In January of 2013, of the thirteen provincial and territorial premiers (governers) in Canada, six were women and seven men. In total, the six women premiers of Canada were governing 29,346,578 people, or 87.7% of the total Canadian population, which was 33,476,688 people (Rodriguez, 2013). In Rodriguez's article, he supports the view that women in Canada over the past one hundred years have grown in home ownership. This feat, historically known, has been a tried and true battle as it was generally reserved for males to complete ownership over land. He suggests that as the older generations of women in Canada have made significant changes over time it is necessary, too, that the younger population of women in Canada seek "rise in society" as their predecessors had.
This brings me to the world view on women in society that is most relevant to today's debate: feminism. Feminism is a "word" that generally has a bad reputation. All it means is "the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities" (Merriam-Webster). The Canadian government's view is that gender equality "is not only a human rights issue, but also an essential component of sustainable development, social justice, peace, and security" (Government of Canada, 2014). That step alone is a large step that not all countries take in forwarding women role in society. Canada was one of the first countries to sign and ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which set international standards for eliminating gender discrimination.