March 8 is International Women’s Day. I’m not a woman, but I’m a dad of two daughters, have one granddaughter, and I work with women on the job site — one of my daughters included. So it’s important to me that women get the respect they deserve and the support they need.

Every year International Women’s Day has a different theme. For example, last year it was to end violence against women; the year before that was about ending hunger and poverty. This year’s theme is inspiring change and, as someone who knows a thing or two about women in the trades, I know that they inspire change every day.

But unfortunately, only 6.4 per cent of Canadian skilled trades workers were women in 2009; only one in 10 apprentices are women. Women are usually in the top 10 per cent of their class, but they’re still the last to get hired, and when they do, men are twice as likely to get a better job offer.