inspiration and example of the
n’s International Democratic
ition served to inspire Canadian
to form their own organization,
liation with the world women’s

1950 during the weekend of
tional Women’s Day, the Con-

eanedian Women held its first.

dual women and representa,

liefs or affiliation were invited to
partake in the program—to join in the
=. for peace, in the fight for the

i of women, the security of the
and protection of children.

eir efforts are mainly directed to
lien for peace, for full employ-
Ment, equal pay for equal work, high-
age pensions, for a full housing
im, for a Canada-wide health
to meet the real needs of millions
milies, boycotting war goods, etc.

“Branches of the CCW in the major
cities in Canada will be marking inter-
ic Women’s Day March 8 in a
‘ of economic insecurity and will
asking why it is that Canada is
d in this predicament.
ing to the Review of the Eco-
Council of Canada of last year
far too Many Canadians are living un-
der poverty conditions. The Review
| “Poverty in Canada is real. Its
are not in the thousands, but
. There is more of it than our
‘can tolerate, more than our
“economy can afford, and far more than
measures and efforts can cope
Its persistence at a time when
+ ami of Canadians enjoy one of the
t standards of living in tht world,
a disgrace. ”
Review points out in addition
“much more serious and wide-
is the kind of low income situ-
which carries with it a sense of
t and hopelessness,” and
ner that “at least one Canadian in
five suffers from poverty.”
Tding poverty in Canada among
, Eskimo and Metis members
ur society, the Review provides a
v Statistics which “tell a cruel

ee

y state that the “average life ex-
icy of an Indian woman in Can-
25 years—that the infant mor-
Tate among Eskimos is about
aths per thousand live births,

more than 10 times the infant death
rate for the population as a whole.”

Women, it appears, are the greatest
sufferers of this economic inequality.
According to a recent study released
by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics,
women heads of families receive in-
come that average only 38 percent of
male family heads.

Statistics also point to the fact that
most women in Canada work because
they have to, in today’s economic
climate of ever-rising prices. The eco-
nomic facts of life make it necessary
for a married women to work unless
her husband enjoys an above-average
income,

Wage discrimination for the Can-
adian women worker is still being
practiced. Women work in plants
alongside of men doing the same work
and are paid less.

The problem for working mothers
now-a-days is the lack of adequate
nursery and day care facilities for
their children.

Another major problem peculiar to
working women in Canada is the dis-
crimination practiced by the federal
government with respect to working
women who become pregnant. Whereas
in most European countries there has
been for many years some form of in-
come maintenance for working women
during pregnancy, the Canadian gov-
ernment penalizes working women for
having children. This penalty is in the
form of denying income to a working
women in the weeks preceeding and
following child birth. The Unemploy-
ment Insurance Commission requires
that an applicant for benefit be avail-
able for work in order to qualify.
When a women has reached the point
in her pregnancy that she can no
longer work, her income is completely
cut off.

The inequality economically under
which millions of Canadians live and
the question why will be of concern
to women. Why are we in a satellite
position in relation to the United
States with bases in Canada for SAC
bomber training? Why has Canada per-
mitted a vast NORAD underground
base? Why do we need to support
NATO and NORAD? Is it in the inter-
est of peace that we are the largest
foreign supplier of military equipment
to the United States, thereby helping
to produce the flaming jellied gasoline
dropped by American planes to kill
men, women and children in Vietnam

—to destroy crops and create famine
there?

The Voice of Women, a peace organ-
ization of some thousands of wofnen
throughout Canada has recently raised
the question of Canada’s foreign poli-
cy, in a statement presented in Ottawa
to the Hon. Michell Sharp, Secretary of
State for External Affairs.

Expressing the desires of thousands
of Canadian women in all walks of
life, of all colors and creeds, their state-
ment makes an appeal for a govern-
ment foreign policy directed towards
sanity and survival. They recommend
among other suggestions, Canada’s
withdrawal from NATO, that Canada
terminate its participation in chemical
and biological defense research under
the Technical Cooperation Program,
that the Canadian government cease its
active ‘solicitation of business from the
armed forces of the United States on
behalf of Canadian industry.

The Voice of Women says in conclu-
sion, “A non-aligned foreign policy
based on disarmament and directed
towards the promotion of equal hu-
man rights for all people is the only
alternative to ultimate disaster.”

Hundreds of thousands of women
are actively engaged in the struggle
for peace, individually and organiza-
tionally..

Recognition is marked to a few.
March 8 International Women’s Day
Greeting to:

THE WOMEN STRIKE FOR PEACE
—an organization waging a tireless
fight for peace in Vietnam and for the
end of war wherever it may be waged.

Congratulations to the WSP for send-
ing their delegate Mrs. Pauline Rosen
to represent them at the Hemispheric
Conference to End the Vietnam War,
held in Montreal last November.

Mrs. Rosen spoke of the intensive
and extensive campaign which the
WSP were carrying on against the mili-
tary-industrial complex at the Pen-
tagon.

Speaking for hundreds of thousands
of mothers, wives and sweethearts in
the United States she said, “We wo-
men will never rest until every Ame-
rican son is home.”

Mrs. Rosen presented a resolution on
behalf of the WSP at the Hemispheric
Confrence which called for the with-
drawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam,
for the repeal of the draft and for ren-
deing assistance to draft resisters.

CORETTA KING — widow of slain
civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther

anadian women in unity for peace, rights

King, Jr. who has led marches through
Washington, protesting the Vietnam
war. She marched with a group to the
Justice Department where they deli-
vered a plea for a general amnesty fo
the approximately 150 American de-
serters who have sought refuge in
Stockholm and Paris. She declared on
the steps of the Justice Department,
“We seek forgiveness for a foreign
policy which has led us to an immoral
war. The United States is not the:
world’s policeman,”

EVELYN WHITEHORN—44 year old
mother of four children who, accord-
ing to a Reuters news dispatch from
Palo Alto, California has “forbidden
her 18 year old son to register for the
draft.”

Mrs. Whitehorn dsked the federal dis-
trict judge on the case to be put on
trial instead of her son and if neces-
sary she advised, she will take an ap-
peal of her case right up to the Sup-
reme Court.

JEANETTE RANKIN—from Atlanta,
Gorgia, the only member of Congress
to oppose U.S. entry into both world
wars. She said in a press interview
that U.S. women should band together
to halt the war in Vietnam. “We wo-
men should picket everything,” she
said. “‘This is no time to be polite. The
army isn’t polite when it selects a
young man and says come on and
fight.” Now 86, Miss Rankin is still
battling her old enemy—war.

REJANE LABERGE-COLAS — from
Montreal and the first woman in Can-
ada’s history to be appointed to a
Superior Court bench. She called her
appointment a “major step towards
equal rights for women.” Family legal
problems and women’s rights are her
main interests. She attributes her ap-
pointment as much to her work in the
Quebec Federation of Women, as to her
work as a lawyer.

On this March 8, 1969, women have
never before been as influential and
important in deciding great world is-
sues of peace and a good life.

Different points of view must -be
brought together to work out in com-
mon how to secure real international
cooperation with full respect for na-
tional independence in the highest in-
terests of peace and prosperity for all
peoples. Will the world’s women’s
movement meet this challenge?

Greetings and honor to the world
women on International Women’s Day,
March 8, 1969. res

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 7, 1969—Page 7 ,