Christiane Gagnon

[Social Housing, February 1st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the unilateral cuts made by the Conservative government in the area of social and co-operative housing in their last two budgets have had very serious consequences. In Quebec City, and especially in the downtown area, the need for social housing is enormous. At the present time, more than 1,200 families are on waiting lists for an apartment in a low-cost building, and more than 600 other families have applied for co-operative housing.

Concerned by the urgency of the situation, the city council passed a resolution on January 10, 1994, asking the federal government to review the budget of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The city is requesting enough money for social housing, and it would like to see the Co-operative Housing Program reinstated and the establishment of a program of rental housing renewal which would limit the contribution of the renter to 25 per cent of his or her income.

This cop out by the federal government is a good example-

[Speech From The Throne, January 20th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, in his speech, the hon. member for Davenport alluded to the unemployment crisis and the government's will to find a solution to that problem. May I say that I have my doubts regarding the will and the determination of the government to create long-term employment for the vast majority of Canadians.

The Throne Speech read on Tuesday is a good illustration of the government's lack of initiative regarding job creation. Indeed, except for the infrastructure program, no concrete measures were announced.

The hon. member for Davenport also mentioned the lack of revenue of Canadians. I fully agree with him on that but I want to go back to the issue of pay equity. This is a major obstacle to the financial independence of women. The President of the Treasury Board stated that he would enforce the Canadian Human Rights Act, especially the provisions dealing with pay equity.

Therefore, my question is: How does the President of the Treasury Board intend to implement the Canadian Human Rights Act and, more importantly, how quickly will he act? Does the present government intend to correct the abuses of the Conservative government regarding pay equity in the federal public service?

[Pay Equity, January 20th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, am I mistaken or did the Minister say he was committed to implementing pay equity programs for his own Public Service employees to set a good example?

[Pay Equity, January 20th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the President of the Treasury Board.

The most recent statistics on average income in Canada were published by Statistics Canada this week. The difference between the average yearly income of men and that of women in 1992 is striking. Men earn $39,468 on average, as compared to $28,350 for women. The difference is $11,000.

My question is this: Does the Minister have concrete proposals to put forward to correct this serious injustice affecting women in every sector of the economy that falls under his jurisdiction?