It is a bit of a coincidence that Jane chose 2000 as her milestone year last week, because our plan for this week, 25 posts into our “50 Ways to Achieve Equality” series, was to look back to our 25th anniversary year, the year 2000, to see how we celebrated the anniversary of the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women in the past.
Cover of A Baker’s Dozen: News, Views, and Interviews with 13 Island Women, Celebrating 25 Years of the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women, 1975-2000
The main way the Advisory Council on the Status of Women celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2000 was with a publication, “A Baker’s Dozen: News, Views, and Interviews with 13 Island Women,” profiling the 13 women who had served as Chairpersons of the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women from 1975 to 2000, including “opinion pieces/articles, quotations of the day, biographies, and some wonderful photographs from each woman’s ‘herstory.'” We’ve uploaded the full publication [ABakersDozen], for your interest.
Newspaper article from September 29, 2000, celebrating the launch of A Baker’s Dozen
Under the banner “Special Evening for Advisory Council,” an article about the launch of “A Baker’s Dozen” features outgoing Chairperson Sharon O’Brien, researcher Ellen Reynolds, new Chairperson Patricia Roy Ballem, and past Chairperson Anne Nicholson. The article notes, “The informal publication focuses on the women who led the organization as opposed to the organization itself. ‘It has been through their personal commitments and hard work that so much was achieved over the last 25 year,’ commented Patricia Roy-Balle, current chairperson.”
In 2000, Patricia Roy-Ballem became the first Acadian and francophone woman appointed to chair the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Below are images of the pages featuring her story in “A Baker’s Dozen,” with the text copied in full below. You’ll notice the photo of Patricia with her siblings was also used as the cover of the historical booklet!
Patricia Roy-Ballem
Chairperson 2000
As the newly appointed Chairperson of the Advisory Council, it is an honour for me to add a few words to this publication. I may not be familiar with all of the issues dealt with by former Chairpersons, but I have become aware of many of the concerns facing women at the beginning of this new millennium. My knowledge and experience comes from my home life, my work as a journalist and, before that, during my work in the health care system. There are many concerns that demand action in order for all Canadian citizens to be treated equally.
One of the issue areas I will be working on during my term as Chairperson is health, for example, raising awareness about the danger of smoking among teenage girls. A recent Health Canada statistic revealed that lung cancer is now the leading cause of death in Canada.
“When women’s unwaged work is left out of accepted economic measures, governments develop policies using an incomplete picture.” – P. Roy-Ballem
Unpaid work is another issue that is currently high on the agenda of the Council’s work. Following the annual meeting of the provincial/territorial Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women held in Charlottetown in 1999, PEI’s Minister Responsible, Hon. Pat Mella, noted that discussions have recently begun around the world about women’s contributions to the well-being of nations, through the amount of unpaid work that they perform.
“Unless gender is taken into consideration when governments are formulating policies, women are not going to be treated equally by the system.”
– P. Roy-Ballem
On the Island, the issue of unpaid work and pension benefits are particularly relevant due to the large percentage of seasonal workers on the Island, most of whom are women. Society sends conflicting messages to women during their child bearing years. On one hand women are told it is preferable to stay home and raise their families – and many women would like to do that.
However, on the other hand, women end up financially disadvantaged for having spent years outside the paid workforce looking after their families. The fact that women are saving the Medicare system countless millions of dollars by looking after children, elderly parents and disabled family members is not taken into consideration. And the fact that women find themselves living in poverty in their old age because of this is unacceptable. I plan to work with the Minister on this issue as well.
Because women, in general, experience a different reality than men, government policies affect men and women differently. To address these differences and to ensure that policies do not adversely affect women and children, women’s groups – and a few government departments – across the country are conducting extensive gender-based analysis of government policy.
Although progress has been made in the last two decades to prevent violence, it continues to affect the daily lives of women and children in this province as well as in the rest of the country and around the world. Much remains to be done. The cost of violence in loss of life, fear, shame, isolation, self-esteem and lost wages is also costing the Canadian economy $4 billion annually. It is time for all Canadians to take a stand to end the pain and suffering.
Herstory
I was born in 1941, the eldest of 14 children to a poor farming family in a small community in northern New Brunswick. Life was tough for a lot of Acadians and it was no different for us. I remember spending many hours by the hand-activated wash tub and helping mom care for yet another baby. But I also have cherished memories of a home filled with laughter and song and of many summer days spent by the river with my siblings.
After completing part of my high school, I went to work in a sanatorium and then moved to Ontario, like many of my generation. While there, I finished my education through correspondence and was accepted into Ontario’s Registered Nursing Assistant program graduating in 1962. Following a few years of working in Western Canada, I married an Islander in 1965 and moved to PEI in 1966 with the oldest of our five children in tow. Since then I have worked as a nurse on and off, between having babies, farming and operating a convenience store and craft shop. I changed my career in the mid 1990s and started working at something I never in my wildest dreams believed I could do – journalism. I am now a freelance writer for the Journal-Pioneer. As a result of my writing, I have become more aware of the need to better the lives of women and children. I hope to continue bringing that awareness to other Islanders through the work of the Council during my term as Chairperson.
Patricia Roy in 2022 at a gathering for past Chairpersons of the Advisory Council on the Status of Women.
There were other highlights from our 25th year, and Becky Tramley remembers the Interministerial Women’s Secretariat hosting a tea for the Council’s 25th anniversary. Unfortunately, we have not found any photos from that event!
We’ve now passed the halfway mark with our 50 posts for our 50th anniversary year. Today, in July 2025, it’s past the mid-point of 2025, so we are closer in time to the year 2050 than to the year 2000. Just in case you needed a reminder of the swift passage of time!
