Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

12- 1:30pm There is a deafening silence around women''s issues in Alberta, the only province in Canada with no ministry for the status of women, no policy secretariat, or no advisory council on the status of women. All other jurisdictions have some kind of formal voice, within government, for women. The speaker will present evidence from various sources, including Statistics Canada and other national data sources, that women in Alberta still experience disproportionate levels of poverty, low wages and high levels of economic inequality in comparison with men. Such data are contained in a report produced by partnership between Parkland Institute based in Edmonton and Womanspace Resource Centre, Lethbridge. The speaker is a key figure in the creation of the report. Issues addressed in the presentation will include concerns that, for women, Alberta is the most unequal place in Canada. An Alberta woman working a full-year and full-time earns, on average, 60% of a man''s salary. By contrast, Quebec women earn,