Mr. Speaker, as a member of the committee reviewing employment equity legislation, I am aware that 90 per cent of the witnesses who came before the committee supported the legislation. I am also aware that is likely more by the choice and selection of those witnesses than by the actual representation of the Canadian population to support that.
I have have just done a random telephone poll in my constituency. My constituency is on the outskirts of Vancouver. It is one of the more multicultural communities in our area, with a high percentage of immigration, at least 50 per cent women, I am sure, and so on.
The results of that random polling were opposite to what the committee experienced. There was a 90 per cent rejection of any kind of hiring other than on the basis of merit alone. I was interested in some of the member's comments regarding merit. The Canadian people think highly of that as a criterion for hiring.
She commented on women in the workplace; 73 per cent of the average wage and 78 per cent of men being in management within the public service. Is my colleague aware that some of that may be due to choice or the time factor involved in entry into the workforce? Is she aware there are far more women being allowed to enter grad school now than there are men? The
average wage coming out of university is equal if not slightly to the advantage of women.
Does she think women have the right to claim a choice if they do not want to work full time? Is that a right they have if they want to stay home with their families? Does she feel a woman should enter full time into the workforce and demand equal right for pay or can she choose to work less than that if she feels her priorities are elsewhere?