Firelight Celebrates International Women’s Day

Today March 8, 2016 is International Women’s Day. I asked a colleague what she thought of when I mentioned International Women’s Day, she said, “I feel really lucky”. Living in Canada we are lucky but while we celebrate the progress that has been made toward equality for women in Canada in recent years, we recognize that we still have a long way to go.  

I celebrate that we have a government where half of the federal cabinet is composed of women and I celebrate that the Board of Directors of Firelight is 50% women and that we have a female chair (Ginger Gibson) and co-chair (Rachel Olson). I also want to honour the hard work of so many to forward the issues of violence against indigenous women and to finally see a National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

It is important to remember in Canada we continue to struggle as a society to support women and children to succeed in whichever role they choose. We must continue to value and support indigenous women, push for adequate funding for childcare; for women to feel safe and to prevent violence against women; for pay equity and better representation of women in leadership positions.

To celebrate this day we invite you reply to this post and tell us about a woman who has inspired you and why. Let’s celebrate women today!

I would like to recognize Dr. Vandana Shiva for her amazing work mobilizing and empowering women and fighting for social and environmental justice.

Carolyn Whittaker, Firelight Director and Ecology Lead