Regina could improve quality of life for women

REGINA – While it isn’t the worst place to be a woman, the Queen City is far from the best, according to a new study.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives ranks Regina 14^th out of 25, lumping it into the middle of the pack for things like health care, pay equality and security.

Mediocrity isn’t good enough for front line workers taking care of Regina’s most vulnerable women.

“We become complacent when we get a statistic that says, it’s ok we’re average,” said Melissa Coomber-Bendtsen with the YWCA. “Average isn’t good enough.”

There’s plenty of room for improvement. For example, in the last year, Regina police helped 559 women in abusive relationships. That number is down slightly from 585, two years ago.

The study ranked security based on the number of domestic violence and sexual assault incidents reported to police. That troubles the YWCA.

“The mere fact that around 90 per cent of people do not report intimate partner violence and sexual assault really makes that number irrelevant,” said Coomber-Bendtsen.

In some areas though, Regina is making strides towards gender equality, including policing.

“We’ve come a long way from the 50’s or 60’s when a police service was all males,” said Staff Sgt. Lorilee Davies. “In today’s day and age, people aren’t surprised when they see a female officer come to their door.”

Davies is one of many women climbing the ladder at RPS.

“I think more and more we’re getting female officers in the higher ranks,” she said.

But that isn’t the case at city hall, where only two of 11 people on council are women.

Things aren’t much better at the legislature, where 12 of 58 MLAs are women.

Women’s advocates believe changing the representation at those higher levels will have a ripple effect.

“I think that the representation of women in management positions, in city hall, in the provincial government needs to be seriously looked at. With that comes womens’ voice through the policies we create,” said Coomber-Bendtsen

The Regina Women’s Network agrees.

“That changes the dynamics of the community and starts to create that equal pay, equal opportunity and safety within the community,” said president Elizabeth Teliz-McQuarrie.

She moved to Regina four years ago from Cambridge, Ontario, the part of Canada given the worst ranking in the study. Teliz-McQuarrie said the difference was palpable.

“It’s been an incredible experience. I did come from Ontario and had experiences there that were good, but certainly not as good as they’ve been here.”

She credits the support of the Regina Women’s network with helping ease the transition and grow her business.

Victoria is ranked as the best city to be a woman in Canada.