I agree that the wage gap is an issue that needs to be addressed. Part of it is pay equity and the Ministers for Labour and the Treasury Board are focused on this commitment, as I am. You're right. We believe in equal pay for equal work, and that legislation alone—when it comes to pay equity—will not address this issue. We need cultural changes in the workplace, as well as the supports for women.
We're committed, Sheila, to moving beyond the complaint-based approach to pay equity and to introducing pay equity legislation by late 2018. We also know that other aspects of the wage gap need to be addressed through things like parental and maternal leave, through opportunities to take leave to care for elderly parents, for example, and through making sure that women and girls find themselves dreaming of and succeeding in growth where they have traditionally not been seeing themselves, including STEM fields.
Collectively, I believe these efforts will be steps in the right direction towards closing that wage gap, which I believe is unacceptable. To do it right, the federal government is going to be leading the provinces and territories, which means we have a greater responsibility to ensure that we get it right. The time we need to do this is going to allow us to do just that.