That's a very thoughtful question, and I know we've had private conversations about this, so I'm glad you're putting it on the record as well.
To your point on the federal Employment Equity Act, it defines designated groups as women, aboriginal people, persons with disability, members of visible minorities, and for example, even the Charter of Rights and Freedoms sets out factors of discrimination based on race, national ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, or mental or physical disability, just to name a few, and that's not very exhaustive.
The point is that we already have those benchmarks. The point is that's already reflected in pieces of legislation, but I think diversity goes beyond that. As I mentioned, I think those are very important criteria. Those are very important factors, but if I'm a corporation I would go beyond that as well with respect to diversity.
I think that's the kind of imagination, that's the kind of thoughtfulness, that we want to see from corporations, because again, I think this is such a unique opportunity for Canada to really shine. By highlighting diversity at the most senior levels in terms of corporate governance and management, we can really differentiate ourselves.
When I travel now and when I go to China or India, these emerging economies, for example, they're no longer talking about being the jurisdiction of the cheapest products. They no longer want to produce cheap products or services. They want to produce innovative and smart products. In order to do that, they need diversity of thought, diversity of ideas, and diversity of perspective. This is why they look to us with a great deal of envy. It's because of our multicultural society, because of the fact that we promote diversity, because we have social cohesion. That's where I see a real value proposition for us. If we really promote diversity it will allow us to out-innovate and out-think a lot of our international competitors so that our companies can succeed. That's the objective of this legislation.