Mr. Speaker, I listened with a great deal of interest to my colleague's discourse.
Many of the issues with which she has indicated a serious concern are priorities we have enunciated in the red book, in the speech from the throne and will also be found in the budget.
I would particularly bring to her attention the explicit undertaking by this government concerning child care spaces which we also recognize as the primary building block. When 3 per cent of GNP is arrived at we will be investing another $50,000 a year. We already subsidize over 633,000 child care spaces.
I want to thank the hon. member for Québec for her motion, because in it she asks this House to support a principle which is dear to my heart: economic equality between women and men.
I want her to know that I have been active in women's groups for 30 years, and there is not a single objective we have pursued with as much energy and dedication as that of economic equality for women. The process is a slow one, and I believe there are other women in this House who would agree and who have fought these battles for many years. The process did not start with this generation. It started much earlier.
The economic problems of the past ten years and the priorities of our Conservative predecessors caused the circumstances of many women to decline, often forcing them to live in poverty and dependency.