Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, everyone.
In my humble opinion, of the last five priorities, the ones that do not have a date, we should start with pay equity. I think it is crucial. A report was tabled last year, and we want to see what is going to happen. I know that the previous government was about to begin work on this bill, and then the election was called and everything came to a halt.
First of all, I think we should be asking questions of the government or the Department of Justice and the Department of Human Resources, which is responsible for the labour program, to find out whether they are preparing anything. I have no information about this. I try to get information from the Department of Human Resources, but I have been unsuccessful.
I would like to know whether these two departments are currently drafting a bill on pay equity. It is fundamental. There are 120,000 women in Quebec who are waiting for this legislation. We have been talking about it for a long time. The time for discussion is over, it is now time to act. I think we should give priority to pay equity, because most of the work has already been done.
In addition, we are in the middle of a major reorganization—a number of bills amending the Criminal Code and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act have already been tabled. I think the Standing Committee on the Status of Women should be looking into this matter before legislation is passed that does not take gender-based analysis into account.
When I read the report on gender-based analysis, I was particularly interested in the Department of Justice. The report states that the Department of Justice—and I am putting it into simple language here—had a great deal to do in this regard. Consequently, I think the members of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women should be concerned. Given that the work is underway at the moment, we could bring forward the point of view and vision of women. We could say what they think about this.
It is very important that we make a serious study of violence against women. I am not saying that this has not been done in the past. I am saying that we should take action regarding sexual assault, particularly since there will be changes made to the sentences. We should also look at human trafficking.
That does not mean that the other points are not priorities. I am just saying that it might be advisable to start by examining these subjects before dealing with others.