Evidence of meeting #43 for Status of Women in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was departments.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
But I see in his remarks that there is a gender-based analysis champion with the department, who I think would be an appropriate witness, if that person is in the room.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
But you don't actually decide. We actually have more numbers than you do.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Joy Smith
Excuse me, you're out of order. The fact of the matter is that we had invited our guests, the deputy ministers, to come, and I don't think there's anyone else prepared at this point in time to do that.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
No, no, could we ask if there is somebody from the Department of Finance in the room, at the time, right now, who could come to the table?
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Joy Smith
I think that's very unfair, because we asked for the deputy ministers. Nobody else is prepared to come and sit here unless they have their notes--
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
I'm sorry, but if you're the gender-based analysis champion for a department, you should be able to answer a few questions.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Joy Smith
We asked the deputy ministers to come. The deputy minister will come--
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
I'm telling you that this is extraordinarily time-sensitive, Madam Chair. We are about to table a budget. For 10 years we have been asking for a budget to have a gender analysis on it before it comes to Parliament. So we would like to know, as a committee, will this 2007 budget have gender analysis done on it? In the remarks here there are a lot of subjectives: “wherever possible”--
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Joy Smith
You can ask that question to the people sitting there at the table. Maybe someone cares to answer Ms. Bennett's question about that. Is there anybody here available?
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
I would like to challenge the chair, based on the people on this side of the table, as to whether on not we could have somebody from the Department of Finance come to the table.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Joy Smith
Ms. Bennett, we asked for the deputy. I'll check with the clerk, but I don't think it's appropriate.
Well, as I said, I did just check with the clerk as well, and she concurs that we have asked the deputy minister to appear at this time. It is inappropriate to ask--
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
It's the will of the committee, Madam Chair, to change our indication to the champion.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Joy Smith
Madam Bennett, you're out of order. Can I please finish my sentence? What I was saying is that I will ask the clerk to ask the deputy minister to have a representative, if at all possible, at our very next meeting. Today it is inappropriate--
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
4:40 p.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Joy Smith
--for a committee to call somebody out of the audience to present at the table.
4:40 p.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Joy Smith
You have a very few seconds left. Do you have a question of the people sitting here?
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
The next meeting is after the budget, Madam Chair. My understanding of the civil service in this country is that these are highly professional people who are very good at their jobs, who love what they do, and who are at any time prepared to answer questions of what's going on in the departments for which they are responsible. I don't understand why somebody from Finance didn't come, when this is a study about the role of central agencies and they are the key person. I don't--
4:40 p.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Joy Smith
Do you have a question for the witnesses, Ms. Bennett? You have 80 seconds left.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
Yes. I'd like to know from each of the witnesses whether they had anything in their budget submissions to the Department of Finance, under every department, about gender-based analysis.
Under Trudeau, people couldn't send something to cabinet, an MC, without a gender-based analysis, or to a budget. Is that now in place?