Procedure and House Affairs committee  You need EI changes that would provide a specific portion that men could take or they would lose it, as is happening in Quebec. That does really give men permission to take that, which right now is challenging. They find that in their environments it is very challenging to take up the parental leave.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  He's the rule guy, but I think the Speaker plays a very important role in decorum in the House and how that's enforced, and we heard that earlier today. I think you also need to make sure you have policies around harassment and codes of conduct. The public service has always had codes of conduct and there are always rules around harassment.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The leaders and influencers can make a big difference by modelling the behaviour that they expect and they want in the House. That applies in any organization. When you see the top behaving in a certain way, that starts to send the message that this is the kind of behaviour they want.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  For the next round.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. It's a matter of looking for that best solution that suits the majority of people but doesn't penalize others, which is very challenging at times. Those are simply things that one looks at whether they work or not. It really depends. I think David has much more understanding of the parliamentary rules and procedures than I do, but certainly that is something that has been done in other areas.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, I think that giving families a better understanding of what their spouse or parent is doing on the Hill would certainly make it easier to understand when that spouse or parent is not always available. I think there have been a lot of marriage breakups, and part of that is from a lack of understanding of the pressures that are imposed on an MP when they come to Ottawa.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's one of the elements that would help address it. I think there's no substitute for leadership from the political parties whereby they put a real focus on how you encourage more women to run. We know that women usually don't put themselves forward: they need to be asked. Parties need to be out there recruiting, engaging, and asking women to run, because we need that diversity, and the House is better served.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Well, I think that is the whole piece about respect: how you work to change question period so that it really becomes an opportunity to really genuinely ask questions. That is desirable; it's a good thing. You want to be able to challenge the leaders and the government, but you want to be able to do it in a way that is not for showmanship but is really aimed at getting the kinds of answers that people in the country want to hear.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think those are certainly very positive steps that would help. When you're trying to sell to women the desirability of running for office, those things might help make the tipping point when you ask women to run or have women being encouraged. We're certainly out there always saying, put your hand up, step forward, do it, because we need women in these roles.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The reason I prefer “work-life integration” is that if people are always striving for a mythical balance, they often feel stressed because they're not achieving that balance. You're absolutely right that you need to look at how efficient the process of Parliament is and how it helps members meet their responsibilities.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There is definitely a deterrent, because there is still an assumption in society that it is women's responsibility to do the caregiving. We know that this is changing with the younger generation, that more and more men are becoming engaged and really want to be spending time with their families and their children, but if you look at the percentage of time, it's still higher for women.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you for inviting me to appear before you. I'll just make a couple of short remarks, because I know you like to ask a lot of questions. I'm pleased that the committee is looking at the issue of a friendlier Parliament that recognizes the need of members of Parliament to meet family responsibilities as well as their home responsibilities.

Status of Women committee  On your first question with family-friendly policies that are often put in corporate policies or even in government policies, if the family-friendly one is really focused on ensuring that women can take care of family obligations, what it does is tend to reinforce that women should be the primary caregivers.

Status of Women committee  I think there are a number of ways. I'm not a social media expert, but it's by bringing to the attention of a lot of the younger women some of the role models and some of the achievements, both of their generation and the older generation. It's bringing to public awareness, through the media, the kinds of things you described, the bossy notion, and how that has been brought to public attention, so that people start to think about what it means when you call a woman bossy, what it means when you call a woman aggressive.

Status of Women committee  I think it is in part an educational problem. Why I say this is that women are still in many cases choosing to go the routes in university that will take them into the traditional occupations, such as public administration, teaching, and nursing, where they tend to get lower pay.