Pay Equity Committee on April 13th, 2016

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Okay. Thank goodness. I just wanted to make sure they were on there.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anita Vandenbeld]

Are there any objections to moving the first group on May 2 to the third spot?

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

I don't know whether this involves the first group. It's just that the Canadian Bankers Association, which is part of the first group, and the middle grouping are, in my opinion, the private sector.

I'm not sure. The federally regulated employers are not private sector, are they?

[Sheri Benson, NDP, Saskatoon West, SK]

Yes, they are.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

They are? Oh, look at that. The Canadian Bankers Association—

[Sheri Benson, NDP, Saskatoon West, SK]

There are two employer groups of federally regulated employers, which are separate.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Part of me is okay with the order of that day. I just wonder whether we should let them know that we might need them to stay. Do you know what I mean?

[The Chair, Liberal, Anita Vandenbeld]

I guess we'll instruct the clerk, then, in every case to alert the witnesses that it could go longer than anticipated.

Is that okay?

Perfect.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

I would make one more comment. Just so you know, May 4, that's a powerhouse day. I feel like if I had 1,000 questions they would all be to those people.

The two bodies that actually have pay equity legislation in place are Quebec and Ontario, and then Beth Bilson and Marie-Thérèse Chicha: I kind of feel like....

Anyway, that's going to be a day that I think is...we're ending off very strongly. I think it's a comment of, wow, we're going to have a lot of big discussion on that day.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anita Vandenbeld]

Again, we'll just alert the witnesses to be prepared to stay a little longer if we have more questions.

I'm going to go back to Mr. DeCourcey who said he had a comment on the previous discussion.

[Matt DeCourcey, Liberal, Fredericton, NB]

We certainly squared that off somewhere along the way. Thank you, though.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anita Vandenbeld]

It's finished?

Okay, then I have Mr. Sheehan.

[Terry Sheehan, Liberal, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Again, I'm hearing tonight about Ontario and Quebec. Is it possible to hear from them earlier in the presentation? I guess the question would go to the clerk.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anita Vandenbeld]

I'll confer with the clerk for a moment.

We'll try to get Ontario and Quebec earlier on the agenda if that's possible, the caveat of course being that this will depend on the availability of the witnesses. We'll give the clerk some latitude in terms of if people are only available on certain days. The other thing that I'm cognizant of, and have already asked the clerk to do, is if there are witnesses we know we'll be hearing by video conference, given the timeslot and that often there are votes, that they be bunched together if at all possible to prevent multiple meetings over in 1 Wellington where we have to take a bus back to Centre Block if there's a vote. Again, these are just things the clerk will juggle while she's trying to determine availability. We will try to do those earlier.

Mr. Sheehan.

[Terry Sheehan, Liberal, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

I picked up on that too, the three credit unions. I support credit unions. They're great. We have the Northern Credit Union up in northern Ontario, but there are three here. Is it possible to get a presentation from the credit union with various perspectives on the three with one presenter? I don't know who suggested it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anita Vandenbeld]

Ms. Benson.

[Sheri Benson, NDP, Saskatoon West, SK]

I was just looking for a single employer that had a pay equity regime in place. It was just here, some examples. I think Vancity in British Columbia would probably be the one that would be at the forefront. Then I thought it would be nice to hear from a small employer. It's just the practicality of hearing from someone who was actually trying to implement....

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Far be it from me to say that any group from British Columbia is going to be a great witness because I'm from British Columbia, so I'm going to have the home advantage here.

I would say that, again, most credit unions are provincially regulated, not federally, so they would come under provincial. Unless we feel there is a particular aspect.... For example, one that has been under the Ontario rules, what has their experience been, and then contrast that maybe with one that hasn't. Whether we need three credit unions or if we just want one, we should be focused on the fact that we'd like to have something that at the end of the day is going to have an impact. Again, we're getting the banks, which are federally regulated. I think it might be a good contrast but maybe only one. Just don't tell Vancity I said that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anita Vandenbeld]

We are no longer in camera.

Mr. Sheehan.

[Terry Sheehan, Liberal, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

I think Sheri agreed to that, that one would suffice.

Dan, I think that we can go down to one.

[Sheri Benson, NDP, Saskatoon West, SK]

That's fine.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anita Vandenbeld]

Is there a preference as to which one, or should we leave the clerk to....

[Sheri Benson, NDP, Saskatoon West, SK]

The idea is to have an example of an employer that had a regime in place. I like Dan's suggestion that we have one that's operating within a province that currently has an example of pay equity legislation. The Ontario piece would make a lot of sense.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anita Vandenbeld]

That would be Brent Zorgdrager. Is that the one?

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Vancouver is a large credit union, too, so there are some advantages.

I've never heard of the other one from Ontario.