Yellowknife (Dec 13/06) - The barrel's flames leapt high, devouring the bras symbolically sacrificed as fuel for the fire.

Women from Yellowknife joined together to protest cuts to women's groups on Sunday, which marked International Human Rights Day.

Women threw their bras into a barrel in front of the Government of Canada building on Franklin Avenue Sunday afternoon in protest of the recent cuts to women's groups. - Jessica Klinkenberg/NNSL photo

"It started with three of us drinking coffee," said Kerry King, one of the organizers of the event.

The trio wanted to demonstrate that the recent federal cuts to women's groups across Canada was sending them back to the '60s, when bra burning originally began.

"We feel like we've been kicked back in time. So we decided to have a good old fashioned bra burning."

Twenty women sat in a circle at Javaroma, having a discussion about what to do. Protesting every night and sending letters to Members of Parliament were some of the recommendations given by women around the room.

And it wasn't just Yellowknife women whose bras were going up in smoke Sunday afternoon.

Lingerie sent by women across the NWT was added to the flames.

Arlene Hache, the executive director of the Yellowknife Women's Society was on hand to help with the burning of the bras.

"They seem to respect that we're bringing attention to things," Hache said of the support they received from the city's fire department and municipal enforcement officers, who were on hand to keep an eye on the flames.

Moira Cameron, co-ordinator for the Yellowknife Women's Society and Centre for Northern Families, said she was happy to add her bras to the fire due to the recent government cutbacks.

"We have funding issues. Equal rights are not guaranteed to women in the North," Cameron said. She felt that funding to the organizations for women's rights is vital to ensure protection and equal rights.

"I'm not surprised (with the turn out). People working with women in the North are constantly fighting with these issues," she said.

Currently one of the main groups receiving attention from the federal government is the new REAL women organization, which is against the right for homosexuals to marry.

"I have a problem with them being the only group with funding," Cameron said.

She said she wouldn't mind if both sides were receiving funding, putting them on an equal level.

"Most women's groups who are facing funding cuts have realized they're being muzzled," she contended. "(But) it's not going to stop the women's groups from speaking."