5.3 Access

At the program level, we found a strong commitment to making the most positive use possible of whatever room for movement there might be in current policy. Work being done by people within governments who are committed to greater equality for women is being complemented not only by the continuing advocacy work of organizations like CCLOW, but also by the innovative work of people at the community level who, through their efforts are demonstrating not only the need but also the potential for continued progress in this area.

There are, unfortunately some major barriers to movement in the ideal policy direction. Primary among these is the conception of the kind of effort required. Although government documents everywhere refer to the need for structural change with respect to equality for women, policy continues to treat the problem as one of a series of imbalances, rather than as an in-built bias that creates a skewed societal structure. Historically, piecemeal initiatives -- of the kind suitable for correcting a series of imbalances -- have had little impact on skewed structures, which is one of the reasons why revolutions happen. If we want change which addresses structural problems, without the necessity for the process of societal upheaval we call revolution, then what is necessary is a coordinated series of policy initiatives supported by a major allocation of resources simultaneously targeted to critical areas. There is precedent for this kind of effort in Canada. The most recent example is in bilingualism.

Terms of reference for this study directed us to look in particular at issues related to access, privatization, and outcomes in women's education and training. Although policy responses to each of the areas of focus differ, we found the same general pattern throughout. The inaccurate conception of the basis of the problems which society experiences in creating greater equality for women results in all areas in acceptance of piecemeal efforts, major under allocations of resources, and a general absence of vision. Perhaps the most disturbing of our findings was that there is simply not very much policy at all that concerns itself with the role of adult education and training for women in improving women's levels of economic equality. The whole area appears to be seriously underdeveloped. The goal of policy which does exist seems to be to bring women 'up' to the level of men within a society which is otherwise the same as the one we have now. This view, which does not seem to acknowledge that the structure of society is changing in major ways, let alone that there is an identifiable direction for structural change which is consistent with greater equality for women, generates reactive rather than proactive policy responses and what appears to be genuine confusion about how to effectively implement policy directives which support greater equality for women.

In the area of access, for example, we found that years of well- articulated and well-researched advocacy by groups including CCLOW seems to have had some positive effect. There is a general acknowledgment in policy that women do experience gender-related access problems and that governments have some responsibility to assist in minimizing those problems. At the federal level, within the Canadian Jobs Strategy, and within several provinces such as Ontario, Nova Scotia and Quebec, we found provisions for allowances for transportation and child care within various training and upgrading programs for women. But these provisions frequently are not sufficient to cover the actual costs of child care and transportation for women who wish to involve themselves in training. Similarly, with respect to other access issues we found that acknowledgment of the issue was not matched with a response sufficient to adequately address the particular problem at hand. Most importantly, there is simply not enough training available for women. A good example is provided by the Canadian Jobs Strategy programs. The basic conception of an array of programs, allowing -- in theory at least -- an integrated approach to employment issues is a good one. Program emphases on women at the point of re-entry, on entry and on the employment disadvantaged are also welcome. As we have pointed out earlier in our report, Canadian Jobs Strategy programs suffer from a variety of serious administrative and structural problems which make it very difficult for them to operate effectively. However, there does appear to be a willingness to improve, and with continued pressure from CCLOW and other organizations, there is the potential to effect improvements in the potential of these programs. As a result, CCLOW and other organizations are directing significant amounts of energy to working with EIC officials to try to ensure that these improvements do take place.