e-1626 (Health care services)
- Keywords
- 8545-421-31-46 Government Response to petitions concerning health care services
- Feminine hygiene products
- Homelessness and homeless
- Women
Original language of petition: English
Petition to the Government of Canada
- There are approximately 235,000 homeless people in Canada on any given night and 77,550 are women (33%);
- Despite elimination of the “tampon tax” in 2015, menstrual hygiene management products remain unaffordable for this population;
- Currently, there are no national policies subsidizing the cost of sanitary products;
- Shelters rely predominantly on donations for these items, which is unsustainable in the long term;
- At minimum, menstrual hygiene management costs $64 per year and can go up to $200 per year;
- The United Nations has declared reproductive health rights, including access to proper menstrual hygiene management, a universal human right;
- Canada must not fall behind as a global leader and must learn from initiatives made by other countries to make sanitary products free to girls and women from low-income families by distributing them to food banks and shelters (ie. Scotland);
- Improper menstrual hygiene management can result in reproductive health implications including toxic shock syndrome; and
- A lack of menstrual hygiene adds to the overarching lack of dignity felt by homeless women.
- Open for signature
- April 10, 2018, at 9:43 a.m. (EDT)
- Closed for signature
- August 8, 2018, at 9:43 a.m. (EDT)
- Presented to the House of Commons
-
Irene Mathyssen
(London—Fanshawe)
September 20, 2018 (Petition No. 421-02619) - Government response tabled
- October 22, 2018
Only validated signatures are counted towards the total number of signatures.
Province / Territory | Signatures |
---|---|
Alberta | 48 |
British Columbia | 84 |
Manitoba | 9 |
New Brunswick | 6 |
Newfoundland and Labrador | 7 |
Northwest Territories | 2 |
Nova Scotia | 17 |
Nunavut | 2 |
Ontario | 536 |
Prince Edward Island | 1 |
Quebec | 327 |
Saskatchewan | 10 |