Women gain ground as Canada rebounds
Canadian women are narrowing the gap with men, but Canada was still ranked behind the U.S. in an annual Global Gender Gap survey released Tuesday.
Canada placed 14th when the World Economic Forum first released its analysis in 2006 of how women fall behind men in areas such as pay and political and corporate advancement; it then dropped to 18th in 2007, and 31st in 2008.
But Canada rebounded to 25th last year and held the 20th spot this year -- one spot behind the surging U.S. -- in a ranking of 134 countries, according to the Geneva-based WEF.
Canada gained ground in all four areas measured: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
"Like the United States, Canada's strength lies in educational attainment and economic participation," the WEF said.
For its part, the United States had moved to 19th from 31st place, thanks to a narrowing of the wage gap and the emergence of more women in top White House positions under President Barack Obama.
France, meanwhile, plunged from 18th to 46th place as a result of the removal of women from President Nicolas Sarkozy's cabinet.
Nordic nations -- Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden -- dominated, in that order, the top four spots on the list, while Mali, Pakistan, Chad and last-place Yemen were the worst backwaters in terms of women's rights and status.
Lobbying group Equal Voice, which advocates for greater participation of women in Canadian politics, said Canada will never be among global leaders without greater effort by federal and provincial political parties.
"Though all of Canada's federal parties have committed to higher levels of female representation, more sustained efforts are required by all political leaders in order for these commitments to translate into meaningful improvements," executive director Nancy Peckford said in an e-mail.
Canada placed 14th when the World Economic Forum first released its analysis in 2006 of how women fall behind men in areas such as pay and political and corporate advancement; it then dropped to 18th in 2007, and 31st in 2008.
But Canada rebounded to 25th last year and held the 20th spot this year -- one spot behind the surging U.S. -- in a ranking of 134 countries, according to the Geneva-based WEF.
Canada gained ground in all four areas measured: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
"Like the United States, Canada's strength lies in educational attainment and economic participation," the WEF said.
For its part, the United States had moved to 19th from 31st place, thanks to a narrowing of the wage gap and the emergence of more women in top White House positions under President Barack Obama.
France, meanwhile, plunged from 18th to 46th place as a result of the removal of women from President Nicolas Sarkozy's cabinet.
Nordic nations -- Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden -- dominated, in that order, the top four spots on the list, while Mali, Pakistan, Chad and last-place Yemen were the worst backwaters in terms of women's rights and status.
Lobbying group Equal Voice, which advocates for greater participation of women in Canadian politics, said Canada will never be among global leaders without greater effort by federal and provincial political parties.
"Though all of Canada's federal parties have committed to higher levels of female representation, more sustained efforts are required by all political leaders in order for these commitments to translate into meaningful improvements," executive director Nancy Peckford said in an e-mail.
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