CBC Archives

If students have done the activity What Women Want, have them locate their list of issues identified by the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. If they have not completed Activity 1, allow them to spend about 30 minutes browsing the Equality First: The Royal Commission on the Status of Women topic on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site to determine the national issues that the commission hoped to address.

Direct students to the Equality First: The Royal Commission on the Status of Women topic on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site. Have them listen to the Additional Clip, then list all the issues that still require work. In small groups, students will research to find the Commission’s recommendation, note and explain whether it was implemented and to what degree, and research any recent progress on the issue in Canada.

When students are finished their research, they will note which of the listed issues require additional work. As a group, they will identify goals for dealing with those issues, and draft a proposal for achieving those goals. Students should be prepared to present their proposal to an inquiry board for possible implementation.

Have students share their proposals with the class acting as an inquiry board. Students should compare the issues requiring work, the goals suggested, and the proposals drafted. They can examine different proposals for dealing with the same issues and discuss different groups’ opinions on issues needing work. As a group, the class should vote on which proposals to implement fully, which partially, and which not at all, giving reasons for all decisions.

Students may wish to try to implement one or more of the proposals drafted by the group. For example, a student may want to begin a letter-writing campaign, organize a fund raiser, meet with local politicians, and so on.