Thank you very much, Madam Chair,
Thank you both for coming today.
I'm having a lot of difficulty following what you're telling us here today. I've just reviewed the notes that you've presented to us, Mr. Wright, and you indicate that you have a central agency role and that departments that sponsor policies are responsible for the gender-based analysis. And then you talk about structural policies, and then you also say further on that it's also the department's view that it's ultimately up to the elected representatives to decide which factors in the end get most importance in the policy decisions. So I'm having a hard time actually determining what advice you give, what your role is, and how you present it.
Let me give you a couple of examples. The Status of Women budget we know was cut. Moneys were subsequently put back in. Did you give advice on the impact this would have as it relates to the ability of women across the country, particularly in rural and northern areas, to access programs? The court challenges program was cut. Did you give advice in terms of the impact this would have in terms of the ability of women--and there are other groups affected by it, but I'm speaking specifically to women--to access their charter rights?
We've had a whole host of them. Literacy programs have been cut. Did you give advice on the impact of it? Your colleague just mentioned the tax credits. We look at the sports tax credit, and that's fine if you have the initial $500 to put out to get the $72 or $77 credit. Do you give advice on the impact of that and what it will mean for families, for women, for single-parent women, and do you also break it down or just aggregate it as it relates to aboriginal women and immigrant women?
I'm just giving you some examples here. Many more could be brought forward.
As I said at the outset, I'm having difficulty understanding what you do as it relates to gender-based analysis.