Regina celebrates International Women’s Day

REGINA – Both men and women gathered on the Albert Street bridge Sunday, linking the entire stretch of the bridge with one message – to celebrate women.

“For me it is an important day for me as a mom, as a sister to connect with other women in the world and it’s important”.

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A sea of red sprinkled the concrete connector as people marched along the bridge, carrying signs and tying red ribbons to the beam.

“The ribbons represent the missing and murdered indigenous women. And they’re to show our support and keep them in our mind”, said participant Brenda Smith.

The bridge was chosen as a place to represent unity and togetherness, marking how far women have come, but also looking to the future.

“Oh my gosh we couldn’t vote before, and now we can!”, exclaimed Daughters of Africa president Kazia Katende.

While women and voting is no longer an issue, the wage gap between men and women is.

According to the Canadian government, women’s average annual salary have been 71 per cent of that of their male counterparts.

Still, Katende has hope.

“As you can see, in the workplaces, we still have that kind of negativity about it. How we can have that equality with women and men having same salary.”

“I think inclusiveness, where everybody coming together, is really important to recognizing equality. Unless we do that, if we just see ourselves, it’s not enough.”, Regina Immigrant Women Centre’s Neelu Sachdev explained.