National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada
Media Release

Filipino women in Canada oppose federal cuts to women’s programs, fears impacts will continue marginalization

November 30, 2006

With the federal government’s announcement of $5 million to be cut to the department of Status of Women Canada last September resulting in the decision to close the Vancouver and Toronto Regional Offices announced yesterday, a national grouping for Filipino women believe it is a reflection of the federal government’s lack of political will to truly address the urgent issues of women across the country.

“We are outraged that women’s equality and the basic rights of women are not a priority of the federal government,” criticized Cecilia Diocson, Chairperson of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC), which represents five organizations for Filipino women in four provinces.  “It is shameful that in a time of intensifying challenges and roadblocks weighing heavy on the backs of working class and immigrant women, Status of Women Canada’s budget is one of the smallest of any department at the federal level, and is among the first to be slashed,” continued Diocson. NAPWC disapproves of these cuts and sees it as a reflection of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government’s Right-wing agenda that favors military spending instead of the basic needs of affordable and accessible childcare and health care for the struggling majority of women and their families. Status of Women has supported NAPWC and its member organizations, such as the Philippine Women Centre of BC’s community-based research and advocacy programs, which has benefited one of Canada’s most marginalized sectors of women over the years.

“Through Status of Women’s assistance, our rapidly growing community understands more clearly the issues of Filipino women across Canada, especially those exploited under the anti-woman and racist Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP),” explained Marilou Carrillo, Philippine Women Centre of BC’s Chairperson.  “The LCP has stripped our women of their dignity and professional skills, forcing them to work as modern-day slaves under precarious conditions which has made us largely invisible in public dialogue and meaningful participation in Canadian society,” stated Carrillo.

NAPWC believes that rather than hacking away at much-needed public dollars for marginalized women in Canadian society, government should be putting more resources towards these low-income women and the groups who serve them at a grassroots level on a daily basis.

“It is ironic that while on the one hand the government claims to have aboriginal, immigrant, young and senior women as priorities, yet on the other it closes the regional offices in Vancouver and Toronto, two of the most populous and diverse cities in the country,” lambasted Carrillo.  “Not only will we continue to face systemic barriers as a marginalized community, by closing the regional offices we lose an important conduit and support mechanism that Status of Women has been providing,” she stated.

Despite these recent announcements, NAPWC is committed to continuing the struggle for Filipino women’s rights and welfare and towards their full participation in Canada’s multicultural society.

For more information, please contact: National Alliance of Philippine Women: Cecilia Diocson, ph: 604-215-1103 or e-mail: pwc@kalayaancentre.net Vancouver: Marilou Carrillo, Philippine Women Centre of BC, ph: 604-215-1103 Montreal: Joanne Vasquez, Philippine Women Centre of Quebec, ph: 514-659-4300 Toronto: Joy Sioson, Philippine Women Centre of Ontario, ph: 416-878-8772