Mr. Speaker, these proceedings arise from a question I asked the minister responsible for the Status of Women last December, when the Conservatives announced that they were slashing the budget of Status of Women Canada by $5 million and forcing the closure of 12 of the 16 regional offices across Canada, as well as the layoff of nearly half of the department's staff.
The primary purpose of Status of Women Canada is to help women acquire the necessary skills to participate fully in the social, economic, cultural and political life of Canada and ensure that politicians and policy-makers are informed of key issues affecting women.
In a society where women continue to be marginalized within key political, social and legal institutions, and I point out that less than one in five members of Parliament are women, it is essential to promote the realization of women's human rights such as equality before the law, the right to an adequate standard of living, life and security and the same access to economic opportunities as men, in other words, equality. By equality, I mean real equality, not some abstract concept of law.
Since the announcement of the budget cuts, however, the Conservative government has flip-flopped on a number of issues. It is now adopting a familiar pattern of slashing and burning programs brought in by the former Liberal government and then suddenly reconstituting them and restoring funding when public opinion polls tell the Prime Minister that he has made another gaffe. This shows a visionless Prime Minister trying to slither with slimy gimmicks against women who constitute 52% of the population.
I know the response from the government will glorify the $5 million that was suddenly found in last week's budget, after the minister responsible for the Status of Women suffered the embarrassment of having her offices occupied by protesters on International Women's Day.
Let us take a closer look at what the Conservatives are actually doing. According to chapter 3 of the federal budget:
This funding will enhance the activities of a refocused Women’s Program, and create a new Women’s Partnerships Fund to foster joint undertakings in areas of common interest with other federal departments and other levels of government.
If that sounds like gobbledygook to members, I think most Canadians would agree. Yet what is not mentioned in the budget is that the Conservatives have changed the terms and conditions of the women's program under the Status of Women, which essentially wipes out research funding and disallows advocacy activities. How can Status of Women Canada promote equality when it is prevented from researching issues or advocating policy changes to politicians and policy-makers?
Let us talk about equality. The Conservatives have deliberately changed the mandate of the department and explicitly removed the word “equality” as a goal of the department simply because the minister responsible does not think equality matters any more. I would like to know, and, indeed, all Canadians would like to know, if the Conservative government no longer believes that equality is something that we as a country should strive toward.
I ask the question because it lies at the heart of the Conservative agenda. Does the government or the parliamentary secretary agree with the minister that the goal of gender equality is no longer relevant in Canadian society?