament, Ray Boughen, this afternoon.  He said it was in response to her call about two University of Regina international students facing deportation but she had not, in fact, called.  She had emailed but didn’t press that fact with him.  In hindsight she suspects he must be feeling some heat over the issue since it hit the front page of the local daily.  When asked about his silence over it he said it is not his place to speak to that issue, that the Speaker, MP for Regina Qu’Appelle, Andrew Scheer, has spoken to it. He said he waits for his turn to speak and will be speaking on Aboriginal issues next week.

That led to a conversation about democratic process, the lack of political will for democratic process, followed by a tirade on trm‘s part.  She began with the lack of a national childcare strategy, filled the middle with the lack of support for single parent women and increased poverty in Canada and ended with a few stats on the increased numbers of people using food banks. That’s about when he accused trm of being a partisan and she defended herself claiming her feminist activism of more than 25 years and her being a mother of two young adults as the basis for her statements.  But still, he tried to dismiss her concerns as being partisan ones. trm suggested that he should read her blog.

When he attempted to blame the SK NDP government for the social problems she had mentioned, trm really let loose, informing him that yes, from time-to-time she has supported the NDP but did not support Roy and the boyz and their debt and deficit-cutting measures.  She also reminded him that she is a writer and as such, a researcher, one who bases her words on what she reads in books and on fact-based evidence.  His response was that we’re using different facts in our discussion.

So she switched her tune to the China-Canada FIPA and compared it to the FTA with the USA, mentioning how the former locks us in for 31 years and the latter allows us to give 6 months notice if we choose to break the agreement.

By that time he was really bumbling and went back to the earlier piece about democracy so trm mentioned Motion 312 about which he seemed to have no clue, suggesting it was a Bill, obviously not hearing what trm was saying. She reminded him that it was a Motion put forward by MP Stephen Woodworth as an attempt to reopen the abortion debate and noted that he supported it in spite of what his colleague, MP Gordon O’Connor, had said. He couldn’t recall what O’Connor had said so trm suggested he look it up on YouTube.  He said he didn’t have time so perhaps trm could tell him.  She did. Then he proceeded to parrot Woodsworth, saying that it wasn’t about reopening the abortion debate, blah-blah-blah. trm laughed and reminded him that he really needed to read her blog.

Seeing that she was on a bit of a role, trm then brought up the other F-word, fascism. She noted that even the right-wing Liberal, Michael Ignatieff, is using that word these days. He bumbled some more and wouldn’t listen, kept interrupting her and soon thereafter she told him this conversation was a waste of her time and his and hung up. As she pulled the receiver from her ear she could hear him saying another call was coming in and he had to go. A likely story. There were no phones ringing off the hook in the background; he said that to save face.

Though there’s much more that went on in the conversation, trm knows without a doubt that she has a useless excuse for a representative in Ottawa and maintains her adoption of MP for Churchill, Niki Ashton, as her MP.

6 Comments
by Bernadette Wagner on November 9, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in abortion, activism, Canada, Fascism, feminism, Ignatieff, NDP, Niki Ashton, Parliamentary democracy, poverty, University of Regina, women
Tagged , , , , , ,

Posted by Bernadette Wagner on November 9, 2012

https://thereginamom.com/2012/11/09/post-conversation-with-ray-boughen-mp-for-palliser/

Opening a space for women

the regina mom posted this on Ryan Meili’s ideas page, in response to a call for ideas about building gender equity in SK.  Ryan is the candidate trm is supporting in the SK NDP Leadership race.  She is overwhelmed by and grateful for the positive support the idea is receiving.

—–

OPENING A SPACE FOR WOMEN

 

In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the Saskatchewan women’s movement was a force to be reckoned with. Feminist organizations within the province had built a solid base from which to act and continue to build.

The Saskatchewan Women’s Agenda* was the result of an intense, two-year, participatory process that brought more than 50 Saskatchewan women’s organizations together to determine what women needed to live full and equitable lives in this province. The Agenda addressed a broad range of issues, established goals and directed our work and the work we hoped to see a new government take on.

But then came the feminist backlash. As a result, debt reduction gave way to creating a better world for women. Most feminist organizations faced slashed budgets from federal and provincial sources. Some groups folded. Others managed to hold onto shoestring funding and find other sources and stay alive.

Feminists in Saskatchewan have not come together in a real and meaningful way since the mid 1990’s. Key organizers within the women’s movement have left the province or worse, passed on. Generational change is afoot in the organizations that managed to stay afloat and a key piece of our Saskatchewan women’s history, the Saskatchewan Women’s Agenda, is difficult to find, let alone study and pass on.

In mid-October, Niki Ashton, Member of Parliament for Churchill and Opposition Critic for Women, hosted the Women’s Forum des Femmes which brought together a diverse community of women from across the country. Ms Ashton created a “space for women to share experiences, ideas, and shape collective plans for re-igniting the women’s movement in Canada.” Women who hadn’t connected since the 90’s were able to share their stories, many heart-breaking and anger-making, to reconnect with sisters in the struggle, to re-invigorate each other and younger feminists taking leadership in the movement and yes, to re-ignite the Canadian women’s movement grounded in wisdom, a passion for change and a commitment to make a better world.

This is what the Saskatchewan women’s movement needs. Ms Ashton’s model can be easily adapted to the provincial level. The new Leader of the Saskatchewan NDP can make it happen. He can make it happen because he knows we are better together.

Respectfully submitted,

23OCT2012
Bernadette Wagner
@thereginamom
http://thereginamom.com 

*Note that I will upload the Saskatchewan Women’s Agenda as soon as a scanned copy is available.

2 Comments
by Bernadette Wagner on October 23, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in activism, feminism, NDP, Niki Ashton, Saskatchewan
Tagged , , , , ,

Posted by Bernadette Wagner on October 23, 2012

https://thereginamom.com/2012/10/23/opening-a-space-for-women/

A woman’s work is never done

the regina mom is in Ottawa, visiting her offspring.  She’s taken in a poetry reading, witnessed the horrors of Question Period in the House of Commons, and visited with some friends.  And today, before she flies back to her Prairie home, she will be part of a national Women’s Forum hosted by her adopted Member of Parliament, Niki Ashton, the Opposition Critic for Women.  The good folks at rabble.ca will provide live coverage of the event.

Ms Ashton has been an excellent in her post as Critic, taking an energetic and leading role in defeating the anti-choice Motion 312 in the House of Commons.

Women across the country continue to take action to ensure that abortion services are available across the country.  This Saturday, October 20, is Reproductive Justice Day. Events are planned in several major centres.  Here is the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada‘s news release in full.
http://www.arcc-cdac.ca/press/ARCC-CDAC-release-oct18-12-english.pdf

For immediate release                                                                                         October 18, 2012

Access to Abortion Needs to Be Improved Now

Oct. 20 National Day for Reproductive Justice Highlights Access Gaps in Maritimes and Across Canada for Abortion and Sexual and Reproductive Health Services

NATIONAL  –  A coalition of groups and individuals across the country is calling upon governments across Canada to take immediate steps to improve access to abortion and other sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services in neglected regions of Canada – particularly the Maritimes, the North, rural areas, and on First Nations reserves.

“It’s time to change the debate by talking about how to improve access to healthcare, not restrict it like some anti-choice Members of Parliament want to do,” said Joyce Arthur, Executive Director of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC), the group leading the ad hoc coalition behind the Oct 20 day.

“On October 20, we are demanding that governments across the country start ensuring that abortion care and sexual and reproductive health services are available and accessible to every person who needs them, including women, youth, transgendered persons, and men. We also need to reduce unwanted pregnancy, the main cause of abortion, by making contraception widely available and covered by Medicare.”

At the top of the ad hoc coalition’s list of demands is fully-funded abortion services on request in Prince Edward Island. [see page 3 of this release, or http://www.arcc-cdac.ca/action/RJ-day-demands.pdf] “PEI is the only province still violating the law by failing to provide any abortion care inside its borders, forcing women to travel to Halifax or Fredericton for care,” said Arthur. “This creates real hardship and injustice for women, especially those who are young, low-income, aboriginal, and immigrant.” Last November, a research project conducted by Dr. Colleen MacQuarrie at UPEI found that many women have even tried to do dangerous self-abortions on themselves.

Some PEI women are able to arrange an abortion in Halifax paid for by the PEI government, but the process can be time-consuming and difficult to navigate for many women. Many more women end up paying around $800 to have an abortion at the Morgentaler Clinic in Fredericton NB. They are forced to pay out of pocket because New Brunswick refuses to fund the clinic, even though Health Canada in 1995 mandated full funding for abortion care at both hospitals and private clinics.

“Abortion is a simple procedure that doesn’t require a lot of resources to provide, so the PEI government has no excuse to not provide it on the Island,” said Arthur. “Our message to PEI Premier Robert Ghiz and Health Minister Doug Currie is: Enough! Women in Prince Edward Island have the same rights as women in other provinces. You should be ashamed of yourselves for needlessly risking the health and lives of PEI women in deference to a so-called ‘pro-life’ ideology. Stop hurting and punishing women and start helping them instead!”

Other leading groups in the ad hoc coalition for the Oct 20 Reproductive Justice Day include the PEI Reproductive Rights Organization (PRRO), and the Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics (OCAC).

  • The flagship event for the national day takes place in Charlottetown, with a kick-off press conference on Friday Oct 19 (12:15pm, Room 125, Royalty Centre, 40 Enman Crescent, Charlottetown), and a march and “Action Station” event on Oct 20
    (1-4pm, Rochford Square & Murphy’s Community Centre).
  • Another signature event for the national day takes place in Toronto on Oct 20 – a rally from 1-3pm at Old City Hall, 60 Queen Street West.

#####

For the list of demands for the Oct. 20 National Day for Reproductive Justice, see: http://www.arcc-cdac.ca/action/RJ-day-demands.pdf.

See our website: http://oct20rjday.wordpress.com  for more information on reproductive justice and the October 20 day, as well as details on events across the country.

Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada

Canada’s only national political pro-choice advocacy group

POB 2663, Station Main, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3W3  •  info@arcc-cdac.ca  •  http://www.arcc-cdac.ca

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by Bernadette Wagner on October 18, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in abortion, activism, Canada, feminism, NDP, Niki Ashton, reproductive freedom
Tagged ,

Posted by Bernadette Wagner on October 18, 2012

https://thereginamom.com/2012/10/18/a-womans-work-is-never-done/

#M312’s birth into Parliament and a personal response

the regina mom knows that Mr. Harper clearly stated, numerous times, that a Conservative government would not re-open the abortion debate. Yet, on Thursday, April 26, she watched Members of Parliament debate Motion 312, which ultimately seeks personhood rights for fetuses which would enable the re-criminalization of abortion, as well as deny the constitutional rights of all pregnant women.  In other words, it is yet another backdoor attack on women’s Charter rights.

And, the regina mom knows that the Prime Minister is not a stupid man, well, not unless power has gone to his head, that is. He must have known that Motion 312 was an attack on women’s rights. And, contrary to what some in the mainstream media and elsewhere have said, there are at least a couple of ways the Harper government could have stopped the abortion debate from being re-opened.

The blogger, Dr. Dawg, has clearly described how the Prime Minister and the all-party Subcommittee on Private Members’ Business of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs could have stopped Motion 312 from making it to the floor of the House of Commons.  Basically, there was not political will within either the Conservative Party to either further investigate it or stop it.  And so it proceeded.

A harsher way of stopping it could have been for the Prime Minister to expel MP Stephen Woodworth from the CPC caucus when he first got wind of Motion 312. Doing so would have sent a very strong message to Canadians, a message which would have indicated that he really meant what he said when he said, “No debate.” But the Prime Minister did not do that.  He lacked the conviction to demonstrate that strength.

Granted, when under pressure in the House of Commons he did say that he would oppose Motion 312. That, to the regina mom, was a small relief.  She was a tad more relieved when the government whip, MP Gordon O’Connor, Minister of State, spoke very eloquently against Motion 312.

Perhaps the greatest relief to the regina mom came when she was reduced to tears.  Perhaps it was not relief, but sadness, anger, appreciation, respect or perhaps a mixture of all.  But when  Niki Ashton, the NDP Critic for Women, delivered her speech in opposition to the motion the regina mom‘s tears started to roll. Perhaps upstaged by O’Connor on some points, Ms Ashton spoke to the heart of the issue for the regina mom.

The reality is that the issue of abortion was settled in 1988. In 1988 the Supreme Court of Canada struck down Canada’s abortion law, ruling that it was unconstitutional. The justices found that the law violated Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, because it infringed on a woman’s right to life, liberty and security of person. That was 1988, almost 25 years ago, a generation ago.

This decision came about after years of work from women who, from across the country, sent the message that women ought to have the right to choose, that women ought to have the right to decide their future, that women ought to have the ability to define their destiny.

That fight also took place in the House of Commons. Our leader in 1987, Audrey McLaughlin, spoke out clearly, saying:

—limiting the right to the “personal care and control of one’s body” is a violation of a most “basic and fundamental right”, that of “reproductive choice.

As Ms. McLaughlin and others have pointed out, abortions, if they are not performed legally in medical facilities under the direction of a physician, will happen in much less favourable circumstances. As ugly as it may seem, women must not be forced to return to those ugly circumstances of using coat hangers, vacuum cleaners or putting themselves in the hands of quacks. “It is an ugly reality”, Ms. McLaughlin said, “but it is a reality.”

There were caravans, protests, lobby meetings, speeches and debates, and the issue was settled in 1988. When Canadians have been asked, time and time again a majority have supported a woman’s right to choose. Here we are in 2012, seeing the government reopen the debate on abortion. It has not been truthful about it either. Time and time again the Prime Minister and members of his party have said that they will not reopen the abortion debate. The Prime Minister declared:

As long as I am prime minister we are not opening the abortion debate…The government will not bring forward any such legislation and any such legislation that is brought forward will be defeated as long as I am prime minister.

That comes from an article in the Globe and Mail, from Wednesday, December 21, 2011.

An article written around that same time quoted the Prime Minister as saying, “As long as I’m prime minister we are not reopening the abortion debate”.

This is the Conservative Party’s Trojan horse agenda. During an election, and even here in the House of Commons, the Conservatives tell Canadians one thing. Then, as a minority government and now as a majority government, we see what they truly mean.

If the Prime Minister did not want a woman’s right to choose to be debated, we would not be here tonight. What is interesting is the Conservatives felt the need to tell Canadians something else so those same Canadians would vote for them. They waited until they won a majority to then uncover their hidden agenda.

Indeed, the hidden agenda is hidden no more.  the regina mom saw it right here on her computer screen.  She watched Members of Parliament debate a motion about abortion, a motion that was introduced by a Conservative Member of Parliament.  Perhaps it could be called the No Debate Debate.

3 Comments
by Bernadette Wagner on April 28, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in abortion, activism, Canada, feminism, fundamentalists, NDP, Niki Ashton, prochoice, Stephen Harper
Tagged , , ,

Posted by Bernadette Wagner on April 28, 2012

https://thereginamom.com/2012/04/28/m312s-birth-into-parliament-and-a-personal-response/

thereginamom dot com

the regina mom feels wealthy these days. She was fortunate enough to be a recipient of an Emerging Artists Award from the Canada Council for the Arts last spring.  There’s no scramble for contract work and there’s a bit of extra money around her house.  So she got her hubby to blow twenty bucks on the thereginamom.com domain name.  And when the rewrite of the children’s literature manuscript is completed — which had better be soon because the end of the grant period is fast approaching — thereginamom.com will get a makeover.

the regina mom has spent some time over the past few months writing and contemplating her writing life.  Blogging is one place where various pieces of her life weave together.  So she’s looking forward to again crafting blogposts.

Be forewarned, dear Reader, the regina mom likes Niki Ashton.

Later today, Niki Ashton, the Member of Parliament for Churchill, will announce her candidacy for the Leadership of the New Democratic Party of Canada!  It’d be great to have a woman from one of the Prairie provinces as Leader of the NDP — as the next Prime Minister of Canada!

Niki’s from northern Manitoba.  Take a Northern woman from a Prairie province to the House of Commons and you’ll see more than a little bit of Amazing!   Niki has demonstrated that time and again and could do it in one of four or five languages.  Unafraid of standing up to speak Truth to Power, Niki Ashton has risen in the House to challenge the Harper regime on important issues such as healthcare and housing, infrastructure and transportation, education and economic development, support for residential school survivors and the North and its People.  American film-maker, Michael Moore, noticed her work.  As did The Huffington Post.

So, ya.  A Northern woman from a Prairie province!  Niki Ashton is sure to make the NDP Leadership race an interesting one!  the regina mom is watching.

5 Comments
by Bernadette Wagner on November 7, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in activism, Canada, feminism, First Nations, homophobia, NDP, Niki Ashton, Stephen Harper, The North, youth
Tagged , , ,

Posted by Bernadette Wagner on November 7, 2011

https://thereginamom.com/2011/11/07/thereginamomdotcom/