Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good morning, gentlemen. Good morning, ladies. It's a pleasure to have you here this morning.
Our study of gender-based analysis is a massive undertaking. Deputy Minister, the document you submitted to us which refers to your actions, states: “I think we have made a lot of progress over the past two years when it comes to GBA.” I want to refer to something that a witness already told us: even in this day and age, 40% of women in Canada have such a low income that they pay no income tax.
When you do a GBA, do you ask, for example, whether the budget will help low-income women increase their income? Will the budget increase women's financial independence? Are these questions asked? There is no such evidence in the 2008 budget.
In my opinion, not much has been done to ensure equality between men and women. Most women are still financially disadvantaged. They earn less, so they can save less. I feel like there's still a huge imbalance between the income earned by men and that earned by women. I get the impression that the measures set out in the 2008 budget still benefit men more.