Provincial-Territorial Meeting of Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women Toronto, Ontario – February 1, 2007

NEWS RELEASE
PROVINCIAL-TERRITORIAL MINISTERS DETERMINE PRIORITIES FOR WOMEN’S ISSUES

TORONTO — Violence against women, women’s economic independence and Aboriginal women’s issues were identified as top priorities for joint action at the provincial-territorial ministers’ meeting held in Toronto today. Each jurisdiction also has its own priorities for furthering women’s equality.

These priorities will form the basis for developing an action plan to collectively address these issues at the federal/provincial/territorial level. Ministers agreed that provinces and territories, along with the federal government, must move more effectively in these areas. For its part, Quebec will contribute to this action plan through the sharing of expertise and best practices.Thirteen provincial and territorial Status of Women Ministers participated in the meeting, which focused on planning future action-oriented strategies to address issues facing women.

Ministers also expressed concerns regarding changes to Status of Women Canada. Ministers will continue to collectively raise this issue with Status of Women Canada Minister, the Honourable Bev Oda, at the next federal/provincial/territorial meeting.

Details of today’s discussion will be shared with Minister Oda with a view to developing a plan of action. The next federal/provincial/territorial meeting is scheduled for July 2007 in Nunavut and will be co-chaired by the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq.

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Contacts:

– See attached list of media contacts: (pdf file)
– Disponible en français: (fichier pdf)

Conference Information