On December 10th and 11th, USJE’s National Equity Committee met face-to-face in Ottawa for their last meeting for 2025. This meeting coincided with International Human Rights Day (December 10th), a day which commemorates the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights back in 1948. This declaration laid out fundamental human rights that are to be universally protected, covering civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. In recognition of the day, the Equity Committee received a presentation on International Human Rights from Vicky Smallman, the Human Rights Director for the Canadian Labour Congress.
On the evening of December 10th, members of the USJE National Equity Committee had the opportunity to participate in an evening gala event hosted by Equal Voice at the Rogers Center. This annual event brings together leaders across political, business and community sectors to support Equal Voice’s mission of advancing gender parity and inclusion in political representation.
Parliamentarians from across party lines were present, as were other special guests, stakeholders, sponsors and Equal Voice members. This year’s event featured Prime Minister Mark Carney, who provided a keynote address near the end of this evening.
The USJE Equity Committee chair Shauna Ward, co-chair Kirk McIntosh, alongside the other members of the committee, were accompanied by National President David Neufeld to this event. Together, USJE was able to connect with a variety of Equal Voice Board members, regional Chairs, and sponsors in attendance. In addition, they were able to hear from and connect with several other event participants. This included:
- the Honorable Patty Hadju, Minister of Jobs and Families
- Pam Damoff, former MP and previous Parliamentary Secretary of Public Safety
- Emma Harrison, Liberal MP for Peterborough
- Giovanna Mingarelli, Liberal MP for Prescott-Russell- Cumberland
- Stephanie Kusie, Conservative MP for Calgary Midnapore
- Representative from the Bloc Quebecois
- Leah Gazan, NDP MP for Winnipeg Centre,
- Elizabeth May, MP and Leader of the Green Party
- Anne McGrath, Former Principal Secretary to the Premier of Alberta & National Director of the federal New Democratic Party from 2019 to 2024
- Catherine Clark, Co-founder of The Honest Talk
- Carol Saab, CEO of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and Rebecca Bligh, FCM President
The evening began with an appeal to attendees to not simply celebrate the election of more women at all levels of government throughout the country, but to aim higher in ensuring that women are equal participants at all decision-making bodies. USJE is aware that, as a national public service labour union, it represents a high percentage of federal public safety personnel who are women working in the public safety realm from coast to coast to coast.
Further, notably, USJE’s National Executive is comprised of more than 50 percent women, and USJE’s National Equity Committee is led by a strong Indigenous woman.
Attendees at the gala heard from a key representative from every party, including several of whom are familiar with USJE by virtue of our advocacy on Parliament Hill in our efforts to advocate for a strong public safety network, and improved working conditions for our members.
National President David Neufeld was also able to have a quick but important conversation with Minister Patty Hajdu prior to the start of the gala regarding the status of USJE’s request to amend the federal Government Employee Compensation Act. Earlier this fall, USJE met with Minister Hajdu to brief her on USJE’s Presumptive Injury campaign, as we seek to secure the support of the Liberal government to make the necessary changes to federal legislation so that more USJE members can access Workers’ Compensation coverage for psychological injuries.
Ultimately, the Equal Voice gala gave members of USJE an opportunity to support an important cause, connect with some key decision makers, applaud the election of more women and gender diverse people, as well as hear from a range of speakers, including several strong and experienced female elected officials, as well as Prime Minister Carney
As a proud sponsor of the event, USJE was among just a small group of labour organizations who were present. USJE representatives embraced the occasion to foster connections and have members of the National Equity Committee become more familiar with the Parliamentary landscape and share some of USJE’s priorities with Members of Parliament and other stakeholders.
On day two of the Equity Committee meetings, the committee was able to participate in a training on “Equity in the Workplace” (delivered by Stephanie Penwarden, PSAC NCR), discuss resolutions for the 2026 USJE Triennial Convention, discuss and plan for the ongoing CR-03/CR-04 Campaign and identify potential locations for the next USJE Equity Conference planned for 2028.
USJE is very proud of the dedication and commitment that all members of the USJE Equity Committee demonstrate through their committee work and for helping our union to make positive progress on equity issues both in our union and in the workplace.