Pay Equity committee  Perhaps I could comment on pay equity and collective bargaining and the maintenance. Pay equity is a non-negotiable human right, whether in achieving or maintaining pay equity. It's a fundamental human right both domestically and internationally. Making pay equity subject to collective bargaining is making it conditional upon bargaining power, even in the maintenance stage.

Pay Equity committee  In terms of a proactive model and the requirement for a pay equity plan, this is something we have under the Quebec model, and it's also provided in the 2004 task force recommendations. That is a form of dispute resolution in itself. A mandatory pay equity plan to cover all employees in the federal public service is required to achieve pay equity and to have this pre-emptive collaborative process.

Pay Equity committee  Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee. We support a pay equity model with a proactive framework and a pre-emptive resolution mechanism, such as a requirement to create a pay equity committee in the workplace comprising bargaining agents, employees, employers, and experts and advisers.