Mr. Speaker, I will just start by talking about gender-based analysis, and then I will explain what I have done regarding income splitting.
Failure to consider the disparate impacts of policies on men and women can have profoundly negative results. For example, cardiovascular disease, which is the number one killer of women, was traditionally considered a man's disease. As a result, research focused on middle-aged men and ignored the fact that some women with heart disease might have different symptoms.
Because the Parliamentary Budget Officer has raised concerns, as have other groups, about what would be the effect of income splitting, I wrote to the Minister of Finance and asked what gender-based analysis plus has been done with respect to income splitting. I am awaiting those answers.