I am very pleased to welcome all the women appearing before us today in this second part of our meeting.
I would like to begin with you, Ms. Boucher, because we have had an opportunity to talk about Bill C-10 and the fact that the Conservative government has shamefully taken away from women the right—because it is a right—to equal pay for work of equal value. Some people think that we are talking about equal pay for equal work—in other words, that a woman who drives a bus will make the same wages as a man; but that issue was resolved 50 years ago in Canada. However, assessing the value of work and ensuring there are no pockets of poverty because they happen to be female-dominated industries or jobs is something we have been working on for 30 years now and which has been well established for 20 years. And now, they come along and take it away! What is even more shocking—and it is worth reminding people of this—is that a party whose official name contains the word “liberty”—namely the Liberal Party—allows the Conservatives to do that by supporting Stephen Harper's extreme right-wing government. Every woman in the Liberal Party voted to take this fundamental right away from women. I find that absolutely scandalous, and we can never repeat that enough, because the fact is it is also very closely linked to poverty.
In terms of your opening remarks, Ms. Gibeau, I wanted to thank you for reminding us of an important truth: only 43% of people who lose their jobs are eligible for employment insurance. Minister Finley is systematically lying when she says that 80% of people who contribute to the Employment Insurance Fund would be—she makes sure she always uses the conditional tense—be eligible when, in fact, people who lose their jobs, by definition, have less stable jobs and live in areas where job insecurity and unemployment are higher. Often, these individuals work part-time and are therefore unable to accumulate enough hours. These are the people who have really lost their jobs, and who cannot access employment insurance. The 80% includes a lot of people, like public servants, whose right to a stable job is not being taken away—let's be clear on that—but people who are not losing their jobs are also included in that percentage. It is an absolute fiction! As the saying goes, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics, and that one belongs in the category of damned statistical lies, because it is repeated over and over again by the Conservatives, even though it is absolutely false. I want to thank you for raising that today.
Ms. L'Archevêque, welcome. It is clear there is kind of a “Laval West” theme developing between you and Betty McLeod this morning. I wonder why. So, welcome. I was not aware of your organization previously. Your presentation was very interesting.
Ms. Chevrier, as regards the community kitchens, it is fabulous to hear you explain what that is all about. It could not be clearer and the fruits of your efforts are so positive that it is an absolute pleasure to hear from you today.
I would like to come back to Ms. Boucher and ask her what specific actions the CSN is advocating to reverse the tragedy of Bill C-10. There are Liberals in Newfoundland, for example, whose conscience simply did not allow them to support the budget and who received permission from Michael Ignatieff to vote against it. Women Liberals, however, did not get the same permission to vote against a measure that removes a woman's right to equal pay for work of equal value, and none of them have said a word about it.
What specific actions can be taken to turn around a situation which, at the very least, could be described as troubling in a free and democratic society?