FALL 2019
THE GENDER PAY GAP WE’RE STILL A LONG WAY FROM EQUAL PAY
CHILD CARE CHALLENGE HOW FOUR WOMEN JUGGLE CAREER AND FAMILY
WORKPLACE WELLNESS 00_Women in Business Fall 2019_01.indd 1
ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY, TRAINING CREATE SAFE WORKPLACES
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CONTENTS
FALL 2019
THE GENDER PAY GAP WE’RE STILL A LONG WAY FROM EQUAL PAY
CHILD CARE CHALLENGE HOW FOUR WOMEN JUGGLE CAREER AND FAMILY
WORKPLACE WELLNESS
COLUMN
Hollingshead—10
COLUMN
Pau—12
COLUMN
COLUMN
Preston—18
Warren—23
6
COLUMN
Baird—27
6 PAYING ATTENTION Can legislation shrink B.C.’s gender pay gap? 14 MAKING IT WORK How four women balance careers, families and child care 20 ZERO TOLERANCE Anti-harassment policies and procedures create safe workplaces and benefit business 24 WELLNESS AT WORK Companies are increasingly realizing the benefits of fostering holistic mental and physical wellness in the workplace 28 SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin on equality, reconciliation, fallout from the #MeToo movement and the interrelationship between economy and society
14
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BALANCE IN THE BOARDROOM
PRESIDENT: Alvin Brouwer EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER; VICE-PRESIDENT, GLACIER MEDIA: Kirk LaPointe EDITOR:Meg Yamamoto DESIGN: Petra Kaksonen PRODUCTION: Rob Benac CONTRIBUTORS: Kim Baird, Stephanie Hollingshead, Michelle Hopkins, Cissy Pau, Brigitte Petersen, Pam Preston, Catherine Warren, Hayley Woodin PROOFREADER: Christine Rowlands DIRECTOR, SALES AND MARKETING : Pia Huynh SALES MANAGER: Laura Torrance ADVERTISING SALES: Blair Johnston, Corinne Tkachuk, Chris Wilson ADMINISTRATOR: Katherine Butler RESEARCH: Anna Liczmanska, Carrie Schmidt Women In Business Fall 2019 is published by BIV Magazines, a division of BIV Media Group, 303 Fifth Avenue West, Vancouver, B.C. V5Y 1J6, 604-688-2398, fax 604-688-1963, biv.com.
FEATURES
24
ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY, TRAINING CREATE SAFE WORKPLACES
Copyright 2019 Business in Vancouver Magazines. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or incorporated into any information retrieval system without permission of BIV Magazines. The publishers are not responsible in whole or in part for any errors or omissions in this publication. ISSN 1205-5662 Publications Mail Agreement No.: 40069240. Registration No.: 8876. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Circulation Department: 303 Fifth Avenue West, Vancouver, B.C. V5Y 1J6 Email: subscribe@biv.com Cover image: MJgraphics/ Shutterstock
PRODUCED BY
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MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR
ASKING FOR IT: ONE WAY TO EQUAL PAY This edition of Women in Business explores, among other topics, women’s salaries and the gender pay gap. Perhaps to no one’s surprise, the numbers are maddening, even demoralizing. Canada ranks behind countries such as Mexico, Turkey and Romania with an 18.2 per cent disparity between women’s and men’s pay, and B.C.’s gap is higher than the national average at 22.6 per cent, according to Hayley Woodin’s story “Paying Attention.” As Woodin points out, there are many arguments as to why this disparity exists and how it should be addressed. But an unsettling common thread runs through all of the stories that discuss women’s salaries and the pay gap in this edition: women negotiate higher pay less frequently and less assertively than men do. “Assertive women can be seen as
difficult or challenging or not nice. And as a result … women don’t negotiate their pay as confidently and as assertively as the typical man does,” says Jill Tipping, president and CEO of the BC Tech Association, in Woodin’s “Paying Attention.” H R Tech Group CEO Steph a n ie Hollingshead, in her column, “The Pay Gap Problem in Tech,” describes how Vancouver-based startup 7Geese, in its efforts to tackle pay equity, discovered that “a lack of pay structure had enabled a gap between men, who were more frequently negotiating higher pay, and women, who were less frequently negotiating.” And in “The Art of Salary Negotiation,” human resources consultant Cissy Pau notes that women in particular struggle with negotiating pay, “whether it’s because discussing money makes
Sarah Bird Partner
them uncomfortable or they don’t know how to quantify what they’re worth, or they don’t want to overstep.” Yes, government can do more to address the problem (such as passing BC Liberal MLA Stephanie Cadieux’s private member’s bill, the Equal Pay Reporting Act). Yes, companies can do more, as 7Geese has, to establish internal equal-pay policies and transparent pay structures. But part of the solution is in our own hands. As women in business, we can and must, confidently and unapologetically, ask for the pay we deserve. As Clear HR Consulting’s Pau says: “If you don’t ask for the salary you want, no one else will.” MEG YAMAMOTO EDITOR, WOMEN IN BUSINESS MYAMAMOTO@BIV.COM
Cherie Mah Partner
Empowered and Engaged Influencing the future for women in business As the largest national full-service law firm, BLG are leaders in business law. Our goal is simple: to provide our clients with the best service, by the best professionals.
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WOMEN IN BUSINESS—FALL 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
PAYING ATTENTION Can legislation shrink B.C.’s gender pay gap? HAYLEY WOODIN
THE LARGEST PUBLIC POLICY THAT WILL HAVE THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON WAGE INEQUITY IS ACTUALLY UNIVERSAL CHILD CARE j Mitzi Dean B.C. parliamentary secretary for gender equity
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C
anada is regularly lauded for its position atop lists that rank the world’s most desirable places to live, and among the best places for happiness, democracy and education.
But its relative standing on a measure of inequality has raised concerns across the country. Canada had the seventh-largest gender pay gap of 42 countries in 2017, according to an analysis published this year by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). That disparity was 18.2 per cent, a level matched by the United States and greater than in countries such as Mexico, Turkey and Romania – all of which had lower pay gaps between the sexes than Canada. There are other ways to parse and examine the difference between what Canadian women and men get paid. There are also many ways to argue why that difference exists, and how societies ought to tackle it. Statistics Canada has found that for every dollar earned annually by full-time working men, their female counterparts take home 75 cents. The gap
widens when full- and part-time female workers are combined: together, they earn 69 cents on the dollar, 31 per cent below the average earnings of full- and part-time male workers. After adjusting for occupation, industry, age, education, union status and other factors, a smaller but glaring – and unexplained – eight per cent gap remains. “So the question is: How did that happen?” asks Stephanie Cadieux, a Liberal member of the legislative assembly (MLA) for Surrey South. “I do think it’s about unconscious bias,” she says. “We want to close that gap. We know that employers believe that they don’t treat people differently, and we have laws that say they can’t, but we still have a problem.” In March, Cadieux tabled the Equal Pay Reporting Act, her second attempt to push pay equity legislation
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Mitzi Dean (centre), B.C. parliamentary secretary for gender equity, and Surrey South MLA Stephanie Cadieux (far left) mark International Women’s Day with colleagues at the B.C. legislature in March, the same month Cadieux tabled a private member’s bill to push pay equity legislation forward in B.C. Dean says legislation is just one instrument in a tool box of actions that can be taken to close the gender pay gap • PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
forward in B.C. As a private member’s bill, it’s unlikely to pass, Cadieux says. But if it did, it would position B.C. alongside a growing number of jurisdictions around the world that require or plan to require companies to disclose how much they pay male and female employees. Under the proposed B.C. legislation, companies with more than 50 employees would be legally required to disclose annual, anonymous information relating to pay, including the differences between how much male and female employees make. The proposal follows proactive pay equity legislation at the federal level, which will require certain employers to establish pay equity plans that compare compensation across different job classes. That federal legislation also paves the way for a pay equity commissioner under the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Pay transparency measures can be effective in raising awareness about discrepancies in pay, both in society and within companies. It’s an important step forward, says Paulette Senior, president and CEO of the Canadian Women’s Foundation. “If there was some transparency that actually existed, then women would know the playing field that they’re operating in. They would know what the game is. They would understand what the rules are,” she says. “There’s a blindness to it that is not fair, and they end up taking less money [than] their male counterparts.” In some jurisdictions, fines or sanctions attempt to hold companies to account. However, research out of the European Union on reporting measures in a number of member and non-member states notes that reporting requirements do not equate to action on gender equality. Mitzi Dean, MLA for Esquimalt-Metchosin and B.C.’s first parliamentary secretary on gender equity, says that legislation in this area needs to be approached in a careful, considerate way. She says it’s just one instrument in a tool box of actions that can be taken to close the gender pay gap.
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November 22 2019 Fairmont Hotel Vancouver Keynote Speaker
Zahra Al-Harazi Entrepreneur & Transformative Leadership Expert
Join us for the 5th annual Women Against MS luncheon!
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WOMEN IN BUSINESS—FALL 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
PAYING ATTENTION
RIGHT:
Paulette Senior,
president and CEO of the Canadian Women’s Foundation: “it’s important to note the gap widens depending on who the woman is and how she identifies” •SUBMITTED
FACING PAGE:
Jill Tipping,
president and CEO of the BC Tech Association: “women don’t negotiate their pay as confidently and as assertively as the typical man does” • BIV FILES
“The largest public policy that will have the biggest impact on wage inequity is actually universal child care,” Dean says, noting the BC NDP’s historic $1.3 billion investment in child care. She adds that increases to B.C.’s minimum wage will also make a difference. “By raising the minimum wage, we’re tackling that gap. The majority of people who are on minimum wage are women. And then if you dive even deeper into those statistics, women who are discriminated against on the basis of race or disability, they’re an even higher proportion.” Senior says that moving beyond the single category of “women” is important. Highlighting and addressing inequity among women is a critical piece of the Canadian Women’s Foundation’s work. “It’s important to note the gap widens depending on who the woman is and how she identifies,” she says. Leveraging OECD gender pay gap data, the Conference Board of Canada compared provincial pay gaps against the country’s national gap and those in 16 peer countries. Canada earned a C grade for ranking 13th with an 18.2 per cent gap. B.C.’s gap was wider than the national average at 22.6 per cent, earning Canada’s westernmost province a D. Of the 16 peer countries that were compared, B.C. beat only Japan, which had a gap of 25.9 per cent. Research assembled and analyzed by academics on the independent, non-profit media outlet The Conversation
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concluded that both legislative and non-legislative measures are ultimately needed to tangibly change pay inequality. And while Dean didn’t rule out B.C. adopting mandated rules around reporting, she points out the province’s work with the private sector to encourage greater female participation on boards and in executive positions as an example of how government can lead change without legislating it. “I think it makes sense to start first with all the things that we can voluntarily do to improve and then see what the impact is. But if it’s not enough, let’s bring in some policy planks that really do move the needle,” says Jill Tipping, president and CEO of the BC Tech Association. The association is preparing to publish a voluntary code of conduct on diversity and inclusion for the tech industry this fall – one that provides technology companies with practical measures around diversity and inclusion that are already being implemented in B.C. companies. It is also running a series of workshops aimed at empowering women in the industry. Conference Board of Canada research has found that the cumulative effect of unconscious bias has meant half as many women as men between the ages of 22 and 34 are in middle management or higher roles. Tipping points out that a fear factor can also exist among women when it comes to being assertive, which can impact how women express their value and negotiate pay.
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“Assertive women can be seen as difficult or challenging or not nice. And as a result, it shows up in a really concrete and pragmatic way, which is women don’t negotiate their pay as confidently and as assertively as the typical man does.” Women learning how to overcome those barriers and assert themselves at the individual level can, in their own way, contribute to greater pay equity, both by negotiating bigger numbers and by setting an example. “Sometimes you do run into resistance. You run into old-fashioned, often older people, often men – but not always, sometimes it’s women – who find that just a little bit outside their expectations of what’s normal, and you literally have to ignore it and move on,” Tipping says. “I sometimes say that the good thing about dinosaurs is, eventually, they die out.” É
GENDER WAGE GAP, PROVINCES AND INTERNATIONAL PEERS, MOST RECENT YEAR (PER CENT) Grade A
B
C
D
D-
30
20
10
N.L.
Japan
Alta.
B.C.
Sask.
Finland
U.S.
Canada
Austria
Germany
Switzerland
U.K.
N.S.
Que.
Ont.
Australia
Ireland
N.B.
Netherlands
France
Sweden
Man.
P.E.I.
Norway
Denmark
Belgium
0
SOURCE: CONFERENCE BOARD OF CANADA, “GENDER WAGE GAP, PROVINCES AND INTERNATIONAL PEERS,” DATA CURRENT AS OF 2017
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WOMEN IN BUSINESS—FALL 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
THE PAY GAP PROBLEM IN TECH Women in tech are paid 20 per cent less than men on average: BC Tech Salary Survey
STEPHANIE HOLLINGSHEAD
How gendered is pay in B.C.’s tech industry? The short answer is: very. Data from HR Tech Group’s 2018 BC Tech Salary Survey shows an overall average annual B.C. tech gender pay gap of 20 per cent or $17,700. This tracks closely to recent numbers produced by Brookfield Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, housed within Ryerson University in Toronto. It crunched 2016 Statistics Canada data and found a $19,750 pay gap between male and female workers with bachelor’s degrees or higher employed in Canadian tech jobs. You don’t need me to tell you which direction these gaps go, do you? HR Tech Group’s survey, which collected salary data on 16,000 employees across 121 B.C. companies, showed an average female salary of $72,700 versus an average male salary of $90,400. Getting a little more granular with some of the most common jobs reveals a pattern. Thirty-eight per cent of intermediate animators reported were female; 62 per cent were male. The average female intermediate-level animator salary reported in the survey was five per cent lower than the equivalent male salary. Fourteen per cent of the fully competent software engineers were female, and 86 per cent were male. The average female salary for a fully competent software engineer was 4.4 per cent lower than the equivalent male salary. Looking at the more senior positions surveyed, the percentage of female incumbents drops. Women make up nine per cent of senior/lead software engineers, with men making up 91 per cent and being paid five per cent more. The numbers get bleaker as we look at more senior positions. Women make up only one per cent of software engineering managers in the survey. Men fill 99 per cent of these positions. The average female salary for this management position is eight per cent lower than the average male salary. The pay gap is tangible and sizable, both overall and within roles. It is something that is easily measured within each company, but few companies pause to measure it. Have you? Run the numbers. Look at the percentage of women you have in each position and look at the average pay by gender,
by role. Then ask yourself and your management team: “What are we going to do about this?” Access to talent is the most pressing issue facing B.C.’s tech sector, making the attraction and retention of talented technology workers a critical business imperative. Undervaluing 50 per cent of our potential workforce undermines all of our other efforts to attract and retain talent. The vast majority of B.C. tech companies are small. It’s easy to look at pay equity as something in which only big companies have the resources to invest, but it’s something smaller companies can and should tackle too. 7Geese, a Vancouver-based startup focusing on real-time performance management, goal setting and career development, is one smaller tech company that’s tackling pay equity. It stepped back, measured the gap and analyzed what was happening to create it. It learned that a lack of pay structure had enabled a gap between men, who were more frequently negotiating higher pay, and women, who were less frequently negotiating. It built a clear and transparent pay philosophy and structure and worked with all of its managers to level jobs and get everyone on the same playing field. 7Geese showed bravery in transparently tackling this issue, and its employees responded well to it. They are proud of what they are doing, and they should be. B.C.’s provincial government recently announced $2.2 million in funding toward pilot projects aimed at creating a more diverse and inclusive tech sector in B.C. One of these projects, which is being managed by HR Tech Group, will be the measurement and benchmarking of diversity and pay equity in our workplaces, by role. With this funding we will set up the structure to provide year-over-year metrics for companies and for the tech industry so we can set targets and measure improvements. The desire to be a truly diverse and inclusive sector is there, and pay equity is a key component of that. I told my kids about this pay gap over dinner tonight. They were shocked and confused. My son said, “I thought we were past that.” I am hopeful that we can indeed move past this and remove the pay gap in our sector before my kids enter the workforce. We all play a part in making that happen, and it doesn’t need to be complicated. Let’s just do it. É Stephanie Hollingshead is CEO of HR Tech Group, an association of human resources professionals employed in B.C. tech companies. The group produces the leading BC Tech Salary Survey and provides new and benchmark data that keeps members up to speed on local business practices in tech.
UNDERVALUING 50 PER CENT OF OUR POTENTIAL WORKFORCE UNDERMINES ALL OF OUR OTHER EFFORTS TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN TALENT
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Sponsored Content
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as videos or images, intrusive questions about one’s personal life, or refusal to work with an individual. It doesn’t matter whether the person committing the behaviour intended for it to be offensive, or whether the victim reported the incident immediately. If it was reasonable for the person on the receiving end to feel humiliated, intimidated, or degraded, the behaviour may be considered harassment. Taking steps to address harassment at your workplace It is the responsibility of management to act as role models and promote and maintain a workplace that is free of bullying, harassment, and discrimination. It should be made clear that harassment is not tolerated. Businesses should institute a formal reporting complaint system for employees to address incidents of harassment and make employees aware of the reporting or complaint procedure. If required, corrective, disciplinary or remedial measures should be taken. Failing to address harassment has consequences Appropriately addressing harassment is important for employers to avoid liability. Employers are required to take all reasonable steps to provide a safe environment and ensure the health and well-being of their workers, as there are consequences for failing to do so. While it can be tempting to think that harassment is not an issue in your workplace, statistics show that harassment happens in most workplace settings. Victims of discriminatory harassment, including sexual harassment, may have their
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complaint adjudicated by the Human Rights Tribunal. In British Columbia, almost 80% of all Human Rights complaints arise from the employment context. Complaints can be brought against both the corporate employer as well as individuals who the victim alleges to have participated in harassment. If a complaint of discriminatory harassment is found to be justified, the Tribunal may award damages for injury to dignity, feelings, or self-respect. Some awards have been greater than $25,000, and the Human Rights Tribunal has indicated that there is an upward trend for the quantum of such damages. Understanding and proactively addressing harassment at the early stages is accordingly vital to protecting yourself and your workplace. Unfortunately, harassment happens. Harassment can cause disruption to the workplace, injury to employees’ dignity and feelings, and legal liability for employers. It’s important to know what it is and how to address it in order to create a positive working atmosphere for all.
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WOMEN IN BUSINESS—FALL 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
THE ART OF SALARY NEGOTIATION Tips for getting what you’re worth
CISSY PAU
You’re near the end of a great job interview when you get asked the dreaded question: “What are your salary expectations?” Your panicked response: “I think whatever is fair would be appropriate.” Or worse: “I’m sure you pay market rates, so whatever you offer should be fine.” Afterward, you replay that question in your mind, regretting that you didn’t say: “I expect a salary that recognizes my experience and skills – a base salary in the $70K to $80K range, with potential for an annual performance bonus, would be fair.” Judging anecdotally, as well as from observations with clients, negotiating salaries is an area where many people, women in particular, struggle. Whether it’s because discussing money makes them uncomfortable or they don’t know how to quantify what they’re worth, or they don’t want to overstep, candidates commonly accept an employer’s offer with no negotiation at all. When providing guidance to employers on the job offer and salary negotiation process, we advise them to: ■Research. Conduct market research, using a valid and reliable source, to determine a market-competitive salary range for the position the company wants to fill. ■Ensure equity. Review the salary ranges of internal roles with similar responsibility levels and scope to make sure the position’s salary is fair relative to the other roles. ■Determine expectations. Ask for a candidate’s salary expectations during the interview process. This is not intended to lower the salary offered if the candidate’s expectations are lower. Rather, it is merely a way to determine if the employer’s and the candidate’s expectations are in the same ballpark. If there is too large a gap, it’s likely not going to be a successful hire. Employers should also be willing to share their salary ranges with candidates. With that insight into the other side of the table, here are some tips for job seekers to ensure a successful salary negotiation:
■Know your worth. If an employer is doing research to determine an appropriate salary range for a position, so should you. Research the market rate of the role, using a reliable salary survey source. Avoid online sources where the quality of the data is questionable or where the data is self-reported. If you know what your role is worth, you will be negotiating your salary from a position of strength. You will be better able to justify your expectations based on objective data, not just a salary you “wish” you had or what you need to pay your student loan, mortgage and bills. ■Ask. The best time to negotiate your salary is prior to starting a new job. Once in the company, you are more restricted by internal policies for salary progression and increases. Before you accept an offer, make sure to ask for what you want, whether that’s a higher salary, greater vacation entitlement, RRSP contribution matching or some other request. It is common, often even expected, to make a counter-offer, especially for a professional or management-level position. ■Be confident. If you don’t ask for the salary you want, no one else will. With solid research and an understanding of your worth and what you bring to the role, confidently communicate your salary expectation, without apology. The worst the employer can say is no, and you can then decide whether you are willing to accept the offer or not. While many candidates believe that the power in the job-offer process rests with the employer, this is not always the case. Candidates hold an equal amount of power, because they have the choice of accepting or declining the offer. The job market is tight, and good candidates are difficult to find. If employers are interested in making an offer, they will likely be willing to move on the offer to get candidates to accept. While negotiating salaries can be uncomfortable, you can overcome your discomfort by arming yourself with information and building your case for the salary you know you deserve. É Cissy Pau is principal consultant of Clear HR Consulting Inc., a Vancouver-based firm that offers award-winning human resources consulting to small and medium-sized organizations.
IT IS COMMON, OFTEN EVEN EXPECTED, TO MAKE A COUNTER-OFFER, ESPECIALLY FOR A PROFESSIONAL OR MANAGEMENT-LEVEL POSITION
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WOMEN IN BUSINESS—FALL 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
MAKING IT WORK
How four women balance careers, families and child care MICHELLE HOPKINS
M
uch has been written about the work-family balancing act professional women must manage. Finding daycare alone can be a nerve-racking process – the waiting lists can stretch for months, even years.
AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOU ARE SO PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY EXHAUSTED. I COPE BY TAKING TIME TO DECOMPRESS j Stephanie Lemmo Manager, annual giving, Arts Umbrella, and co-founder, Thrive Alive Foundation
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Women in Business spoke to four women who have found ways to navigate the sometimes-turbulent waters of juggling career and family. All say finding the right daycare is one of the toughest tasks parents face. Here, they share how they cope while managing their lives with a little humour, a lot of compromise and, yes, a little stress thrown in now and then. STEPHANIE LEMMO
Stephanie Lemmo, manager of annual giving at Arts Umbrella and co-founder of the non-profit Thrive Alive Foundation, has three children under seven, including a two-year-old. She says any working woman who is a mother makes sacrifices and that, for her, being a mother while working a high-level job requires a “village.” “I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without my village,” says the 37-year-old. “My husband, Walter, and our
siblings are incredibly supportive. Because I get to work at 7 a.m., Walter gets all three children off to daycare or school – a Herculean task, to be sure.” With each of her first two children, Lemmo took a year’s maternity leave; with her last child, she took the 18-month extended benefit the federal government implemented in 2017. “When I was pregnant with my first, I placed my name on a daycare wait-list and to this day I’ve never heard back,” says the Vancouver resident. “After months of looking, I struck gold. The daycare I have is run by a woman who is so supportive.… We love her so much we cross a bridge for her exceptional care.” After the first two aged out at three years old, Lemmo placed them in a Montessori school in North Vancouver. Juggling motherhood with a demanding career has been helped by an optimistic, problem-solving
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ABOVE:
Penny Sauvé and son
Luc •ROB KRUYT
RIGHT:
Stephanie Lemmo and
daughter Viviana, one of her three children •SUBMITTED
disposition, she says – an ability to get through things even when they feel impossible. “At the end of the day, you are so physically and emotionally exhausted. I cope by taking time to decompress, whether that’s taking the dog for a walk or carving out time to read before bed.” A past luxury is going to the gym, which Lemmo hopes to resurrect sometime soon. In the meantime, she says, she takes it “day by day.” PENNY SAUVÉ
Unlike many other moms, Penny Sauvé discovered a great daycare fairly easily. “I was lucky because I was able to find one in North Vancouver that four of my colleagues were using,” says the math and science teacher. “The lady who runs the daycare has 30-plus years’ experience, and my colleagues spoke highly of her.” She and her husband, Gerard, visited the daycare in May 2017. That September, a month before her maternity leave ended, her then-11-month-old son, Luc, started at the daycare. “I thoroughly enjoyed my maternity leave and would have loved to have been able to extend it,” the Vancouverite says. “Because I have gone back to part-time teaching, I have some flexibility and time to hang out
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MAKING IT WORK
RIGHT:
Crystal Chysyk and
son Hunter •ROB KRUYT
FACING PAGE:
Chantelle
Liu with her two-yearold daughter, Livia, and her mother, Lin ya Chin •CHUNG CHOW
and spend quality time with Luc.” Even though she works only part time, Sauvé pays for full-time daycare to ensure a spot for Luc, now three years old. On the days she teaches, Sauvé gets up at 6:15 a.m., gets herself ready and wakes up Luc at 6:45 before making the commute to the North Shore, where she teaches and Luc goes to daycare. She says making time for herself is a challenge. “Exercise pretty much isn’t happening because I want to spend my downtime with Luc and my husband. I know I need to prioritize some ‘me’ time. However, I’m fortunate because my husband is great around the house; Gerard is a great cook and cleans.” Sauvé knows she is also extremely lucky to have extended family nearby. “I can’t imagine living without family help,” says the 44-year-old. “When Luc is sick, my mom will come out and stay with him. It is a massive weight lifted off my shoulders.”
I KNOW I HAVE TO CHANGE THE WAY I WORK j Crystal Chysyk Guest services manager, WestJet
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CRYSTAL CHYSYK
After the birth of her son, Hunter, in March 2018, Crystal Chysyk, a guest services manager at WestJet, opted to take the recently implemented 18-month extended maternity leave. When it came to finding child care, the 35-year-old was more concerned about securing a loving, safe daycare than she was about WestJet’s support of working moms. “WestJet is very much a family-oriented company, one
that respects moms in the workplace,” says Chysyk, who manages 40 employees on her team. On the advice of some of her friends, Chysyk reached out to four family-run daycares when she was a few months pregnant. “Of the four, only two responded,” she says. “I was a little concerned because there was no guarantee Hunter would get into either one.” After a long search, many waiting lists and interviews and a great deal of angst, Chysyk thought she had found the perfect daycare, one right across the street from her home in Burnaby. “I was so excited because my neighbour’s son is the same age as Hunter and was attending that daycare.” Alas, due to the facility’s rules that say siblings get priority, Hunter was bumped. “I was shocked,” Chysyk says. “I was stressed and began to panic.” Thankfully, she was able to secure a great academy boasting a huge outdoor playground. “It is much more expensive but it has a great reputation,” she says. “In addition, I like that I can log in on my computer and watch Hunter on a monitor any time I want.” When her maternity leave ends in September, she plans to return to work full time. “I know I have to change the way I work,” Chysyk notes. “[My husband] Sean and I have spoken about our expectations and the concessions we will both have to make, such as time for exercise, housework and ‘us’ time.”
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CHANTELLE LIU
Like many career-driven women, Chantelle Liu knew that going back to work after maternity leave was going to be tough, but she never realized how difficult it would be to get her daughter into daycare. “I started late; Livia was eight months when I started looking,” admits Liu, 37, an ER nurse at Richmond Hospital. “I didn’t expect waiting lists to be so long.” After many Google searches and reading reviews, Liu applied at two licensed daycares in Richmond. “Both daycares we applied to requested non-refundable deposits ($100 and $75), without a guarantee we would get her in,” she adds. “We were desperate, as both of our parents live overseas.” Initially, Liu was offered a part-time spot at one of the licensed daycares, so both sets of parents came to Canada to help in the interim. “After four months, my parents had to return to Asia.… I had no choice but to go back to nursing part time.” With her daughter, Livia, now two and a baby on the way in November, Liu says she manages her work-life balancing act by accepting that there are some areas she is not going to be the best at, and by simply getting through it. É
MATERNITY AND PARENTAL BENEFITS IN CANADA Benefit name
Maximum weeks
Benefit rate
Weekly maximum
Maternity (for the person giving birth)
Up to 15 weeks
55%
Up to $562
MATERNITY BENEFITS CAN BE FOLLOWED BY PARENTAL BENEFITS; YOU CAN APPLY FOR BOTH AT ONCE Benefit name
Maximum weeks
Benefit rate
Weekly maximum
Standard parental
Up to 40 weeks, but one parent cannot receive more than 35 weeks of standard benefits
55%
Up to $562
Extended parental
Up to 69 weeks, but one parent cannot receive more than 61 weeks of extended benefits
33%
Up to $337
SOURCE: CANADA.CA/EN/SERVICES/BENEFITS/EI/EI-MATERNITY-PARENTAL.HTML
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THE NEED FOR QUALITY CARE It is every child’s right to access early care and learning experiences that support healthy human development
PAM PRESTON
When my daughter was born in 1993, child-care choices were limited. We moved away from our family in a small Interior town to find work in the city. As an early childhood educator, I knew the value of quality early care and learning; as a woman, I wanted to pursue my career; and as a family, we needed my contributions to our income. I returned to work when she was five months old. With the help of my local Child Care Resource and Referral (CCRR) program, we eventually found a licensed family child-care provider who cared for her until she started going to an after-school program. Times have changed since then, yet families still struggle. We have access to 18 months of leave for new parents if you are not self-employed and if you can afford to live on less than 55 per cent of your regular salary. Child care is still the most expensive item in a family budget. While investments are being made, regulated child-care spaces are available to only 25 per cent of the children who need it. Early childhood educators, the important professionals this sector relies on, are rarely paid a living wage, and if they increase their education they often receive no pay incentives. In the rush to create much-needed child-care spaces, we find child care set up in strip malls, with no green space in sight. BUILDING A PUBLICLY FUNDED SYSTEM
Advocacy efforts calling for a publicly funded childcare system have been underway for more than 40 years, including the 1970 Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada. In B.C. the Coalition of Child Care Advocates has worked in partnership with the Early Childhood Educators of BC and others to develop the $10 a Day Plan (also known as the Community Plan for a Public System of Integrated Early Care and Learning). The plan is based on global research and articulates the principles of a quality early care and learning system for B.C.
Recently, the B.C. government has begun to make a number of significant investments toward building a child-care system. The plan will take over 10 years to build if current investments continue. It can’t be built overnight – or within one political cycle. THE CHILD-CARE DREAM
Building a child-care system is more than a labour market strategy. Sure, we need spaces. But we need quality spaces. Building for quality starts with a well-paid, well-educated workforce and age-appropriate environments. Child care should be: ■Affordable for all and free for those who can’t afford it. ■Accessible in our local communities – near transportation hubs, schools, universities and other workplaces. ■Inclusive and welcoming for children and families of all abilities and needs. ■Culturally relevant, with programs, led by local communities and Indigenous nations who are best placed to determine what is needed for their children to grow and develop. CCRR: A NETWORK OF SUPPORT
In B.C. we have 40 Child Care Resource and Referral programs funded by the Ministry of Children and Family Development. CCRRs help parents navigate this complex system for early care and learning as well as providing resources and professional development for child-care providers. The programs provide information on and access to financial aid such as the B.C. Affordable Child Care Benefit. The Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre plays this role in the city of Vancouver. More than 5,000 parents each year contact our service for help with choosing a child-care program. In my past role as a parent advisor at the centre, I have spoken to many desperate families: parents who offered their sonogram to get on a waiting list; parents in tears after a miscarriage for fear of losing their place on the list; and families who finally got a child-care space for an infant now that their child was starting Grade 1. CCRRs have the most up-to-date data for registered child-care homes and regulated child care, preschool and
IN THE RUSH TO CREATE MUCH-NEEDED CHILD-CARE SPACES, WE FIND CHILD CARE SET UP IN STRIP MALLS, WITH NO GREEN SPACE IN SIGHT
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RESOURCES Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre: wstcoast.org Child Care Resource and Referral programs in B.C.: ccrr.bc.ca
school-age care in your local area. Many of the CCRR websites will have self-help portals where you can search for child care, or you can email, phone or go in person for more support. There is no fee to use your CCRR program. Investments in the early years are just that – investments. To invest in early care and learning is an investment in our children. An investment in the future. An investment in social inclusion. It is a path to economic development and women’s equality. A way out of poverty. And it is every child’s right to access early care and learning experiences that support healthy human development. Their future is our mission. É
Finding quality child care (video): findingqualitychildcare .ca/video-quality-in-focus/ watch-the-video-online Finding quality child care (checklist): findingqualitychildcare .ca/finding-child-care/ what-to-look-for-a-checklist
Pam Preston is the executive director at Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre in Vancouver. As an early childhood educator since 1983, she worked in a number of front-line child-care positions before joining Westcoast as parent advisor in 1990 and becoming executive director in 2012.
NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN! Deadline: October 15, 2019 Business in Vancouver is once again recognizing BC’s most outstanding business women in private or public sector companies. Honourees have risen through the ranks to become senior executives or entrepreneurs. Through corporate board placements they help influence and shape policy at some of Canada’s largest companies. Winners will be profiled in a February issue of Business in Vancouver. SPONSORED BY:
www.biv.com/iwib
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ZERO TOLERANCE Anti-harassment policies and procedures create safe workplaces and benefit business
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
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Robin Turnill, chief consultant at Pivot HR Services, leads an antiharassment training session •SUBMITTED
BRIGITTE PETERSEN
W
hen Linda began her first management role, she thought she had found her “dream job” until she started noticing telltale signs of workplace bullying.
Linda, anonymous for this article, had moved up the ladder and was “excited” when a Vancouver-based non-profit hired her as its communications manager. Her excitement soon turned into dread when she was mistreated by a director. When Linda confronted the person, she was laughed at and called over-sensitive. “She made lots of comments about my age, would undermine or derail my work and actively try to humiliate me in front of vendors,” says Linda, who was in her mid-20s at the time. “It was definitely not a fun period of my life. I felt very trapped.” Linda quit the position after six months, not knowing where she would work next and fearing job interviews. Fortunately, she landed a higher-paying management position in a different field two weeks later. IT’S THE LAW
According to WorkSafeBC, bullying and harassment in the workplace includes “verbal aggression, personal attacks and other intimidating or humiliating behaviours.” It can include insults, calling someone derogatory names, harmful hazing or initiation practices, vandalizing personal belongings and spreading malicious rumours. A worker is being bullied and harassed when “someone takes an action that he or she knew or reasonably ought to have known would cause
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that worker to be humiliated or intimidated.” To prevent workplace bullying and harassment, which can lead to lost productivity, anxiety and depression, WorkSafeBC advises employers to develop a policy statement and procedures for reporting and dealing with complaints. The workplace safety agency also recommends informing employees about prevention, training all staff and reviewing policy and procedure statements annually. Despite changes to occupational health and safety policies under the Workers Compensation Act in 2013 requiring employers to have anti-bullying and harassment policies, many Vancouver-area businesses and organizations either don’t have them or have outdated ones, according to Robin Turnill, chief consultant at Yaletown-based Pivot HR Services. Having an up-to-date policy that includes definitions and examples of bullying and harassment is a vital way to ensure everyone’s on the same page, Turnill says, and benefits business by reducing absenteeism, improving employee retention and increasing productivity. “It sets the tone that it’s a harmonious, respectful workplace,” she says. “Having zero tolerance for harassment and bullying builds a sense of trust.” Once a policy is in place, Turnill recommends that employers provide training, ensure no retaliation is
THERE STILL SEEMS TO BE THIS GENERAL ACCEPTANCE THAT IT’S OK TO INVADE A WOMAN’S SPACE; THAT CAN BE DISRESPECTFUL, EVEN FRIGHTENING, FOR SOME WOMEN j Robin Turnill CHIEF CONSULTANT, PIVOT HR SERVICES
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ZERO TOLERANCE
Laura Byspalko, managing director of the Indian Summer Arts Society: having a zero-tolerance policy toward harassment is “an absolute baseline for any organization with more than a handful of people working together” •SUBMITTED
taken against employees and thoroughly investigate complaints. She recommends designating someone in human resources, a trained employee or an external third party instead of a direct manager to be the go-to person for those with complaints. “It should be very clear to employees who they should go to for safe disclosure,” Turnill says. Creating a workplace culture that values safety and respect is a “shared responsibility” of both employers and employees, according to Turnill. What is intended as a joke may be perceived as offensive, making it important for the receiver to clearly state when a specific behaviour is unwelcome. Using data collected in 2016, a Statistics Canada study on harassment in Canadian workplaces released in 2018 found that 19 per cent of women and 13 per cent of men reported they had experienced harassment at work in 2015, and the most common type was verbal abuse. The study also found that about 47 per cent of men and 34 per cent of women who had been harassed by a supervisor or manager had a weak sense of belonging to their current organization. When it comes to creating safe workplaces for women, employers still have a long way to go, says Turnill, who finds the “vast majority” of complaints are due to differential treatment of women in the workplace. “There still seems to be this general acceptance that it’s OK to invade a woman’s space; that can be disrespectful, even frightening, for some women,” says Turnill, who has noticed an increase in reports of sexual harassment in the workplace that she attributes to the #MeToo movement. In a 2018 online survey conducted by the Torontobased public relations firm Navigator, more than a third of surveyed Canadian women said they had
been sexually harassed at work, compared with 12 per cent of men, with claims higher in traditionally maledominated industries. POLICY REVIEW AND TRAINING
The Indian Summer Arts Society recently engaged in a comprehensive harassment and bullying policy review and training through Pivot. Over the past few years, the society, which runs the annual Indian Summer Festival in Vancouver, has experienced fast growth from a two-person startup to an organization with year-round operations run by full-time, seasonal staff and volunteers. While it had done internal inclusivity and accessibility training, this was the first year the organization participated in a training session on respectful workplaces. “We engaged in the policy review and training to deepen our team’s understanding of the policies and procedures we already have in place,” says managing director Laura Byspalko. “We want to really put these policies into practice and not just refer to them as words on a page.” Byspalko says having a “zero-tolerance” policy toward harassment and training is important for organizations to show they support diversity and expect employees to respect and uphold the policy. “It’s an absolute baseline for any organization with more than a handful of people working together, especially where hierarchical powers exist,” she says. The Point Grey Golf & Country Club also recently reviewed its anti-harassment policy. “We saw this as an opportunity to raise our standards and host employee sessions to ensure everyone in our organization is aware of what is expected of them,” says chief operating officer and general manager Adam Zubek. É
WHAT TO DO IF YOU’RE BEING HARASSED ■Learn about your workplace’s complaint policy and procedures. ■Keep a written record. ■Get advice from the contact person named in your workplace’s bullying and harassment procedures. ■Report bullying and harassment in the workplace to your employer. ■If your employer does not address the incident, call WorkSafeBC’s Prevention Information Line at 604-276-3100.
■If the matter is still not resolved, submit a bullying and harassment questionnaire to WorkSafeBC (worksafebc.com/en/resources/health-safety/interactive-tools/bullying-harassment-questionnaire?lang=en). SOURCES: WORKSAFEBC, CLICKLAW WIKIBOOKS
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TRANSFORMING THE BOARDROOM Gender-balanced boards are good for society, the environment and the bottom line
CATHERINE WARREN
Today’s corporate boards are in the hot seat, and there may be no better way to take the heat off than by recruiting female directors. There’s no better time than right now for boards to begin this drive and to stay ahead of the curve – on everything from fierce shareholder activism to strict securities rules and customers who value diversity and inclusion. Equitable corporate governance can help across the board with risk mitigation, reputational boost and tangible returns. Finding great female directors is easier than you think. If you are a startup raising funds, look to female investors. A group like Female Funders, which has a Vancouver presence and aims to increase diversity and enhance talent in the innovation sector, can help. Because it’s common to allocate a new board seat for the lead investor in every round, you will up your chances of building an inclusive board from the get-go. While finding distinguished, qualified women is easy, attracting them can be hard, because women who do have extensive board experience are tapped time and time again. Try securing fresh female board directors by emphasizing and exhibiting a strong focus on corporate responsibility, enticing them with your gender-equitable leadership team and satisfying them with proven payequity policies. Strive for volume; tokenism doesn’t do the trick. It turns out that when it comes to women on boards, three is the magic number for a company to see a positive impact on the bottom line. Since you can’t stop at one woman, you will need to be relentless in your pursuit of equity, from recruitment to succession planning. Once you’ve achieved your board target, you need to shout it from the rooftops. Board equity shouldn’t be sequestered in the boardroom, so make this leadership strategy part of your brand. Everyone wants to know you are structured with integrity and equity. As Arianna Huffington once told me and a group of friends: “If Lehman Brothers was ‘Lehman Brothers and Sisters,’ they would still be around today.” While it might seem bold to pack your board with powerhouse women, it’s really a bottom-line decision. More gender-equitable boards provide better financial returns, including higher returns on equity, returns on sales and returns on invested capital.
And the benefits of inclusive female governance go beyond financial returns. A study by the Center for Responsible Business at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business surveyed more than 1,500 global corporations and found that companies with more women on boards tend to give higher priority to environmental and social issues. The more gender-balanced its executive team, the more likely a company is to invest in renewable power, low-carbon products and energy efficiency. Creating a virtuous circle of inclusion and environmentalism through good governance is a no-brainer. If you need more inspiration in the fight for your inclusive board, look to sustainably certified businesses. In 2016, women represented one in three board members within the 1,250-strong network of enlightened firms certified as B Corporations, or B Corps – companies that value a triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. Today, Vancouver is Canada’s fastest-growing B Corp community, with the largest number of B Corps per capita of major Canadian cities. Despite Canada’s brand as a progressive and inclusive country, open for global business and ambitious about attracting cross-border investment, we are not walking the talk when it comes to board leadership. Just last month, Statistics Canada released the egregiously low numbers for women on boards. Fewer than one in five board positions (19.4 per cent) in corporate Canada is filled by a woman and, even more flagrant, over half of the country’s corporate boardrooms have no women. Zip. Nada. As one Star columnist succinctly summed up, “that’s no representation, input, voice, mindset, sensibility, expertise, skills set and approach to problem solving from half the population.” If your board transformation is happening in Vancouver, you may be in good company. “A lot of the boards we work with are really alive to the issues of equality and inclusion,” says board expert Rachel O’Connor of Watson Advisors, a locally based firm specializing in good governance. “It’s equally men and women who are concerned about board diversity and are making this a priority.” As businesses and cities around the world look to Vancouver for leadership, we can’t make tracks fast enough from priority to reality. É A veteran in the boardroom, Catherine Warren is CEO of the Vancouver Economic Commission, the economic development agency dedicated to building a resilient and prosperous Vancouver.
STRIVE FOR VOLUME; TOKENISM DOESN’T DO THE TRICK
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WELLNESS AT WORK Companies are increasingly realizing the benefits of fostering holistic mental and physical wellness in the workplace
MICHELLE HOPKINS
A
t Coast Capital Savings, Tracey Arnish, chief membership experience officer and head of community leadership, believes health and wellness in the workplace should go much further than offering employees wellness events or fitness challenges. While the Surrey-based credit union offers its 1,800 employees across the province healthy eating initiatives and provides free gym passes and subsidies for participating in fun runs and healthy events – with all levels of staff participating – it also puts a huge emphasis on mental health. In fact, Coast Capital Savings has evolved over the years to include all aspects of employees’ well-being, from their finances to their social life. It offers financial education (free one-hour yearly meeting with a financial
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planner); debt counselling services; flexible work and benefits policies; a paid-time-off day a year for volunteer work; on-site lunch-and-learn workshops covering mental health, nutrition and fitness; and flexible workplace accommodations for pre- and post-maternity/parental leave, to name a few. “We have a culture of care to both our members and our employees,” says Arnish. “We believe it is our responsibility to support programs that help our employees’ overall health and work-life balance.”
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The initiatives were implemented in 2011, after a comprehensive review based on the results of employee focus groups and surveys. “After much discussion, we hired a dedicated human resources position to lead the program,” explains Arnish, who is also on the board of Ronald McDonald House Charities BC & Yukon. “We identified three key areas: mental, financial and physical. All of our programs fall under one of these categories.” These efforts may not have paid off quickly in dollars saved on health-care costs, but Arnish believes Coast Capital is “seeing happier, more productive and focused employees who are less stressed and less likely to miss work or leave the company.” “Our employees tell us they feel a sense of community, of belonging,” says Arnish. “Our retention rates are excellent for the industry. In addition, 78 per cent of our workforce are highly engaged in our wellness and health programs.”
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INVESTING IN PEOPLE
Like other large companies with an emphasis on mental health and wellness, AG Hair has committed itself to ensuring an ethos that assists employees in reaching their personal wellness and health goals. “When you have employees who are engaged, feel connected and happy to come to work, then we all win. Our programs were born out of our employees’ feedback,” says Michele Matthews, executive vice-president at AG Hair, a company with 89 employees, most of whom work out of its state-of-the-art Coquitlam facility that opened in August 2018. “We try to focus on what employees need to have in their lives. Everybody needs time to decompress and to work out, so we have a designated wellness room with soft seating for two and dim lighting. In addition, we built a full gym with bath and change room facilities.” Wellness has certainly taken centre stage at AG, which also includes open-concept workspaces with stand-up
Open-concept workspaces with stand-up desks are part of a focus on employee health and wellness at AG Hair’s new state-ofthe-art headquarters in Coquitlam •UPPER LEFT PHOTOGRAPHY
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WELLNESS AT WORK
RIGHT:
Tracey Arnish, chief
membership experience officer and head of community leadership at Coast Capital Savings: “it is our responsibility to support programs that help our employees’ overall health and work-life balance” •SUBMITTED
FAR RIGHT:
Michele
Matthews, executive vice-president at AG Hair •AG HAIR
As a busy mother of two who sits on one of her daughter’s school committees, AG Hair executive vice-president Michele Matthews knows how difficult it can be for professional women to find time in the day for health and wellness. “I heard someone say that we are in a crisis of busyness, and I truly believe that,” Matthews says. Here are some of her tips for busy professionals to incorporate health and wellness in their workday:
desks, large communal kitchens to encourage a sense of community, and outdoor workspaces complete with sofas and large dining tables, allowing employees to work and enjoy lunch in the fresh air. The company’s ongoing monthly health and wellness activities, like Bike to Work Week, National Salad Month, 45-minute therapeutic and traditional-style yoga class with Modo Yoga, and AG HQ gym workouts with Tight Club, are “all extremely well attended.” AG Hair will soon be rolling out two new initiatives: meditation and selfdefence classes. “Our whole vision is to build a resilient workforce by empowering people to take healthy lifestyle choices.… Our people are our main resource. It’s imperative we invest in them,” says Matthews, adding the lunchroom is always stocked with free filtered water and a monthly rotation of healthy snacks, such as almonds, edamame, trail mix and prunes. Both Arnish and Matthews say the companies they work for are increasingly realizing the benefits of fostering holistic mental and physical wellness in the workplace – how it can help attract top talent and make for happier, healthier staff, reducing absenteeism and boosting productivity. É
■Get at least seven hours of sleep each night. ■Take time every day for a mental and stretch break. ■Drinks lots of fluids. ■Keep healthy snacks in your desk. ■Allocate time for a workout, whether that means waking up an hour early or taking time after work before heading home.
■Take time for family and friends.
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TIME FOR A TIDE CHANGE Women in corporate Canada can lead change for Indigenous reconciliation
KIM BAIRD
Inclusiveness is a hot topic when it comes to business. Reconciliation is starting to be a more prevalent topic in some sectors in Canada. In both cases, I believe women can make a great difference to make sure the business world is more reflective of our society. The world is changing, and so are public expectations in relation to corporate Canada. Although it does seem as if some glass ceilings have been shattered, the issue of gender representation needs to be brought to scale. In my current work on reconciliation, most of my interactions have been with women in companies, and I expect this will continue. This work on reconciliation is vitally important to the fabric of Canada. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) made a series of calls to action in 2015 to respond to the multi-generational impacts residential schools had on Indigenous communities. Call to action No. 92, “Business and Reconciliation,” urges corporate Canada to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples “as a reconciliation framework and to apply its principles, norms, and standards to corporate policy and core operational activities involving Indigenous peoples and their lands and resources.” This includes committing to “meaningful consultation, building respectful relationships, and obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples before proceeding with economic development projects”; ensuring that Indigenous Peoples “have equitable access to jobs, training, and education opportunities in the corporate sector” and that Indigenous communities “gain long-term sustainable benefits from economic development projects”; and providing education on the history of Indigenous Peoples, including the “legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal-Crown relations.” I consider reconciliation as the need to reconcile a broader number of issues, including the need to ensure Indigenous people have equivalent political, cultural, legal and economic rights that Canadians take for
granted. There are even greater gaps for Indigenous women and children to face. The report from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls issued many calls to justice with a primary focus for all Canadians to understand the systemic barriers to Indigenous women in Canada. Now, more than ever, we need all women to provide leadership on this topic in whatever way they can. As the political discourse unfolds about Indigenous rights in Canada, many of us can continue to advance reconciliation. Although the disparity gap between Indigenous and Canadian societies is daunting, everyone can work toward shrinking this gap. In fact, in some cases there is no one better than industry to contribute to societal issues. Companies have great capacity and a nimbleness that governments do not. You can apply the TRC recommendations even more broadly as they come down to the need for more sustainable situations for Indigenous individuals, families and communities. They also call for broader education of Canadians about Indigenous issues. There are so many things industry can do to support this. Although this is an uncomfortable topic for many, it is important that we do the work. Companies can create policies and initiatives to advance reconciliation in various ways. One example is how Vancity has teamed up with Reconciliation Canada for a variety of initiatives, including supporting the Walk for Reconciliation. There are many Indigenous experts who can help set up strategies. Anything from procurement policies to education initiatives will contribute greatly to this issue. This work isn’t just for resource extraction companies affecting Indigenous communities – it’s for everyone. I think we are at a tide change in this country for inclusion and reconciliation – at least I hope we are – but we all must play a part in it. Hopefully, our children and grandchildren will live in a time when we have successfully reconciled Indigenous rights within B.C. and Canada. É Kim Baird is the owner of Kim Baird Strategic Consulting and provides advisory services to companies, governments and Indigenous communities about Indigenous matters. She is former chief of the Tsawwassen First Nation and negotiated and implemented B.C.’s first urban treaty on behalf of her community.
THIS WORK ISN’T JUST FOR RESOURCE EXTRACTION COMPANIES AFFECTING INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES – IT’S FOR EVERYONE
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SOCIAL JUSTICE
ADVOCATE Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin on equality, reconciliation, fallout from the #MeToo movement and the interrelationship between economy and society
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
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HAYLEY WOODIN
As part of a Women in Business podcast series sponsored by the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, Business in Vancouver reporter Hayley Woodin spoke with Janet Austin, lieutenant-governor of British Columbia and former CEO of YWCA Metro Vancouver. Excerpts from the interview follow.
Q: YOU’VE SPENT SO MUCH OF YOUR LIFE AS AN ADVOCATE, CHAMPIONING THE CAUSES OF WOMEN AND GIRLS. HOW MUCH FLEXIBILITY DO YOU HAVE TO CONTINUE THAT WORK? A: I have three themes that I would like to emphasize during my term. The first will be no surprise – it really is a continuation of work that I’ve done previously. It’s that whole frame around social justice, equality, inclusion, diversity, pluralism and gender equality. T he second a rea i s reconci l i at ion. I h ave h ad a personal commitment to attempting to advance reconciliation through my previous work. It’s also important as a way to build on the legacy of the previous lieutenant-governors. My third area is the whole theme around democracy, which fits I think very appropriately with the role of the constitutional monarchy. In common with many people, I find myself increasingly concerned about the erosion of respect for our democratic conventions, the public institutions that support them and the erosion of civility in public discourse. I feel compelled to use my role as a way to encourage respect for the systems we have in place that ensure the stability of our country and the freedom of the people that have the privilege of being citizens. Q: DO YOU THINK THERE’S A ROLE THAT THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY AT LARGE CAN PLAY IN SOME OF THESE INITIATIVES? A: Absolutely. I think it’s always been important to me to do my part to reach out to different parts of the economy
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and society. If we’re only ever talking to ourselves or to people who share our views, that’s not going to take us very far. It’s extremely important that we reach out and try to engage with people whose views are, in fact, different and find ways to find common ground and, hopefully, to build some trust. People would often say to me, “Why is Janet chairing a board of trade, because she’s a social justice advocate?” But what many people didn’t realize was that the YWCA is a very well-functioning social enterprise that runs a number of related businesses that are larger, frankly, and more profitable than many of the businesses that comprise the membership of the board of trade. I think non-profit organizations need to learn to capture that ground in the way they describe themselves. I also think it’s important that we look at the social cohesion in society that supports an effective economy. We need to understand the interrelationship and the linkages, and to see that the economy functions well when our society functions well. Q: DO YOU THINK AS A SOCIETY WE’RE GETTING BETTER AT BREAKING DOWN THOSE BARRIERS AND BLENDING THE ECONOMIC WITH THE SOCIAL? A: I do think that’s true. Successful businesses recognize that in order to attract employees, we need to have a livable environment. Things like housing affordability, access to good-quality education, access to child care and early learning for children are key. Those can be key decision points for companies that want to locate here, and key decision points for employees who want to work here. Understanding those relationships is fundamental.
THE ECONOMY FUNCTIONS WELL WHEN OUR SOCIETY FUNCTIONS WELL j Janet Austin Lieutenantgovernor of B.C.
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WOMEN IN BUSINESS—FALL 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE
Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ISSUES YOU DON’T THINK WE’RE TALKING ABOUT ENOUGH?
Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin is the first of four guests in the Women in Business podcast series that aired earlier this year •SUBMITTED
A: I worry about the fallout from the #MeToo movement. We’ve had a profound shift in understanding, but I also see that our cultural norms are changing. That’s a very positive thing, but there are many people who are confused, and they’re concerned. When you look at people in workplaces, they know that things are different, but they don’t know what the appropriate thing to do is now. I think unless you actually provide people with an opportunity and a safe space to have those kinds of discussions, you will see some backlash. People will be defensive. I think we need to take the whole discussion from the superficial level of saying “Sexual harassment is bad” to allow people to talk about things, like “Can I compliment you on your necklace or your new haircut?” These things need to be discussed. In some cases it requires judgment and subtlety and nuance. But it’s very important that we have this discussion at a deeper level. Then I think the progress that we’ve seen will actually take hold in a permanent way. When we talk about reconciliation, I think much of that discussion is happening perhaps at an elite level. It’s very important that we look at the systems approaches that will enable society at all levels to embrace and understand the history of colonialism and what it has actually meant for Indigenous Peoples. You need to look at how that is manifest in major institutions, workplaces, universities. These are the organizations that have the potential to embed a reconciliation culture really across all platforms. Q: WHAT DOES BEING THE THIRD FEMALE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR MEAN TO YOU?
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A: One does have a sense of being relatively few within that context. I will always have an aide-de-camp with me, and these are wonderful people – they’re from various different uniformed services and they assist me in my role. It’s not unusual for people to think the aide is the lieutenant-governor, because the aide is in a uniform and, generally, they’re male. People will sometimes come up and say, “Can we have a picture?” I’ll get ready to have my picture taken, and they give me the phone to take a picture of the aide. It’s happened more than once. It does say something, I think, about people’s expectations for the role. It’s a humorous moment, but in a way it’s also a teaching moment. It is important positioning from a women’s equality point of view. I think about this in relation to the Queen as well, because she is really a remarkable example of female leadership, and we don’t often talk about her that way. She’s a symbol of grace, but she’s also a symbol of restrained, self-governing power. You think about her role in that respect, and how those qualities of self-governance and restraint are missing in a lot of the political leadership you see around the world. I think that we need to value and respect those qualities in her, which are profoundly positive. É This interview has been edited and condensed for space and clarity. To listen to the four-part Women in Business podcast series, go to biv.com/article/2019/05/women-business-podcast.
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