Mr. Speaker, I want to welcome my colleague from Nanaimo—Ladysmith back to Parliament. I am pleased, as always, to respond to her question.
As the hon. member knows, the Minister of Status of Women has emphasized many times that our government has made gender equality a priority, and we are turning this commitment into action.
Budget 2017 included a tremendous step forward with respect to openness and transparency on gender issues. For the first time ever, it included a groundbreaking gender statement, not as an annex but as a full chapter in the budget itself. This gender statement raises the bar in our understanding of how public policies affect men and women differently. We intend to build on this achievement in future budgets.
I also want to highlight some of the very important initiatives contained in budget 2017. It included a commitment of $100.9 million over five years and $20.7 million per year ongoing, for “It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence”, the first strategy of its kind.
Over the next 11 years, our government has also committed to investing $7 billion in early learning and child care, and over $11.2 billion in a national housing strategy. In particular, these investments will support access to child care and allow greater participation in work, education, and training, particularly for mothers.
Budget 2017 announced a new employment insurance caregiving benefit that would allow more caregivers, the majority of whom are women, to balance their work and family responsibilities. Our government will also create more flexible work arrangements for federally regulated employees, including flexible start and finish times, the ability to work from home, and new unpaid leaves to help manage family responsibilities.
Not only has our government stood by our promises in budget 2017, we continue to work very hard on issues such as pay equity. This view was clearly reflected in our government's response on October 5, 2016, to the report of the special committee on pay equity, on which I believe the hon. member sat. In its response, our government stated that it strongly believed in the principle of equal pay for equal value.
Additionally, we believe in fair treatment of all workers, regardless of gender, and commit to developing proactive pay equity reform in the federal jurisdiction. We have made a commitment to introduce pay equity legislation in 2018.
I am proud of all these actions taken by our government that support the needs of women and their families, move us closer to gender equality, and strengthen the middle class from coast to coast to coast.