Mr. Speaker, 25 years ago when the Royal Commission on the Status of Women tabled its report in the House women formed roughly one-third of the labour force and on average earned 64 cents on every dollar that a man earned.
In the last 25 years we have eliminated the most blatant forms of discrimination against women through labour and employment equity initiatives. Women now represent 45 per cent of all workers. Nonetheless challenges do remain. Today, on average, women earn 72 cents for every dollar a man earns. Most women continue to work in traditionally female dominated fields.
We need to support job creation and training programs that will prepare women and girls for the jobs of today and tomorrow. We must help Canadian women prepare so they too can have good jobs and earn good incomes.