From a shortage of affordable childcare, to justice for MMIWG2S+, to lack of access to reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare, to gender-based violence, the fight for equality for women and gender diverse people is far from over. 

Every day, people across the country are struggling to make ends meet as the costs of basics— like food, housing, and utilities—skyrocket. Women are being hit particularly hard. In Canada, sixty percent of minimum wage workers are women. Ninety percent of the families accessing emergency shelters are headed by single mothers. And 1.5 million women live in poverty. Migrant, Indigenous and racialized women are being disproportionately crushed by our rigged economy. 

Trans people also face growing threats to their autonomy, safety, and dignity. They face housing insecurity, a discriminatory labour market, and gender-based violence. In Alberta, trans kids are under attack by Danielle Smith's UCP government, setting a dangerous legislative precedent.

In every corner of the country, women are holding together the threads of our frayed social safety net while their work remains underpaid and underappreciated. Classrooms are bursting at the seams. Hospitals are overflowing. Care homes are understaffed. And daycare waitlists are neverending. None of this is by accident. It is a direct result of decades of Liberal and Conservative cuts that have prioritized corporate profit over care. 

More than ever, women’s rights and gender equality are under attack both here in Canada and around the world. The rise of austerity, right-wing extremism, and gender-based violence requires us to act with urgency and moral clarity. On Monday, January 26th at 5pm PT | 8pm ET, join MP Leah Gazan and Avi Lewis for our fourth Solidarity Session, on Championing Women’s Rights & Gender Equality to talk about what it will take to build an economy rooted in care and how we can fight for the feminist future we all deserve. 

Leah Gazan has been the NDP Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre since 2019. She is the NDP Critic for Families, Children, and Social Development; Critic for Women and Gender Equality; and Critic for Post-Secondary Education. Gazan is a member of Wood Mountain Lakota Nation, located in Saskatchewan, Treaty 4 territory.