BANK OF CANADA WOMEN'S TROUBLE CONTINUES

The Bank of Canada is in hot water again over bank note design, just days after it revamped its policies to avoid more embarrassing controversies about the country's currency.

Former governor Mark Carney apologized to Canadians in August 2012 when it was revealed the bank had erased the Asian features of a female scientist featured on prototypes of the new $100 plastic banknote, after focus groups raised questions about her ethnicity.

A penitent Carney ordered a review of the design process for all future banknotes and Stephen Poloz, his successor, last week announced a new process as well as an online public consultation, ending Nov. 10.

But the announcement has only stirred up more trouble for the bank, as a group pressing to have images of famous women included in the next set of banknotes learned that their petitions and letters have apparently fallen on deaf ears.

The Bank of Canada's newly released design principles say nothing about putting women on the currency, vaguely referring only to "diversity."

"It's disappointing, it's insulting, it's discriminatory and it's offensive," said Merna Forster, a historian and author in Victoria who has been leading the public campaign.

"How many more surveys and public consultations will it take to convince the Bank of Canada to commit to including women on bank notes," she said in an interview. "This is not rocket science."

The current series of polymer banknotes feature no famous Canadian women, though the Queen's image is on all denominations. The previous series included images of the Famous Five, who fought for women's rights in Canada, and Therese Casgrain, a Quebec feminist. But they were all replaced on the new $50 note by an image of an icebreaker

To read the complete article, see:
Bank of Canada still not committed to women on currency, petition says (www.cbc.ca/news/politics/bank-of-canada-still-not-committed-to-women-on-currency-petition-says-1.2795349)

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