Finance committee  Sure. My second point would be that I think investment in the green economy is absolutely critical. What we are calling for is that investment in the green economy take into account the diversity of people who need jobs. We need to ensure that the investment in a low-carbon economy, in a green economy, is taking into account indigenous jobs and jobs for people from racialized backgrounds and Black Canadians, so we can really ensure that our investment in the green economy also provides an opportunity for us to tackle critical inequalities that we have in Canada.

Finance committee  Yes, absolutely. Oxfam Canada and Oxfam are in favour of a wealth tax. We have seen, as you said, huge increases in inequality globally and in this country. In Canada, the top 1% own significantly more wealth than the bottom 70%, so we do think a wealth tax is one important strategy, one important tactic, one important tax that we can use to try to drive down this inequality that we have seen.

Finance committee  Please. That's it. Go.

Finance committee  I think the bottom line for us is that our EI system needs to be modernized. There is lots that we can learn from the CERB rollout that we should be transferring to an EI modernization. Our point is that, with the nature of the labour market and particularly the nature of jobs where many women are working in very precarious, low-paid work, these jobs are not necessarily covered by employment insurance or the benefits are not good enough, and they have to move from one job to another.

Finance committee  This is absolutely an opportunity for us to invest in the green economy. Thank you for your question. Let me focus first on the care economy. When we think about the care economy, we don't necessarily think about that as a green investment. Our point that we outline in our budget brief is that investing in the care economy is a really powerful way for us to drive our economy in a low-carbon way.

Finance committee  The answer is yes. The YWCA has recently published a report. Figures from the Centre for Future Work show an increase of government revenue of up to $29 billion, an increase in employment for child care workers and associate suppliers of child care and early learning spaces of up to 725,000 jobs, and an increase in Canada's GDP of around $100 billion a year.

Finance committee  Thank you for the opportunity to present Oxfam Canada's recommendations for Canada's next federal budget to you today. At Oxfam Canada, we put women's rights and gender justice at the heart of everything we do in our work here in Canada and in our work with some of the poorest communities around the world.

International Trade committee  I'd be happy to continue the conversation.

International Trade committee  No, no, this is why it's great to have a dialogue and the opportunity to have this conversation. As I said, I think we see a trade agreement as one of many policy tools we can use to promote gender equality here at home and around the world. The ombudsperson, who will lift the bar here for Canada on corporate accountability, I think is a great move.

International Trade committee  What we're discussing here is the Pacific Alliance, and we saw the Chilean government coming to the table on the gender chapter, which I think is a very positive step. We know the Colombia government has really engaged—

International Trade committee  We're encouraging further and future gender chapters to have teeth. That requires more specific targets, sex-disaggregated data and analysis so we can understand the gender-disaggregated impact of trade agreements and take action through the trade agenda and also through, for example, our feminist international assistance policy to work out what we can do to mitigate some of these inequities.

International Trade committee  Our response is that they're one of many tools. There are a number of other policy tools that the Canadian government has, such as its very progressive, feminist international assistance policy, and there's the great news of the recent announcement of the ombudsperson on human rights.

International Trade committee  Could I add to that? We're advocating that these gender committees be inclusive and that they represent a diversity of voices, but also that they be well resourced with clear targets and a clear mandate to move things forward. Otherwise, our fear is that the committee will not—for want of a better expression—have teeth, and that it will not have the resources and mandate to really move forward the gender equality dimensions of the chapter.

International Trade committee  As my colleague, Francesca mentioned, we do advocate that there be a strong gender chapter in this agreement, but also that gender be integrated throughout the agreement. That means that in the labour chapter we're calling for strong and binding language that would, for example, prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender, promote measures that reduce the gender pay gap, promote the increased provision of child care and parental leave, recognize the gendered nature of workplace harassment, and assure the right to job-protected parental leave.