Thank you.
Just to remind members of the committee, Canada has been in the forefront for several decades in the implementation of a tool, a technique of budget and policy analysis, known as gender-based analysis or gender budgeting. As a result of a number of important developments taking place at the level of the federal government over the last several years, Canada is now in a position where the Privy Council Office, Treasury Board, and the Department of Finance have all agreed to implement their own action plans to carry on gender-based analysis of all matters relevant to the federal government. On October 6, 2009, the government released its action plan.
We have some very specific requests to make of this committee in anticipation of its role in implementing this very important program.
First, we would like to request that the committee itself make plans to undergo its own gender-based analysis training with Status of Women Canada or with whatever resources seem appropriate for that; second, to include an explicit gender-based analysis in all of your recommendations coming out of your pre-budget consultations; and third, to bring the Feminist Centre for Research back when you review the 2011 budget so that we can share our own impressions. In order to give you a sense of the kind of methodology that's involved in this, we have provided some additional materials relating to Budget 2010 that illustrate how a gender-based perspective on federal government spending would be carried out, both on the macro level and at the program level. I think it is a very revealing document.
I invite questions, if anyone has any, during the discussion afterwards. Thank you.