Thank you, Madam Chair.
I would like to thank our witnesses for being here today. I listened to your presentations with great interest. You have painted a very dark picture. However, I am not surprised by what you have said this morning. It is a reflection of current society. While 38% of those who don't pay tax are women, 33.5% don't have access to employment insurance. Also, we know that women over the age of 80 are the poorest members of our society.
I believe our government colleagues will also be very interested in what you said. We are really trying to work in a non-partisan manner. I hope that our government colleagues will agree to the Committee making recommendations aimed at ensuring that all the necessary equity and gender-based analysis is carried out appropriately.
In recent weeks, we have met with individuals appointed to be champions in the various departments who are doing gender-based analysis of new measures that are planned, before they are sent to the Minister or the Department of Finance to be looked at one last time, and then put into the system and officially proposed. Unfortunately, we have realized that these individuals have little influence or power within the departments. One of the people we spoke to told us that their role was to give, and I quote: “fearless advice and loyal implementation”.
I found it rather odd that the people who are supposed to be doing gender-based analysis and ensuring that it is part and parcel of government programs and measures have no power to make recommendations, other than to say that the analysis was carried out and to present the results. It doesn't go any further than that.
Ms. Peckford, until we are able to recommend that a commissioner be appointed, or if that recommendation were not to be accepted, I would like to know what we can do to give these people inside the departments more power. What kind of tools could we give them? I believe that Status of Women Canada does provide them with tools and training. Are you aware of what that training and those tools consist of? Are they adequate? Should we change them? Can you enlighten me on this?