Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean
Speech on the Occasion of a Luncheon hosted by the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia on the Occasion of International Women’s Day
Victoria, Wednesday, March 8, 2006
I would like to begin by telling you just how delighted I am to be here with you on International Women’s Day. It is our great privilege to be hosted by a woman who has paved the way in a number of fields, notably broadcasting and politics.
In 2001, Iona Campagnolo was installed as British Columbia’s 27th Lieutenant‑Governor and the first woman to hold the post. Your Honour, thank you for your invitation.
I could not hope for a better occasion to tell you, Iona, what a source of inspiration you are for women of my generation. Your endless energy, your compassion and your fearless determination continue to amaze us. I want to thank you for gathering such remarkable women today.
You know, between what you see and what is invisible to the eye; between what you hear and what remains silent; between what you believe to be and what is; between the path behind you and the road stretched out ahead, there is sometimes a gap, a gulf, a world.
We, as women, share political power and its inherent responsibilities with men. We run major corporations. We lead battalions. We study in fields once limited only to men, like science and engineering. We make up nearly half of the labour force.
For example, how many Canadians know that British Columbia has been a pioneer in breaking down barriers that for so long have limited women’s ability to participate fully in our society? I am really proud to be standing here in the birthplace of the first female Cabinet minister of Canada, Mary Ellen Smith, the first female premier of a Canadian province, Rita Johnson, and the first and only female prime minister of Canada, Kim Campbell.
Why, then, do you think we should dedicate an entire day to women as we move into the third millennium? Have we not achieved the equality for which our mothers and grandmothers fought? March 8th is a wonderful opportunity to see the other side of the coin, to speak on behalf of those women who dare not or cannot, to break down prejudice and bring to light the lingering disparities between women and men.
Make no mistake—even here at home, in a country as progressive as Canada, known for its commitment to human rights and freedom, women must continue to fight to preserve what they have accomplished, to better their circumstances, and to achieve equality.
In Canada, women are still paid less than men for equal work, even when they have higher levels of education.
It is women who still work more unpaid hours.
It is women who are still most likely to live in poverty.
It is women who are still at greatest risk of being attacked at home or in the street. Their lack of income often limits their ability to leave violent marital situations and protect themselves, protect their children, from physical abuse and injury.
I know this because I helped to establish a network of shelters for battered women in Quebec. I spent my early working years on this vital cause, and now, as Governor General, I have no intention of abandoning it.
As I witnessed the helplessness of the women I was helping, I also saw part of my own story. I was once a little girl who saw her father strike her mother. My younger sister and I lived with the anguish that all children feel when the family unit breaks down.
I learned the meaning of courage from our mother, who raised her two daughters on her own. For years, we lived in a small basement apartment in Montreal that had just one and a half rooms. Despite the uncertainty that comes with working odd jobs, my mother held her head high, her pride and dignity never wavering. My father, who suffered the brutality of torture, is now free from the hell of violent behaviour. This is the story of a family that happens to be my family.
All of this life experience helped me to help other families for nearly ten years as they confronted prejudice and the anguish of solitude to start over and begin their lives anew.
My first four official visits took me to Winnipeg, Charlottetown, Montreal and Toronto, where I met with women and men making a tremendous contribution to fight violence against women. I would like to salute the work of grassroots organizations that, with very little means and so very little recognition, manage to accomplish so very much. In fact, as they told me, they are only considered experts when they provide free services and statistics for research.
Speaking of statistics, the number of victims and the number of deaths are staggering. We cannot ignore these numbers and pretend not to know.
For Aboriginal women, the situation is even worse. They are the most vulnerable of all in the face of poverty, violence and exploitation.
I do not like to quote statistics, but in this case, they are so powerfully evocative that I must share them with you. Compared to other Canadian women, Aboriginal women are three times as likely to be subjected to some form of violence at the hands of their spouse and eight times as likely to be killed by their spouse after separation.
And what of immigrant women, especially those who do not have yet an official status? And women with a disability, elderly women, single mothers?
More than a quarter live in poverty. Because their skills go unrecognized; because they have to start over from nothing; because they are alone, with nowhere to turn, no means of supporting themselves, no family to depend on. Because they cared for others to their own detriment, these women are pulled into the vicious cycle of menial work—earning barely enough to live on—social assistance or the street.
Often excluded from society, they live in fear, in isolation, with absolutely no chance of making the choices that are so vital to their survival, choices like a decent job, health and acceptable living conditions.
The road to equality is long indeed, and despite all that we have accomplished, it seems at times that we are back where we began.
As a journalist, I often witnessed the suffering of women and girls throughout the world. For financial reasons, they are exploited, humiliated, impoverished; they are denied education and traded as little more than objects. In the name of ideology, they are harassed, assaulted, beaten, raped and murdered. Their every action is decided for them.
Denying more than half of the world’s population the most basic human rights is one of the biggest scandals of our time.
I left behind a regime of terror. I know the courage it takes to keep from falling into despair when faced with injustice every day. Like many others, I found Canada to be an unmatched land of freedom, where each and every person has the opportunity to thrive. We must not understate this good fortune or pass over it in silence.
Because of our good fortune, we must all of us—women and men—defend steadfastly, vigilantly and yes, even stubbornly the rights of women and children, who are always the most affected by conflict, violence, oppression and injustice. Demanding these rights is the only way to ensure the freedom so abundant in Canada.
I want our children—girls and boys—to inherit a world where respect is valued above all else. And I have every reason to believe that this will happen. Because in every corner of the world, more and more women and men are daring to rise up and put a human face on humanity. You are among the daring, and I thank you for this.
International Women’s Day is a sign of hope and a hymn to the freedom that we desire for ourselves and for the young women and men who will follow in our footsteps. I salute the courage and commitment of all Canadians working to ensure that women and men of all backgrounds, who have inherited our world, reach out to one another and strive to make it a better, more fair, more human place to live.
Thank you.
