Thank you.
Please accept my apologies for coming in late. I got caught in a previous meeting.
As I'm listening to all of you through the many hearings we've had at this committee, whether on this study, on women's economic security, or on EI, I am struck by the commonalities of the issues that we're hearing through the whole range of our studies. Whether it's from doctors or construction workers or whomever, the issues seem to be more or less the same for women, wherever and however they work.
I have a couple of questions that I'll ask right at the outset, because my time is limited.
I wanted to pick up on the pay equity that Ms. Mathyssen identified. I'm going to read the question that our researcher prepared. It's geared for the communications group. In your submission on pay equity in 2002, you said the undervaluation of women's work manifested itself prominently in the pay inequities that exist in the workplace. I'm not going to go through all of it, but are there still wage gaps between men and women in the job classes in the industries represented? Does the gender wage gap persist in jobs for which union contracts exist? That's one question.
My next question is more a comment than a question. It's on the lack of funding you were expecting from Status of Women. That issue was actually discussed at this committee some time ago. You may or may not remember. It came at about the time the government made their pay equity announcement within the budget bill. You issued a press release that was critical of it, and your funding seems to have stopped; I hope that's not a coincidence, but it looks mighty strange to me.
My other quick comment to all of you is that we will be making a report with recommendations. I'd like a quick survey: what would be your foremost recommendation to the committee, based on your own organization's experiences?