Introduction
341. In accordance with article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Government of Québec submits this fourth report which deals with the measures adopted between January 1, 1991 and early 1994 to give effect to the provisions of the Convention. The report deals with the progress made during this period.
342. First of all, it should be noted that on December 18, 1991, the National Assembly of Québec passed the new Civil Code of Québec, legislation of general application that deals with various issues covered by the Convention. This new Civil Code, in harmony with the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, R.S.Q., c. C-12, and the general principles of law, governs persons, relations between persons and property. Its coming into force on January 1, 1994, confirms the family law reforms of 1980 and the 1989 provisions concerning the partition of family patrimony, which enshrine the equality of women.
343. In 1993, the Government of Québec adopted a new policy on the status of women. Convinced that independence is required if the situation of women is to be improved, the Government intends to provide women with active support so that they can control the conditions of their social, personal and occupational lives and play their full role in all fields of activity in Québec society.
344. The Government will take action in four areas, which provide the parties involved with guidelines on those areas of activity that should be given priority. They are as follows: financial independence, respect for physical and psychological integrity, elimination of violence against women, and recognition and development of their collective contribution.
345. The policy as a whole will be implemented over 10 years. The first stage involves 135 commitments by the Government over 3 years (1993 to 1996). Initially, 44 departments and agencies will participate. These commitments are the result of an initiative involving government co-operation and partnership with unions as well as with the parapublic, community and private sectors. La politique en matière de condition féminine : Un avenir à partager... [policy on the status of women. A future to share ...] and the accompanying documents have been filed with the report.
346. This policy is another step toward establishing an egalitarian society. Women's independence, just like the recognition of basic rights, is a key value that must provide the basis for the creation of more egalitarian relations between women and men and must allow Québec society to make the principles of justice and equity its own.
347. Section 10 of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms satisfies the requirements of the Convention by prohibiting discrimination based on such criteria as sex, pregnancy and civil status. Section 10.1 prohibits harassment based on the same grounds. This discrimination against women, whether intentional or not, is prohibited in the following areas, among others: the exercise of fundamental freedoms and rights, the right to equality in the exercise of these rights, the provision of goods or services offered to the public, access to public transportation and public places, employment and the exercise of political, legal, economic and social rights. This prohibition deals with both private and public acts, since the Charter is also binding on the Government of Québec. Moreover, section 48 of the Charter provides that every aged person and every handicapped person has a right to be protected against any form of exploitation.
348. Like other governments, the Government of Québec has taken action to eliminate violence against women in order to ensure their physical safety and enable them to exercise their rights and participate equally in society's activities.
349. Recommendation 19 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women states that violence against women is a form of discrimination that inhibits women's ability to enjoy rights and freedoms on a basis of equality with men. Consequently, it recommends that the States parties take steps to ensure that the reports reflect the close link that exists between discrimination against women, gender-based violence, and the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
350. To comply with the Committee's request, and since this subject was not dealt with in previous reports, the Government of Québec feels it is appropriate to provide an account of all the measures taken since the mid-1970s to combat violence against women. Because the subject is so vast in scope, the various actions taken in Québec to combat violence against women are presented in Appendix 1.
Article 1 - Links to Convention text and other sections
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351. The measures taken to give effect to this paragraph have been alluded to under article 1 and in earlier reports, to which the reader can refer if necessary.
Article 2(b)
352. During the period in question, 612 of the 2,572 complaint cases opened by the Commission des droits de la personne [human rights commission] of Québec dealt exclusively with discrimination against or harassment of women based on sex or pregnancy. The vast majority of these complaints resulted in settlements at the Commission level. The situation with respect to complaints of discrimination or harassment based on sex, pregnancy or civil status (marital status), specifically in the employment sector, that reached the courts is as follows: a dozen actions that have been instituted are awaiting judgment; sixteen judgments have been rendered, most in the complainant's favour; about fifteen cases ended with out-of-court settlements.
Article 2(c)
353. It should be noted that in June 1989, the National Assembly of Québec passed a bill creating a Tribunal des droits de la personne [human rights tribunal]. Since January 1, 1990, this tribunal has had jurisdiction to rule on complaints of discrimination or exploitation. Its decisions are enforceable and it also has jurisdiction over affirmative action programs. It is made up of at least seven members, who are selected for their experience, expertise, sensitivity and pronounced interest in human rights.
Article 2(e) and (f)
354. Employment equity strategy The representation of women in the labour force has more than doubled since the early 1940s, increasing from 21 percent to 44 percent. However, this increase has not resulted in equality between men and women in the labour force. This situation led the Government to take action by focusing on an integrated employment equity strategy concentrating on three areas: education and training, the labour market, and the reconciling of family and employment responsibilities.
355. Harassment: In 1993, the Government of Québec adopted a harassment policy covering both sexual harassment and harassment based on any other ground of discrimination set out in section 10 of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, including race, colour and religion. All departments and agencies with staff appointed under the Public Service Act (R.S.Q., c. F-3.1.1) must enforce this policy.
356. The policy provides for two complementary approaches in preventing and remedying harassment: first, awareness and information, and second, the creation of an internal mechanism for handling complaints from victims.
357. Wage Parity: Since 1989, the Government has been promoting wage parity in all public and parapublic sector jobs in order to increase wage equity among employment groups. An assessment of jobs has resulted in 84.3 percent of women being given a wage adjustment. The remedial measures increased the total wage bill by more than $330 million. This government initiative has affected 14 percent of Québec workers.
358. In the public and parapublic sectors, the average wage for women is currently 85 percent of that for men. The 15 percent difference can be explained mainly by the concentration of women in a limited number of the lowest-paid jobs.
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359. Employment equity The proportion of women in the labour force has increased, and 80 percent of net labour force growth in Québec since 1980 is accounted for primarily by the presence of women. This trend should continue.
360. Despite the progress made, it must be acknowledged that women work in a limited number of sectors, which generally offer lower wages or fewer opportunities for advancement and fewer fringe benefits.
361. Accordingly, the Government of Québec feels that action should be taken not only with respect to the labour market, but also with respect to training, education, and the reconciling of family and employment responsibilities. This is the thrust of the employment equity strategy it has developed, which was discussed above under article 2(e) and (f).
362. Women with disabilities Although concerns about the status of women have existed for several decades in Québec, the same cannot be said of women with disabilities. As a matter of fact, this group began to assert its claims only ten years or so ago.
363. In May 1993, the Forum pour l'intégration sociale des personnes handicapées [forum for the integration of the disabled into society] set out to assess the achievements of the last ten years and guide future action in this area. For the first time at an event of this size women's issues were on the agenda. A discussion on women brought together government agencies responsible for the status of women, the Office des personnes handicapées du Québec [Québec agency for the disabled], and representatives of associations. At this initial meeting, arrangements for co-operation and exchanges were also made.
Article 3 - Links to Convention text and other
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364. Affirmative action program: It should be noted that the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms devotes a whole chapter to affirmative action programs; the Government of Québec's contribution to Canada's first report discussed this subject extensively in pages 12 to 14 (pages 333 to 335 of UN document CEDAW/C/5/Add.16).
365. The pilot projects started in 1986 under the affirmative action programs concerning employment were evaluated in the spring of 1991. A comprehensive report was released the following July. It noted that over the four years of the action plan, 76 organizations had taken affirmative action measures affecting close to 900 establishments and 150,000 persons. More than $13 million in funding was granted.
366. With respect to affirmative action programs in the construction industry, in late June 1991 the Minister of Labour announced his intention to study ways of setting up such programs. In October 1993, at the Sommet sur l'industrie de la construction [high-level meeting on the construction industry], the parties involved in this industry undertook to include a clause in collective agreements that would promote women's access to the industry and to create a committee responsible for developing mechanisms to facilitate such access and maintaining and increasing the number of women working in the industry.
367. Contractual obligation program: For a description of this program, the reader can refer to paragraph 347 of the third report of Canada. Since the implementation of the contractual obligation program began in 1989, 231 firms have committed themselves to setting up an affirmative action program. Of this number, 123 are successful bidders and 2 have finished setting up and implementing an affirmative action program.
368. The Commission des droits de la personne has been asked by the Government to evaluate the performance of firms subject to contractual obligations. The following table summarizes the situation for 1991, 1992 and 1993:
1991:
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369. Over these three years, 16 firms that did not meet their commitments were punished by being prohibited from bidding again or receiving a grant. 370. Activities of the Commission des droits de la personne in setting up voluntary affirmative action programs One purpose of the promotion program is to provide union organizations and employers with the training and information needed to set up such programs. On request, expert advice is provided concerning all aspects of setting up the program, particularly structuring and collecting employment data, analysing availability, and analysing employment policies and practices. Finally, the development aspect concerns the creation of instruments to implement the programs. Fifty-seven files were active in 1991, 64 in 1992 (33 of which were opened the same year) and 45 in 1993 (27 of which were opened the same year).
Article 4 - Links to Convention text and other
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371. The Policy Statement on the Status of Women stresses the direct and indirect effects of social relations between women and men, especially regarding health and violence. For example, with respect to violence, it is expressly stated that violence against women is intrinsically linked to the social context in which we live.
372. The Policy Statement on the Status of Women also maintains that the increase in violence-laden messages in the communications media and in pornography promote the emergence of a climate in which all forms of violence, including violence against women, become a fact of life. The negative messages conveyed contribute to society's tolerance of violence, which prevents the development of egalitarian social relations between women and men.
373. The Policy Statement on the Status of Women and the health and welfare policy adopted in 1992 propose that health and welfare be put back at the centre of social and economic development and that the approaches and actions of the system delivering the services be modified by attacking the source of the problems first. These policies recognize that relations between women and men are an important aspect of the social environment that must be influenced to improve the health of the most disadvantaged groups, such as women heads of single-parent families and elderly women living alone.
374. Concerning the promotion of this provision of the Convention, the Commission des droits de la personne awards the Droits et libert‚s [rights and freedoms] prize every year. In 1992, it was awarded to the president of the Qubec Native Women's Association, whose actions have shown that dignity, integrity, independence and basic rights are values that are desired and lived by Aboriginal women as well.
Article 5(b)
375. It is society's responsibility to enable each person to achieve self-fulfilment under the same conditions. Recognizing the role played by women in giving birth to children means promoting a better distribution between women and men, and among the various social and economic institutions involved, of the consequences and costs of having children.
376. The Government recognizes that reconciling family and employment responsibilities, the third aspect of its employment equity strategy, is both a need for parents and a necessity for the organizations to which society must adapt.
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377. In the municipal sector, the representation of women continues to grow slowly. The percentage of women mayors increased from 6.6 percent in 1990 to 8.6 percent in 1993. There are more women serving as municipal councillors, although they are still in the minority. In 1990, 17.7 percent of councillors were women; this figure rose to 19.2 percent in 1993 (Appendix 2).
Article 7(b)
378. In the public service, the representation of women in executive positions is increasing slowly. In all executive employment categories, the proportion of women rose from 20.8 percent in 1991 to 22.1 percent in 1993. There seem to have been certain very limited gains in deputy minister positions: from 2 women in 1991 (or 6.9 percent of the total) to 7 in 1992 (16.3 percent) and 6 in 1993 (13.3 percent). Since this figure is still very low, it is difficult to identify a precise trend on the basis of such a short period. However, it will be noted that, generally, the representation of women is inversely proportional to the hierarchical level of executive positions. Indeed, in the "management" category, women make up slightly more than a quarter of all staff, whereas in deputy minister, associate deputy minister and assistant deputy minister positions, women generally account for less than 15 percent (Appendix 3).
379. As for the representation of women in the judiciary, there has been steady progress over the period from 1990 to 1994. Overall, on March 31 of each year, women accounted for 6.8 percent of judges in 1990, 8.8 percent in 1991, 9.9 percent in 1992, 11.0 percent in 1993 and 11.8 percent in 1994 (Appendix 4).
380. In the realm of politics, the representation of women among those elected has not changed since the last election in 1989. At that time, 23 women were elected to the National Assembly, or 18.4 percent of all the members elected. However, the number of ministers has changed since 1989, following the cabinet shuffle in January 1994. In 1989, six women were appointed ministers, or 20 percent of all ministers. Since January 1994, there have been only four women ministers out of a total of 21, or 19.0 percent of the total. However, they are in charge of important departments such as Income Security, Health and Social Services, Treasury Board, Culture and Communications.
Article 7(c)
381. In Québec school boards in 1992-93, the only year for which data are available, 34 of the chairpersons and 52 percent of the board members were women.
382. It should be noted that to fund the activities of women's groups, government departments and agencies distributed grants of $25,407,306 for 1991-92. This figure rose to $29,456,288 in 1992-93 and $34,186,282 in 1993-94.
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383. The democratization of education in Québec has greatly benefited girls. The gains speak for themselves: between 1978 and 1990, the number of degrees awarded to women increased by 47 percent at the bachelor level, 133 percent at the master's level and 151 percent at the doctoral level.
384. In 1991, they earned 53 percent of secondary diplomas, 58 percent of college diplomas and 57 percent of university degrees. The proportion of girls proceeding to college education after finishing secondary school is 70.2 percent, compared to only 52.9 percent for boys.
385. Despite this progress, the Government of Québec is continuing its efforts through targeted and diversified action to consolidate the gains that have been made, particularly in the fields of science and technology and in occupational diversification for girls and women. In this area, the situation requires rectification. In 1992, 80.4 percent of the occupational training diplomas at the secondary level awarded to women were concentrated in three sectors out of a possible twenty-three: beauty care, secretarial work and health care. At the college level, women were the recipients of 5.5 percent of technical training diplomas in the physical sciences degrees and 29.3 percent in the biological sciences. At the university level, in applied sciences, women received only 21.9 percent of the degrees, while in pure sciences this figure was 44 percent and at the doctoral level, it was 26.1 percent.
386. In the status of women policy, the Government admits that occupational diversification for women is a significant problem. It therefore places priority on encouraging girls and women at all levels of education to succeed academically and remain in school, increasing their participation in cutting-edge sectors, and encouraging them to continue in those sectors. These actions will be supported by an inter-departmental committee on professional diversification, which reports to the Secrétariat à la condition féminine [status of women secretariat].
Article 10(c)
387. In 1991-92, the Department of Education continued its work of removing all forms of sexism from educational materials. In order to do this, it produced a framework for analysis that was made available to school boards and it distributed a descriptive critical bibliography of Québec literature for young people from which sexist references had been removed. This was entitled Le plaisir de lire sans sexisme [the pleasure of non-sexist reading] and was distributed to all school libraries. It also developed a plan of action to eliminate sexism from attitudes and teaching practices. Finally, it produced and distributed throughout the school system a short film entitled Clippe mais clippe égal [favour but favour equally], accompanied by a teacher's guide for students in elementary and secondary schools.
388. The Office de la langue française du Québec [French-language board], for its part, published a guide for use in the feminization of job titles and texts.
389. The commitments made in the status of women policy emphasize actions geared to college students. The Department of Education also plans to develop not only the skills of future teachers in detecting and suppressing various forms of discrimination, in particular those based on sex, but also their ability to choose and use non-discriminatory teaching materials and their ability to help all students to know themselves and to continue with their studies despite the difficulties these students may experience on account of their sex.
Article 10(f)
390. In the early 1990s, 35.3 percent of students "dropped out" of school, just over four out of ten boys and slightly under three out of ten girls. The same figures apply in 1994.
391. In 1992, the Department of Education implemented an action plan, Chacun ses devoirs [everybody to their homework], with a budget of $367.6 million, intended for the whole of the school system, elementary and secondary. In five years this operation is designed to enable 80 percent of students to graduate from secondary school by increasing the number of graduates by 3 percent per year.
392. The reasons for "dropping out" and the impact of this decision differ according to sex. Since 1993, the Department of Education has sought to determine the causes of "dropping out" among girls and will provide particular support to encourage teenage mothers to succeed at school.
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393. In order to alleviate the worsening financial situation of minimum-wage earners, the minimum hourly rate was raised from 1991 to 1993 from $5.55 to $5.70 and to $5.85 on October 1 of those years. Over the same period, the hourly rate for workers who receive tips was raised from $4.83 to $4.98 and $5.13. Lastly, the minimum weekly rate payable to a domestic residing in the home of the employer was raised from $215 to $221 and $227 from 1991 to 1993. These successive increases in the minimum wage benefit mainly women, who account for 70 percent of minimum-wage earners.
394. Earnings are not solely dependent on salary. The present comparison between the earnings of women and men, however, relates only to salary. The Secrétariat à la condition féminine [status of women secretariat] has undertaken to set up a task force on overall earnings. The primary mandate of this group will be to determine whether discrepancies also exist in other forms of earnings such as fringe benefits, conditions of work and performance pay. It will then be necessary to determine, where appropriate, the extent of and reasons for the differences.
395. Since January 1, 1991, as a result of the amendments to the Labour Standards Act, R.S.Q., c. N-1.1, employers have been prohibited from giving a person whose average hourly wage does not exceed twice the minimum wage a salary rate below what is given to other employees performing the same duties in the same establishment solely on the ground that this employee usually works fewer hours per week. Employers are also prohibited from reducing the duration of annual leave or changing the method of calculating compensation in the same circumstances and for the same reason.
396. Women are very much in the majority in part-time employment. Approximately 70 percent of those who hold part-time jobs are women. One woman in five has such a job whereas the figure for men is less than one in ten.
397. The Bill to amend the Québec Pension Plan Act, R.S.Q., c. R-9, was passed in June 1993. It provides in particular that a retirement pension may be shared between the beneficiary and his or her married spouse on retirement as long as the couple is not legally separated, the spouse is not less than 60 years old and is not a contributor to the Québec Pension Plan or an equivalent plan. The pension is shared at the request of one of the spouses.
Article 11(2)(a) and (b)
398. The Labour Standards Act has been amended to include unpaid parental leave of up to 34 weeks. The conditions that apply when the individual returns to work vary in accordance with the duration of the leave. Thus, if the employee returns to work after not more than 12 weeks of leave, the employee may return to his or her usual position with the same benefits, including the salary to which he or she would have been entitled if no leave had been taken. If the employee has taken more than 12 weeks of parental leave, the employer is merely required to reinstate him or her in a comparable position in the same establishment. As in the case of maternity leave, a presumption of prohibited practice continues to apply for at least 20 weeks after the return to work from parental leave.
399. This Act confers the right to leave but does not provide for income replacement. At the present time, income replacement during maternity leave and parental leave is provided by the Unemployment Insurance Act, a federal statute that provides for partial income replacement.
400. On December 16, 1992, the Government issued new regulations making it possible to determine and allocate each year the number of day care places that are totally subsidized or for which financial assistance and grants may be provided. In addition to prescribing how the number of new day care places for which funding may be provided by the Office des services de garde à l'enfance [day care services board] is determined, the regulations also contain the criteria governing the allocation of these new places among the sixteen regions of Québec and within those regions.
401. As of March 31, 1994, Québec child care services regulated by the day care services board provided a total of 102,183 places: 49,117 in day care centres, 15,253 in families and 37,135 at schools.
402. It should be noted that in November 1992 the Government adopted a new Politique d'intervention en service de garde à l'intention des enfants issus de milieux défavorisés [policy on action by day care services in the case of children from disadvantaged homes]. This policy has two major objectives: to provide more support for day care staff so that they are better able to meet the specific needs of children from disadvantaged families and to implement a program to stimulate children at an early age and to provide a support program for parents.
403. Finally, the Taxation Act, R.S.Q., c. I-3, enables parents who work outside the home to deduct a large part of the cost of day care for their children from their taxable income. In addition to this deduction, there is a tax credit for all persons with one or more dependent children.
Article 11 - Links to Convention text and other
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404. Following numerous criticisms of the management of the preventive withdrawal program for pregnant workers or nursing mothers, the program was refocused on its primary objective, namely, prevention. Since 1990, the program has had a new name: Pour une maternité sans danger [Maternity without danger].
405. In 1992, 19,029 applications or 92.8 percent of those received (20,700) during the year were accepted. The total amount of compensation paid was $80 million. The number of applications accepted was slightly down from the figure for 1991 (19,307). Between 1991 and 1992, however, there was a 4 percent increase in the total amount of compensation paid.
406. The primary objective of the program is still to enable the employee to remain at work by means of a temporary reassignment. Unfortunately, the almost systematic withdrawal of pregnant women from workplaces penalizes these women by depriving them of all the benefits that would result from a more continuous presence at work.
407. Legal decisions in the employment sector Between January 1991 and March 31, 1994, many judgments were issued in the employment sector:
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Article 12(1)
408. The reform of the health and social services system and the adoption of the Politique de la santé et du bien-être [health and welfare policy] were aimed at making significant reductions in the health and social problems that caused most suffering to the people of Québec. This policy recognizes the relations between men and women as constituting an important aspect of the social environment on which action should be taken in the future in order to improve the health of the most affected groups.
409. In order to ensure that mental health services take the needs and living conditions of women into account, the Department of Health and Social Services organized training sessions on feminist intervention, during the 1992-1994 period, which were offered to persons working with women in both community organizations and various types of institutions in the health and social services system.
410. In 1993, the Comité de la santé mentale du Québec [Québec mental health committee] published a work entitled Le défi de l'égalité, la santé mentale des hommes et des femmes [the challenge of equality: the mental health of men and women]. This publication was used to enhance the Politique de santé mentale [mental health policy] adopted in 1989. It takes a preventive and promotional approach, as do the other seven publications prepared by groups of experts attached to the committee on various questions involving mental health: aging, poverty, work, cultural communities, Aboriginal people, rehabilitation, prevention and promotion.
411. In 1993, a task force was formed with a mandate to propose, for the benefit of all regions of the province, a reference framework to promote the development and integration of services to be offered to women as part of regional plans for the organization of mental health services.
412. In Phase III of the Stratégie québécoise de lutte contre le sida et de prévention des maladies transmissibles sexuellement [Québec strategy against AIDS and to prevent sexually transmitted diseases], the action plan of the Department of Health and Social Services for the years 1992 to 1995 identifies women as a group to which priority must be given. Acting through the Centre québécois de coordination sur le sida [Québec AIDS co-ordination centre], the Department provides grants to regional associations to implement preventive projects for women. After awareness of the impact of AIDS in relations between men and women was raised at the Conference on Les femmes et le sida : Les enjeux [women and AIDS: the issues] in 1990, the Government took other initiatives such as funding a residence for women who are HIV-positive or have AIDS, the development of special projects for women in Québec and cultural communities and publication of information and reference brochures.
Article 12(2)
413. Québec adopted a new policy on perinatal care in 1993 entitled Protéger la naissance, soutenir les parents : un engagement collectif [protecting birth, supporting parents: a collective undertaking], which was based on the La périnatalité au Québec [perinatal care in Québec] series published by the Department of Health and Social Services. The policy retains certain objectives of the 1973 policy that were not reached and takes into account new problems that have emerged over the last decade or so. The major areas for action suggested in the policy are based on the conviction that pregnancy, delivery, birth and breast-feeding form a natural physiological process and a multi-dimensional reality and that parents are able to take care of their children, a responsibility they will assume more readily if they feel that they are recognized by society and supported in their role.
414. With financial support from the Department of Health and Social Services, several community organizations working in the field of perinatal care are involved in activities with and provide services to disadvantaged pregnant women, pregnant teenagers or young mothers experiencing difficulty.
415. The Act respecting the practice of midwifery within the framework of pilot projects, R.S.Q., c. P-16.1, which became law on June 22, 1990, authorizes experiments in the practice of midwifery in Québec in eight pilot projects. The Act provides for the creation of a Conseil d'évaluation des projets-pilotes [pilot project assessment board], criteria for approving these projects and their contents, including the creation of a multi-disciplinary council, as well as mechanisms to follow up on and assess the pilot projects. The Act also describes the practice of midwifery and provides for the creation of the Comité d'admission à la pratique des sages-femmes [committee on admission to the practice of midwifery], which must devise criteria governing the competence and training of mid-wives and establish criteria of obstetrical and neo-natal risk. These criteria are contained in two regulations issued by order on August 19, 1992 and March 24, 1993.
416. The Act provides that the Conseil d'èvaluation des projects-pilotes must file its report and recommendations in December 1997, nine months before the Act ceases to apply in September 1998.
417. In 1992, the Department of Health and Social Services began consultations concerning a policy document on planned parenthood. The aim of these policies is to promote the making of enlightened and responsible choices in planning parenthood while promoting optimum sexual health. Following the adoption of these policies, each regional board will have to analyse the needs of the public in this regard and establish appropriate criteria and mechanisms for consultation and co-ordination in the organization of health and psycho-social services. Planned parenthood services are an aspect of essential services, from the point of view of women's reproductive health, and are a major means of preventing social and health problems among young persons.
418. Moreover, as far as nutrition during pregnancy and breast-feeding are concerned, the Regulation respecting Income Security, S-3.1.1, r. 2, gives income security recipients special benefits of $40 per month during pregnancy and benefits of $50 per month for breastfeeding a dependent child of under six months.
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419. In 1992, the birth allowance, which had been paid since 1988 and graduated in accordance with the child's birth order, was increased starting with the third child. The allowance, which is paid over a period of five years, was increased from $7,500 to $8,000. In the case of adoption, the age limit for entitlement to the birth allowance was increased from two to five years.
Article 13(b)
420. The participation of women in and the contribution they have made to the world of business has increased substantially over the last few years. Studies have shown that women entrepreneurs face a number of problems, in particular access to various sources of funding and the need to develop networks of contacts. The Federal Business Development Bank, in co-operation with various partners and sponsors, including a number of Québec government departments and agencies, implemented the Step-up Program: Business Expansion Training for Women in the fall of 1992. It includes workshops that provide training on how to make a business grow, offer possibilities of twinning with a female sponsor and the establishment of networks of contacts. Following the success of the pilot project, this program has now entered Phase II and should continue.
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421. In 1990, the Accès à la propriété pour les conjointes et conjoints de 40 ans et plus [access to property for spouses over 40] program was developed and implemented by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. It provides for the payment of $5,000 grants to women farmers who do not hold title to the property in the farming business in which they have worked for several years. The grant is designed to cover the cost of transferring the property to these farmers. The program ended on March 31, 1994 after 437 grants had been paid.
422. In 1992, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food adopted three-year approaches on the status of women in agriculture which are designed to gain recognition of the professional work done by women farmers, promote the establishment of young women farmers, emphasize human aspects in the management of farming businesses and promote participation by women farmers in rural life.
423. In March 1994, Québec had 26,879 women farmers, 11,234, or 41.8 percent, of whom held title to their property.
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424. Article 392 of the Civil Code of Québec states that spouses have the same rights and obligations. Also, article 394 provides that spouses together take in hand the moral and material direction of the family. This principle is also recognized in section 47 of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. Article 600 of the Civil Code of Québec provides that the father and mother exercise parental authority together, while article 599 adds that they have the rights and duties of custody, supervision and education of their children.
425. Articles 414 to 426 of the Civil Code establish a family patrimony that may be partitioned in the case of separation from bed and board, divorce, annulment or death. It should be noted that the provisions governing the family patrimony facilitate negotiations between spouses when their relationship is discontinued, avoids the undue impoverishment of one of the spouses and has a positive impact on the children.
Article 16 - Links to Convention text and other
sections
CONV |
JUR | FED | NS |
NB | ON
| MB | AB | BC |
NT