Noted, thank you.
We'd like to focus on one specific recommendation, which is access to a variety of dispute resolution mechanisms.
At ACFO, we have a 25-year track record of success with alternative dispute resolution models. We were early pioneers of interest-based bargaining. We believe at our core that collaboration and being proactive are the keys to reaching settlements that benefit everyone. At the end of the day, achieving and maintaining equal pay for work of equal value is fundamental to employers, employees, and bargaining agents. We can all agree that employees should not endure or be subject to gender wage gaps and systemic discrimination. We firmly believe that what is needed is a holistic, collaborative, and non-adversarial approach.
If I can use ACFO as an example, I see it this way. We believe strongly in the merits of our particular pay equity case. Our third-party expert, an expert Treasury Board has relied on in the past, also believes in the merit of our case. We wouldn't have brought it forward otherwise. If we're right, every day, week, month, and year that goes by compounds the issue of gender-based wage and systemic discrimination. Getting to a fair and just resolution sooner is the right thing to do for our members and for the government we are proud to serve.
As Prime Minister Trudeau himself said during the campaign, the “lost income potential because of the wage gap hurts Canadian families and hurts our economy.”
We need to strive for a legal framework that helps employers and employees jointly and effectively resolve pay inequity in the workplace. But eliminating a wage gap due to gender discrimination is only part of the solution. Unless the underpinnings of the pay system are addressed, systemic discrimination continues creating new wage gaps that widen over time. That's why a proactive model similar to the Quebec Pay Equity Act should be considered.
There's a misconception that pay equity is an historical problem. Our group is living proof that the problem persists today and will continue in the future. Overall, our view is that the principles of proactivity and collaboration must be the bedrock of any new model proposed for achieving pay equity.
With our time remaining, if it pleases the committee, I'd like to invite Stéphanie to speak to some of the specifics of our recommendation.