Is gender equality sliding backwards?

This is a consistent question that I’m hearing from women and girls across Canada. And the concern is valid, particularly as we mark International Women's Day.

When we look around the world, it’s clear that hard-won progress can quickly be lost. Women are still blamed for being sexually assaulted, too often our careers are stalled because of a lack of affordable childcare, and world leaders are casually espousing sexist and misogynistic beliefs without repercussion.

Dressed in khaki jumpsuits and wielding replica proton packs, a group of Ghostbusters super fans have spent the last decade raising money for various causes.

This year, to celebrate the release of the new Ghostbusters movie and its stacked cast of women, The Ontario Ghostbusters have generously decided to raise funds for The Canadian Women’s Foundation. 

For Brily Lepine, one of the costuming group’s co-presidents, the decision to support women and girls across the country was a no-brainer. Although the film reboot has received hateful and sexist backlash, The Ontario Ghostbusters are committed to using the movie’s momentum to do something good. 

This week, twenty-three women will gather at the Bold Vision conference in Charlottetown. This event commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference, where twenty-three men gathered to discuss the political union that would eventually become Canada. The Bold Vision event presents a female-oriented vision for Canada, looking ahead 150 years into the future.

The following essay was written by the Canadian Women’s Foundation to express the Foundation's own Bold Vision for the year 2164.