Equality is not divisible - the LEAF breakfast

One thousand people turned out this morning to listen to Dr. Fiona Sampson and Rita Deverell.
Fiona is a lawyer with LEAF. Rita was a founder and CEO of Vision TV and recent executive producer of Aboriginal People's Television Network.

This was the breakfast for LEAF, the Legal Education and Action Fund. Dr. Sampson reviewed the successes and failures of LEAF's 20 years of activities to promote women's equality. Rita, who grew up in Texas, compared the progress to the Texas two step - one step forward and one step backward - but with enough forward progress to keep things moving. Rita described the giant leap forward in Manitoba in 1916 when women received the vote, thanks to the efforts of Nellie McClung and many others. But she noted that Nellie McClung, then, still saw equality as divisible - with not all women being treated equal. Rita's message for today was that equality is not divisible. While praising Nellie McClung, she emphasized that today equality is for all.

The top photo shows Dr. Fiona Sampson speaking at the LEAF breakfast. Below, I am talking to Rita Deverell after the breakfast.