SASKATOON – Approval for Saskatchewan’s first Farm Women’s Week seems like the kiss of death for provincial agriculture ministers.
Noreen Johns laughs as she recounts how her organization has asked for the week. And each time the Saskatchewan Women’s Agricultural Network gets permission to proceed from the minister, he disappears.
First Darrel Cunningham lost his seat in the election, then his successor Andy Renaud was switched into another portfolio.
SWAN is hoping the latest minister, Eric Upshall, will still be around for the celebration in early January.
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SWAN will be holding its winter conference Jan. 7-9 in a kickoff to the week, with a special luncheon on Monday Jan. 8 at the Sheraton Cavalier in Saskatoon. The lunch will include the minister, plus representatives of the Saskatchewan Women’s Institutes and the National Farmers Union women’s section as well as SWAN members.
It will be followed by a display booth staffed by farm women at the Crop Production Show at the Saskatoon Inn. The provincial agriculture department is assisting with promotion of the Jan. 7-13 week.
Johns said the week’s focus will be on the “invisible pitchfork.” This refers to the lack of status given to farm women.
They are seldom on boards or heading the mainstream farm organizations, as recently documented by Ontario farm woman Kathryn MacDonald in her thesis. SWAN hopes to come up with action plans to change this.
Other sessions at SWAN will deal with the new federal census question on unpaid work, the future of the federal Farm Women’s Bureau, women’s legal rights, health and safety and agricultural policy.
