Women's March moving past Trump

Organizers of Saturday's Women's March in Ottawa say unlike last year's event, the 2018 gathering has nothing to do with U.S. President Donald Trump.

That frustration around the fact he won last year opened the door, but that conversation has evolved so much since then.- Catherine Butler, Women's March organizer

While the focus of the inaugural march was Trump's election, it built the foundation for a wider conversation about women's rights, organizer Catherine Butler told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning.

"That frustration around the fact he won last year opened the door, but that conversation has evolved so much since then," Butler said.

This year the march will focus on Canadian issues, she said.

"We have a number of things we need to fix in our own country."

Further to go

Butler suggested that while women in Canada enjoy equality in the eyes of the law, that doesn't always amount to social or economic parity.

"We have so much further to go socially and culturally in terms of ensuring that women are not harassed, ensuring that women are safe, ensuring that they're experiencing the same economic and social opportunities as men."

To that end, the marches taking place across Canada will encourage women to get involved in all levels of government, Butler said.

"When you think about the laws, and the impact and the influence that those structures have on the lives of women, suddenly women were questioning what kind of gender equity is used."

The Women's March will begin on Parliament Hill at noon Saturday. Police will close roads as the marchers makes their way down Wellington Street, Bank Street, Laurier Avenue and Bronson Street until about 3 .p.m. The march will end at the Bronson Centre.

Participants are being asked to wear red scarves in recognition of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.