In early 2016, Master of Education student Rachelle Bergen began a conversation with her local Member of Parliament Sven Spengemann about writing a bill to create a national week of recognition to celebrate and champion Canadian and Indigenous women past and present. MP Spengemann was inspired by this idea and quickly took this on as his Private Member’s Bill where he and his team further developed the concept and wording.

The bill passed through three readings in the House of Commons and then the Senate. Flash forward to June 21, 2018, and Bill C-309 – The Act to Establish Gender Equality Week received Royal Assent. With the bill becoming law, this enactment designates the fourth week in September each year as “Gender Equality Week.” From September 24 to 28, we celebrate the launch of this important week.

“I’d like students to learn about our Canadian and Indigenous men and women. Up until now, our education has had a very male-centred-lens,” says Ms. Bergen about the motivation behind the idea. “While recognizing and championing these women, I’d like to also recognize the need for a gender-balanced lens in education,” explaining that she wants young women and girls to see themselves in the curriculum and resources, but most importantly, in our stories. 

As the School of Education at Trent continues to educate its students by teaching through a social justice lens, associate professor Dr. Karleen Pendleton Jiménez speaks to the importance of Ms. Bergen’s work and its critical timing, commenting that, “Through this new law, Ms. Bergen offers a significant contribution to gender equality in Canada. This comes at a time when the provincial sex-ed curriculum is under attack and children are losing the right to know the names of their body parts. This comes at a time of #MeToo when women’s experiences are finally starting to be heard and believed. Bill C-309 gives us a gift of recognition and a call for the space to focus on conversations about gender.”

Learn more about the bill and how you can join Trent’s prestigious School of Education.