Presentation to “Leaders for Tomorrow: Rural Women Creating Change” Workshop in Davidson, Saskatchewan February 7 - 8, 2008 Joanne Havelock Prairie Women’s Health Centre of Excellence / Rural Women’s Issues Committee of Saskatchewan Leadership by Rural Women

RWICS Workshops Young Nipawin Swift Current Carlyle Unity Christopher Lake Muenster Davidson Support from PWHCE, Status of Women Canada, volunteer committee members

RWICS Workshops The following two slides highlight what rural women said in the workshops held by the Rural Women’s Issues Committee of Saskatchewan

Women & Leadership - 1 Self respect, women taking time to care for themselves, self-care is not selfish. Recognition of the important roles played by rural women. Compensation for the work done by women, including farm work, childcare, elder care.

Women & Leadership - 2 Funding for women’s organizations & projects, business & IT networks Networks involving rural women, workshops, websites Women in leadership positions, boards and commissions, political office, policy-making Training for leadership in public life

Purposes of This Session 1What leadership roles are rural women currently fulfilling? 2What is needed to encourage and support rural women in leadership roles, especially in public life? 3What can we do as individuals and groups to support rural women in their current leadership roles and encourage them in new roles?

“Women Hold Up Half the Sky” Question 1 What leadership roles are rural women currently fulfilling?

Is Everyone Involved? What roles are girls and young women taking in leadership? How are seniors and elders included? How are women from a variety of cultural backgrounds involved?

Women from Saskatchewan 308 Members of Parliament in Canada, 69 women= 22% 14 MP’s from Saskatchewan, 2 women = 14% 58 MLA’s in Saskatchewan, 12 women = 21% 18 provincial Cabinet members, 4 women= 22%

Saskatchewan Public Service 53 % of employees are women. The government’s goal is to have this number reflected in all levels of the public service, particularly in middle and senior management. 39% of public servants in senior management in Executive Government were women, as of March % of those in middle management and other management positions were women, in out of 21 Deputy Ministers were women, as of December 3, 2007

Boards Between 2004 and 2006, the proportion of women on government appointed boards increased 10% from 34% to 37%. Between October 2003 and June 2006, the percentage of women on Crown Investment Corporations subsidiary Crown Boards increased 12% to 39%.

Justice System Women comprise over one quarter of Saskatchewan’s judiciary: 29% on the Provincial Court (14 of 48 judges) 30% on the Court of Queen’s Bench (10 of 33 full-time justices) 45% on the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal (5 of 11 justices) the Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan is a woman.

Other Levels of Government Municipal government First Nations government Métis government

Municipal Government Cities Towns Villages Resort Villages Northern Town/Village/Hamlet/Settlements Rural Municipalities Municipal Districts Mayor Reeve Alderman CouncillorAdministrator Clerk

Other Organizations Health Region Boards (appointed) Regional College Boards (appointed) School Boards (elected) Provincial Boards & Commissions (appointed) Wheat Board (elected) Others...

New Roles Question 1 What roles would we like to see rural women taking?

Encouragement Question 2 What is needed to encourage and support rural women in leadership roles, especially in public life?

Providing Support Question 3 What can you as an individual or your organization do to support rural women in leadership roles? What can other individuals, groups or organizations do to support rural women in leadership roles?

LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Training Opportunities The paper Leadership Training Opportunities for Rural Women in Saskatchewan shows some options. Are there any other training opportunities available on leadership for rural women?

Topics for Training Previous discussions identified Understanding women’s issues Positive ways to bring forward women’s issues Putting rural women’s views in the media Public speaking Being a rural woman on a Board Understanding large organizations’ financial statements Understanding government

Other Topics What are some other topics for training on leadership for rural women?

Priority Topics What topics are the top priority for you as an individual? What topics would you see as helpful for others?

Communication What are the best ways to communicate the leadership training? In-person workshops, SCN satellite workshops, Internet, CD’s to use at home, newspaper articles ….

Delivering the Training What organizations could be involved in delivering leadership training?

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