{"id":1385,"date":"2021-12-03T20:32:38","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T20:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/theragingtwenties\/?p=1385"},"modified":"2021-12-03T21:12:44","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T21:12:44","slug":"period-poverty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/theragingtwenties\/2021\/12\/03\/period-poverty\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Wildly disappointing\u2019: Activists pan Ontario\u2019s period poverty program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A partnership between the Ontario government and Shoppers Drug Mart to supply Ontario schools with free menstrual products has sparked controversy among period equity organizations. Photo by Lilian Fridfinnson.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When the Ontario government announced its partnership with Shoppers Drug Mart to provide free menstrual products to schools across the province in early October, organizations who have spent years working to address period poverty claimed victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a huge win,\u201d said Tait Gamble, lead volunteer with The Period Purse, a Toronto-based organization working to ensure people who menstruate have safe, healthy and dignified periods by providing access to free menstrual products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the triumph was short-lived. Upon taking a closer look at the details of the plan, its limited and exclusionary nature became apparent.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On its surface, Ontario\u2019s plan to provide menstrual products in schools looks like a meaningful step to address period poverty. But period equity organizations say the program fails to appreciate the true extent of period poverty and excludes vulnerable populations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis program was designed to not actually meet the need,\u201d said Meghan White, co-founder and executive director of Ottawa-based Period Packs. \u201cThere\u2019s simply not enough product being offered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Boxes
Period Packs provides donated menstrual products to over 30 organizations in Ottawa, including women\u2019s centres, food banks, shelters and high schools, to work toward universal access to period products. Photo provided by Meghan White. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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According to White, the 18 million pads donated over three years will only equate to six pads per menstruator per year and the 1,200 dispensers promised means roughly one for every four schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The long-term viability of the deal raises alarm bells for White, as the partnership does not require any financial commitment by the province.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe partnership with Shoppers Drug Mart is very peculiar. Those are all donated products. They\u2019ve come at no expense to the province, although the way they\u2019ve explained it, you wouldn\u2019t know that,\u201d she said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veronica Brown, founder of Moon Time Sisters<\/a>\u2019 Ontario chapter, which supplies menstrual products to northern communities in Quebec, Nunavut and Ontario, shared in this skepticism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough it\u2019s a start, it is a private\/public corporation partnership \u2026 there\u2019s obviously a money trail going somewhere that is not transparent,\u201d Brown said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another pressing concern for period equity organizations is the province\u2019s exclusion of First Nations schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI read the article and I was like \u2018Wow! OK, this is great, but is it including Indigenous communities?,\u2019\u201d Brown said. \u201cIs this going to on-reserve high schools? No, it\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNinety-eight per cent of our communities are fly-in. The focus is on those without access to stores and products,\u201d Brown said. \u201cIt\u2019s really just one store called Northmart \u2026 they really drive the prices cause there\u2019s no competition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s big companies profiting off a bodily function\u201d<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This monopoly on period products in northern communities means prices for these necessities are often more than double the cost of menstrual products in urban communities \u2014illustrating a very serious gap in equitable access. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA box of tampons can range from $16 to $45, leaving people to choose between these products or food security,\u201d Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa said in October in Queen\u2019s Park after the government announced its plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A post shared by Sol Mamakwa MPP (@solmamakwa)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>