FEDERAL ISSUES

Age

Under the category of age, some specific issues are being raised for public comment. Present variations in the use of the age of majority, and retirement age, are being called into question.

Adult education groups are considering using discrimination based on age and the accompanying rational of unequal benefit of laws, which provide free public education to the young - to ensure the rights of under-educated adults to educational resources

Sex

The major issue raised in the federal paper, in relation to discrimination based on sex, is that of maternity leave provisions under the Unemployment Insurance Act. We are all familiar with those hard-fought, lost cases taken before the courts under the Canadian Bill of Rights. The courts decided that distinctions based on pregnancy did not constitute distinctions based on sex! A reversal of these rulings, in cases taken under the Charter, will mean that substantial changes to the Unemployment Insurance Act will be required. The longer eligibility requirements for maternity leave and other criteria applied to pregnant women, which are not applied to other beneficiaries, will have to be removed.

The government has also called for further discussion on the current policy of restricting women in the military to non-combat roles. These restrictions have also meant, de facto, a limitation on women's access to a full range of training opportunities, now provided by the military to male personnel.

Questions raised about the distribution of Family Allowance payments, primarily to mothers, are cause for concern, and will require discussion by women's organizations to develop a position. Family Allowance payments to mothers are about the only financial recognition given motherhood in this country. These payments are, in some cases, the only independent income available to women who do not have access to a spouse's income In such cases, in fact, even if the family unit were offered the option of which parent should receive the payment, it is unlikely that the mother would be given the choice of maintaining the payments in her name. While feminists have argued consistently that child-rearing should be a shared responsibility, in reality, in the majority of families the mother carries the primary responsibility for child care.

Discrimination based on sex is still contained in the Criminal Code in relation to some sexual offences against female (only) minors; in the Pension Benefits Standards Act administrative practices, which pay lower pension benefits to women based on life expectancies; and in the War Veterans Allowance Act which extends benefits to widows at age 55, but to widowers at 65.

Disability

Disability-based discrimination, for either physical or mental disability, is still present in a number of Canadian Statutes. By virtue of having medical requirements for enrollment in the Armed Forces, the disabled are excluded. Differential treatment of mentally disordered individuals is permitted under the Criminal Code in relation to processing of cases in the justice system. The Immigration Act allows for exclusion of disabled persons from Canada, as well as the negation of immigration status, on the basis of disability. Citizens who are involuntarily institutionalized are disqualified from voting under the Canada Elections Act And, under the Unemployment Insurance Act, similar eligibility requirements are applied to both sickness benefits and maternity leave.