Honourable Marcelle Meresereau

Minister of the Environment, Deputy Premier, and
Minister responsible for the Status of Women

Good morning, I am very pleased to be able to speak at this conference today. Upon reflection, women have come a long way. For instance, the wage gap is narrowing, and in some situations in New Brunswick, women have been able to move into senior positions. We are very fortunate to have women such as the Honourable Margaret McCain - Lieutenant Governor, Ms. Shirley Dysart - Speaker of the House. We are getting a good track record, we have progressed.

However, I feel the area where we are not quite as successful, where we still have a lot of work to do is in the professions and trades. If we do not address this area, then it is going to be difficult for our young women to become financially independent.

Some of the issues that have currently been mentioned as problem areas by women's groups across New Brunswick are health, poverty, education and training. For those of us who maybe twenty or twenty five years ago thought that there was a lot of work to do, the basic problem areas then are still problem areas today. I look forward in continuing to work towards equality, with the NB Advisory Council on the Status of Women, and hopefully together we will be able to advance the cause.

I would like to give you a "bird's eye" view of what we have been doing since the Premier asked me to represent the portfolio of the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, a position I am extremely pleased to represent. One of the first things I tried to do is to make sure that the structures that are in place were as effective as they could be, for the portfolio for the Status of Women is a fairly loose structure with no department. The mandate that was given to those departments who received the resources from the Directorate were still very important and would be accountable to the Minister responsible for the Status of Women. Of course, the Council has the advisory role, but it also has other extremely important roles to play, which are connecting with New Brunswick women, networking and lobbying for women's issues. It is for this reason that the arms length capacity of the Council is so significant as it enables those roles to be played out.

Internally, departments such as Health, Justice, Solicitor General, Advanced Education and Labour, Municipalities of Culture and Housing, and I added Environment, were put together in a committee in November of 1994. This inter-departmental committee reports to Policies and Priorities through myself, which again is an important arm of the government as the Premier, of course, chairs Policies and Priorities.

However, the important thing for me as a Minister, and especially as a woman, and what I have found over the last several months was that the subject of the status of women is probably not one that we think about very often. This can be approached as being positive, but listening to the problems and issues raised by speakers today we know that there is definitely a lot yet to be accomplished. Needless to say, we should never take things for granted.

The area I feel that we really need to take a strong look at is the area of education, and how our youths are being educated. I still believe that from the time young children begin their schooling until the time they reach grade five or six, we have already ingrained particular stereotypes. We need to bring this aspect to the schools, teachers, parents and community. We need to have the young boys and young girls coming out with a clear message that it is okay for a girl to be a plumber or a welder, and to get the message across that it is okay for a young woman to be self sufficient and economically independent. No matter what happen's through one's life, if you are not economically independent then it is going to be a lot easier for you to be a victim and to get trapped in situations which you will be unable to get out of. I'm not suggesting that this is the only area that we should work on, but I do believe that it is extremely important that we teach our young girls to be independent and free to choose which ever route they decide to take in life.

Just on a more personal note, I have a nineteen year old daughter who is having a bit of a career choice problem at the moment. I am trying to gage with her to answer what she wants to do with her life. And even today in 1995, with a mother who has always worked, she does not completely understand the importance of preparing her life for herself. However, my son knows that no matter what, he has to prepare for life and for economic subsistence.

I guess that leaves me with another question and issue. I think it is wonderful that we now have daughters that are lawyers, doctors and engineers, but I have never heard to many parents say that they are proud of their daughters who may be plumbers, mechanics or welders. I am not suggesting that these parents are not proud, but it just doesn't seem to be something you hear expressed very often. But, how many of our young women are going to be professionals that we are proud that women are today? By all means be proud of them, but lets never forget that there is going to be a lot of women who are going to earn their lives in trades and areas that are not traditionally considered women's areas. If we don't encourage and express our pride in these women, then what are we doing for those girls who are not going to be the professionals? Are we not delegating these young women into those areas that are considered the traditional female roles?

I guess the overall point that I want to make is that we have come a long way as a society - that the way we have gone about changing things has changed - but we must always keep in mind that there is still more to be done. I want you to know that I am committed to advancing the status of women, and that I will keep working with the Council and groups to achieve equality. I would also like to mention voluntarism, as Senator Kinsella had mentioned. I do not know where we would be today if it hadn't been for voluntarism, particularly the type that doesn't normally show up or receive a pat on the back. Although I have never made a study of it, I suspect that a lot of the volunteer work is done by women. So I would certainly like to thank all the volunteers who put this conference together. I thank you all very much for your time and for inviting me to speak today.

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© 2007 Atlantic Human Rights Centre, St. Thomas University