Happy 20th Anniversary Northern Woman's Bookstore!
by Jodi Martin

As part of the aim of this anniversary edition of Hotflash is to reflect on thirty years of the women’s movement in Northwestern Ontario - I went out to meet with Margaret Philips of the Northern Womens Bookstore on a quiet Tuesday afternoon in November. The Northern Womens bookstore officially opened in March 1984. It was located on Bay Street in Port Arthur next to the famous Hoito Restaurant. Margaret describes this first space as a “cubbyhole” holding 300 books and open 3 days a week. The Bookstore moved to North Court St. one year later and then to Camelot Street where it shared space with the Northwestern Ontario Women’s Ctr. In 1992, the bookstore moved to its current location at 65 Court Street. The current location is far from its “cubbyhole” beginnings. In fact, I thought what an open, bright and comfortable space it was as we sat by the front windows in the afternoon sunshine talking about the history of the store.
Philips explained that in the late 1960s and early 1970s the second wave of the women’s movement was based around three central “arms”. These were: Political Action (lobbying, advocacy), Service (crisis centres, shelters) and Literature. This period saw a mushrooming of women’s literature - books written by women about women’s issues. In 1973 Thunder Bay was the site of a Northern Women’s Conference. Conference organizers were hoping for 100-150 participants (although they would settle for 50). Six hundred women arrived to participate in the conference which served as the foundation for the development of the women’s centre, rape crisis centre and the Northern women’s journal. From 1973 to 1983 women’s commitment to organizing, networking, and gathering meant that many services and political action groups were developed in Thunder Bay and surrounding communities. Margaret smiled as she explained how the women involved in the Northern Women’s Journal would sit around and talk for hours about feminist issues. In these discussions it became obvious that women’s literature was missing from the local movement and that a women’s bookstore was needed to fill this void. The women went around the circle to see who would be willing to take on this endeavour. Two women, Anna Nichol and Margaret Philips decided that they would start the Northern women’s bookstore. Anna and Margaret sat down to talk and three months later the bookstore was open! They had no business plan or as Margaret put it “we did none of the things you are supposed to do”. They just jumped right in. The Bookstore filled the niche - it provided local access to feminist literature. Access to such books had been difficult for women in the Thunder Bay region - women would travel to Toronto or Ottawa and return with arms full of literature to share with other women. By the time a book was returned to its original owner it would be “well worn”!
Margaret explains that one of the most important elements of the bookstore is that it serves the region and not just the city of Thunder Bay. This is extremely important as women in regional communities may feel even more isolated than women here in Thunder bay. Access to feminist literature is still difficult in many parts of northern Ontario and the bookstore participates in many regional workshops and conferences. When they cannot attend, the store may send books for display and purchase. This brings me to an important point about the purpose of the bookstore. Philips explains that the bookstore is not a business but a service. Margaret counts on the dedication of volunteers to keep the store running. The Northern Women’s Bookstore has lacked general community support for twenty years and yet it is an important resource for women in Thunder Bay who are keen to explore feminist philosophy and analysis. This anniversary year would be a great time to support your independent women’s bookstore here in Thunder Bay. There are many ways to become involved: join the bookclub, attend events such as concerts, readings, poetry nights, and booklaunches. You can call the bookstore at 344-7979 for more information or to get on their mailing list. Please plan to help the bookstore celebrate its 20th anniversary in the New Year. More information to come…

The Cost of Food Security
by Jodi Martin

Although we hardly needed MORE convincing reasons to lobby the new Ontario Government to raise the minimum wage in this province, local and national news this month highlighted two such reasons. First, in November, the Thunder Bay District Health Unit released its annual “Cost of Eating Report”. The District Health Unit conducts this cost survey every year in local grocery stores. The purpose is to calculate the cost of eating well in the city of Thunder Bay. The resulting costs are based on a healthy diet which would include a variety of foods reflecting Canada’s Guide to Healthy Eating. The costs in the following table are based on average prices from six stores in June 2003. So what do these numbers mean? For the purpose of understanding what these figures mean to area families, take as an example a single mother with two children (aged 10 and 13 years) - the cost of healthy eating for this family would be $95.87 per week. Consider that a person earning $9/hr for an average work week (35 hours - if they are lucky enough to have guaranteed full time hours) earns $315/week before taxes. At minimum wage ($239.75/week) it would be virtually impossible to spend what is deemed necessary to purchase healthy food. Even a family with two income earners (and children of the same ages) would have difficulty meeting the healthy food costs as established by the District Health Unit survey. A two income household with both wage earners earning minimum wage (and working full time hours) would earn $479.50 per week. The cost of eating well for this family would be $135.87! This is over 25% of their gross income.
This brings me to the second compelling reason for an examination of the minimum wage regulations in Ontario. This month Campaign 2000 also released its annual report card claiming that over one million Canadian children live in poverty. According to CTV, Laurel Rothman (national coordinator of Campaign 2000) explained that “some of the blame for child poverty must be borne by a labour market that isn’t providing parents with the jobs and salaries they need to raise children.” According to the report, one in four Canadian workers earns less than $10/hr. Furthermore, it is women who are particularly vulnerable to the problem of low paying employment and thus: “the labour market does not currently provide a pathway out of poverty for most lone mothers and children”
What can you do? Other than lobbying your local Member of Provincial Parliament to pressure the Ontario government to consider the cost of healthy living when examining our minimum wage, you can also become involved by donating time or resources to the various food providing organizations in Thunder Bay, or to the Food Action Network. The Food Action Network is “a coalition of groups and individuals that was established in 1996 with an aim at achieving food security in Thunder Bay. Food security means everyone has access to enough safe, healthy, and affordable food.” The Network promotes a variety of programs such as: community kitchens, community gardens, gleaning and plant-a-row grow-a-row in the region to assist people on low incomes with access to safe and healthy foods. For more information, to become a volunteer, or to make a donation to Food Action programs, call the Community Nutrition Promoter at 625-8816. For information on emergency food providers in communities outside of Thunder Bay but serviced by the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, please call Catherine Schwartz Mendes toll free at 1 888 294 6630. NOTE:At time of press the Ontario government has raised the minimum wage to $7.15/hour. Minimum wage will rise annually reaching $8/hour by Feruary 2007. Clearly a step in the right direction, this new rate falls dramatically short of bringing mminimum wage earners above the poverty line.