Thank you very much, MP Sheehan.
I am glad you brought up gender-based analysis. It's a core commitment in my mandate, actually, that we strengthen the use of GBA. As you know, GBA has been on the books for a long time and departments should be using gender-based analysis in the decisions they're making that will affect the Canadian population. We've seen a varying degree of use and success in terms of using those tools.
Gender-based analysis essentially supports departments to consider the gendered impacts of programs and policy initiatives. It can also be used to address historic inequities, and I would argue, even inequities in terms of income. It can also look at initiatives, for example, that will strengthen women's labour market attachment; that can help close the gap. For example, why are women under-represented in various sectors, or over-represented in various sectors for that matter?
The most widely known examples of this type in recent years have been the changes to employment insurance special benefits, the implementation of a special range of benefits—and I don't want to steal my colleague's thunder—in terms of EI changes that can actually provide income replacement for women while they're away from work. But also looking at opportunities to support men to have opportunities to take parental leave in a more fulsome way, which would allow women to re-engage in the workforce in a more rapid way, or stay engaged in the workforce.
Perhaps we should be looking at using GBA when we're developing apprenticeships or skills training opportunities, and then, of course, strong GBA as we move forward with an agenda of innovation, of science, of technology, making sure that we have policies, programs, and legislation in place that will allow women to fulsomely take advantage of those opportunities.
I'd also like to say, beyond GBA, that we talk about this as being a human rights issue. It of course is a human rights issue, but it also falls into the category that good social policy is good fiscal policy. Women have contributed more to global GDP growth than have either new technology or the new giants, China and India, a fact supported by OECD and International Monetary Fund studies. This isn't only about human rights, although clearly that is the foundation. This is about spurring our economic growth through the fulsome inclusion of women.
Thanks.