First, pay gaps must be properly measured by comparing what is comparable. In the case of people who publish at the same frequency and receive comparable funding, there is generally no gender gap. It's the access of young professors, particularly young women, to this funding and to conference support that explains some of the gaps, not to mention the access to child care.
In England, I was paying 45 pounds a day for my two young children. I came back to Quebec in 2002 because there were $5 child care centres. It cost me $10 a day to look after my two children. If you do the math, the financial difference is glaring. If we had day care systematically established in all universities, it would bring communities closer together. Doctoral students and post-doctoral students also have children, who could go to the same day care centres as teachers' children. These day care centres would then help strengthen communities because we would all be in the same boat. However, we are all fighting for child care spaces, and there are none. I can't even imagine what's happening in the rest of Canada.