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On October 5, 6, and 7, five of our incredible YYC women proudly represented Unifor Local 531 at the Prairie Regional Women’s Conference. The conference brought together women from across the region to share experiences, build solidarity, and strengthen the movement for equity and inclusion within our union and beyond.
Their participation reflects our Local’s ongoing commitment to empowering women, advancing gender equity, and ensuring that diverse voices are not only heard but centered in the work we do. Conferences like this are opportunities to learn, connect, and return inspired to create meaningful change in our workplaces and communities.
Hear from the women about their experiences at the conference and what they took away.
Melanie Isles - YYC Workplace Representative and Ramp Services Agent
While attending the Prairie Regional Women's Conference I was particularly struck by some of the amazing work woman continue to do in striving for equity for women. It was heartening to learn of some of the successes that have been achieved in recent years.
The work of Dr, Toor in improving access to long acting birth control such as IUD's is inspiring. She has spearheaded action in getting the national pharmacare program to start with birth control. Access to free birth control is critical in allowing women to take charge of their fertility choices. For more on her work see her Tedx talk here
I was also moved by the passion and strength of Cambria Harris. At only 22 years old she lead a movement that was ultimately successful in bringing her mother home. Search the Landfill is a call to action for governments across Turtle Island to respect and honour MMIG2S+ by putting resources into searching for and returning remains, bringing some sense of closure for the families left behind. For more on her story, click here.
The entire week helped to remind me that there are many ways each of us can get involved in supporting each other.
Tracy-Lynne MacLelllan - YYC Women's Advocate, Workplace Representative and DDC
It is crucial to have women in leadership positions within the Union and our workplace. During the conference, this point was really driven home. As women we are facing far right wing backlash that aims to silence women and keep us out of safe spaces and leadership roles. Now more than ever we need women to speak up and take the education and opportunities our union offers.
It was incredible to listen to women across the Prairie provinces speaking about the ways they have turned their lived experience, formal education, union opportunities, and even their trauma into something that furthers the safety and dignity of women in Canada.
We heard how Cambria Harris, at only 21 years old, faced conservative Manitoba politicians who refused to look for missing and murdered Indigenous women, including her own mother. She started the Search the Landfill Movement and after years of perseverance the Manitoba government finally agreed to search the Prairie Green landfill, locating the remains of Ashlee Shingoose, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois and Cambria’s mother, Morgan Harris.
We listened to Janis Irwin speak about education and the importance of supporting workers in all industries and advocating for human rights. Dr. Rupinder Toor, Founder of EmpowerHer, spoke about reproductive choices and how funding for contraception not only saves taxpayer money, it gives women more options and control over our decisions.
Finally, we heard from Lana Payne, the first woman to be elected Unifor National President and is now serving her second term. She is a lead voice in the fight for working Canadians and sits on the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council for Canada-US relations. Her current mandate is to protect Canadian jobs and is particularly inspiring for women in our Union as she believes we deserve representation.
More than anything, we had an opportunity as five women in Local 531 to connect with each other and learn about what our own goals are personally and within the union.
Evalee Finlay - YYC Workplace Representative and Customer Service Agent
This was an incredibly valuable and powerful experience, there were far too many positives to be able to touch on them all in this short report, so I will talk about a couple things that were really impactful. The simplicity of being surrounded by women in a safe space made it easy to talk about women's issues where everyone was nodding along in agreement and not judging or questioning what you are saying. Hearing about the 'search the landfill' movement helped me to see a glimpse of the hurdles and hardships that indigenous women experience on the regular, this is something that someone with my privilege doesn't experience and so hearing the first hand struggles was life changing.
I came out of the conference with actionable things I want to implement within our local, such as creating a QR code to put at all the bases that would direct those experiencing Intimate partner violence quick access to the women's advocate and to put it on the board in such a way where there is other QR codes so even scanning it would be discreet. This will hopefully make it easier for people in need to get the help they need without fear of others finding out.
Returning back to the airport after the conference I couldn't stop talking about all the things that were talked about and what I learned. I am so very thankful I was able to attend. It's something that will stick with me for a long time.
Erin Hood - YYC Workplace Representative and CSA
I have to admit that luckily in my life I have not felt that being a woman has held me back in anything that I have chosen to do. The topics of the conference brought to light a different perspective from other women in the workforce. It was interesting to hear how some of the right wing political views have affected many women in their workplaces especially when those women are a minority. I enjoyed the reflection that we did of women through the decades by relating it to our mothers, ourselves and to our children. Other presentations brought out the importance of seeing the perspectives of other women in less fortunate circumstances. These presentations evoked an understanding what we can do to help these women directly and through work in our communities and workplaces.
