The Success of Canadian Women

On the front page of Metro Toronto yesterday has a photo of our gold medal winners for the women's curling team. The article underneath (as well as countless articles in other publications) noted that 14 of our 19 medals have been won by women. In fact, Canadian women are #1 in the world. I say: praise for Canadian women!

This month is also Black History Month and Black Canadian women have also made significant inroads. A small publication that is available by small donation in downtown Toronto describes the success of Dr. Jean Augustine - the first Black woman elected to Parliament in 1993.

At Queen's, one of the most popular clubs at is the Women and Law Club. It is open to men and women, and they have some of the best parties. In addition, they are active in the community and they are organizing a project with Habitat for Humanity.

Canadian women figure prominently in parts of the legal community. Here are some interesting facts on the subject:

• The new Dean of UofT Law is Ms. Mayo Moran. Other law faculties that have a woman at the top include the University of Ottawa (Civil Law Section), UBC, the University of Calgary, the University of Moncton, and the University of Montreal. (I should note that the Dean of UBC Law, Mary Anne Bobinski, is American.)
• The President of the Executive Committee of the Council of Canadian Law Deans is a woman: Ms. Nathalie Des Rosiers. And its Executive Director is Ms. Julie Dagenais Blackburn.
• Our SCC Chief Justice, Beverley McLachlin, has been at the helm since 2000 and she may stay in her position until her mandatory retirement date in 2018. Four of our nine Supreme Court justices are women - the highest percentage of women on a country's top court.
  
• Finally, our fearless leader, Ms. Jackie Swaisland, is President of Queen's Law Students' Society.

Indeed, Canadian women have much to be proud of. With that said, there are still many areas where women have little or no presence. I don't have any statistics that can back up this claim but I would venture that the vast majority of Bay Street partners are men. (Anybody know any relevant statistics?)

On the political front, the new Conservative Cabinet includes only 6 women. That is down from 9 female cabinet members under Paul Martin.

Hopefully, we will see many more successess by Canadian women in the future.