March Challenge - Day 6: 100 years of International Women's Day

1919 - Full access to the vote was given to all women in Canada. (We were the 6th nation in the world to grant this right.)

1921 - Agnes MacPhail is the first female MP elected to the House of Commons.

1989 - 68 years later, Audrey McLaughlin becomes the first leader of a major political party in Canada.

1993 - 4 years after that, Kim Campbell becomes the first female Prime Minister of Canada.

2011 - Canada ties Mauritania for 49th place in the ranking of % of women represented in politics at the Federal level. If you're curious, Rwanda is #1.

So why all of these dates? Today marks the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day - recognition of the great strides women have come since 1911, where in only two countries, women had the right to vote. It is also a day to recognize how much further we need to go to level out the inequities that women still face every single day.

One might ask why I only picked important milestones for women in politics. Well, politics is a great snapshot of the country's mental state. In times of economic uncertainty, people vote conservative. In times of economic prosperity, they tend to vote for parties that promote more social spending. The fact that women make up just 22% of our House of Commons, our national legislative body, shows that we have quite a ways to make up.

As someone who grew up around women of strong character and intellect, it often surprised me when I heard statistics like how Canadian women continue to earn on average 20% less than their direct male counterparts. Or how women now outnumber men in universities, yet their representation in local, provincial and federal governments rarely match anywhere close to that number.

I recently watched a great TED talk by Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook. She was speaking at the TEDxWomen's conference, and spoke eloquently about how too few women are making it to the tops of any profession - from politics (13% is the world average for governments), to business (tops out at 15%), to entertainment, to technology - women are still hitting that supposedly broken glass ceiling from the 80s. She points to the fact that women have much harder choices to make when determining whether to advance her professional career or cultivate her personal life. She states their are three simple messages to help women look towards the top of their professions - always have a seat at the table, make your partner a real partner and don't leave (mentally) before you leave (your career). It's a fantastic talk and one worthy of 20 minutes of your time.

It is important to recognize how important balance is in any aspect - in nature, in society, in our lives. Having an imbalance or extremes lead to conflict, wars and genocide. This is why it's so important to continue to work towards a balance in every professional arena, to get women the equal representation, pay and respect that men receive.

I've only touched upon development of women in the professional world, but haven't barely scratched the surface of all of the other issues that need to be resolved before women can enjoy equal status with men. Abuse, poverty, health issues and discrimination all disproportionately affect women moreso than men. Abuse being one of the worst injustices - 1 in 4 women in the world will be victims of physical abuse. A book I recently read called "Half the Sky" talks about poverty and how it leads women around the world to prostitution, a gateway to the abuse I spoke of a sentence ago. Maternal health, while enjoyed by the majority of the develop world, claims the lives of millions of women and their unborn children due to improper medical treatment during pregnancy, botched abortions and unsterile living conditions. Discrimination, which leaves little physical signs, scars even deeper emotionally, leading to self-esteem and other mental health issues.

We must remember that men have to also champion women's rights. We have a role to play in making sure our mothers, sisters, daughters and friends are recognized for their contributions to our society and celebrated as our equals. And as members of the developed world, we cannot stop championing this cause as developing nations look at us to lead as examples. If we don't show them that women deserve equal respect and treatment, they will not follow.

Sadly, coverage of this historic day for women's rights probably made page two of the paper or the 10min mark of the evening news. What's even sadder is that Charlie Sheen made more headlines recently due to his antics than any coverage leading up to this day. Another sign that women's rights is slipping on our list of priorities.