Status of Women committee  Step four is the database. So after we get through building the actual frameworks, getting the database in place, we then have to start understanding and using the information out of that database. So step four is starting to actually assess the usefulness of that information and then starting to build it into decision-making processes.

Status of Women committee  I can't peg it exactly.

Status of Women committee  I think we're really talking about the last year or year and a half, in earnest.

Status of Women committee  Yes. I think Status of Women Canada certainly has a lead in looking at those things and helping to articulate within the system what are best practices. There is a working level committee that the secretariat sits on. It's an interdepartmental committee that is chaired by Status of Women Canada.

Status of Women committee  I don't want to put myself into the head of the secretary per se. There's a host of different corporate champions for different types of matters that get asked for. There are employment equity champions, gender-based analysis champions. There's a whole host of different champions.

Status of Women committee  I'm not aware of whether the Secretary of the Treasury Board himself has gone on GBA training. In terms of people at the director level, yes, there are people at the director level who have gone on GBA training. I can't speak for the Clerk of the Privy Council.

Status of Women committee  I certainly think it's important to encourage as many people as possible to take the training so that they are aware of the issue and they can understand how it plays out in terms of their own roles and responsibilities, whatever their position may be in an organization. Certainly at Treasury Board our focus is on making sure that the people who are actually performing that challenge function or developing policy have that training.

Status of Women committee  That's a more complicated question. The analysts are certainly challenging whether or not the GBA is adequate. Status of Women Canada, the public, and committees such as this one ultimately oversee and provide a view on whether a particular program or initiative reflects an appropriate GBA.

Status of Women committee  Very quickly, there is something new from last year that now brings all spending under review; it's called strategic reviews. Basically, on a four-year cycle all existing spending within government—what we call the “A base”—will be reviewed. We're doing it in chunks, doing basically 25% of it each year, more or less.

Status of Women committee  I think there may be a bit of a misunderstanding. Certainly my understanding of GBA is that it is performed at the MC stage, so as the policy or program is actually being developed and submitted for cabinet approval. Then, within the Treasury Board context, every Treasury Board submission that comes forward has to have a GBA performed on it by the department that is submitting the submission, and the Treasury Board analysts review the adequacy of that analysis that has been completed by the responsible department.

Status of Women committee  I'm not aware that there would have been necessarily a Treasury Board submission for pension splitting, given that it's part of a legislation scheme. That's probably a more appropriate question to put to the Department of Finance, since they were responsible for that particular project and they would be in a better position to answer as to what analysis would have been done on it.

Status of Women committee  Generally, no, they don't.

Status of Women committee  I can speak to the practice of the Treasury Board Secretariat. At Treasury Board, the secretary appoints the champion. I don't know if all departments have a champion. Madam Chair, Jeanne Flemming was our champion. She literally started a new job yesterday, so the secretariat is in the process of examining who will be best positioned to play the role.

Status of Women committee  Jeanne Flemming was our champion. She just started a new job on Monday, and the secretariat is in the process of examining where that role should be situated next. It will simply take a little bit of time to figure out exactly who should perform that role. Again, my assumption is that the appointment will be made as soon as possible.

Status of Women committee  When the department brings forward its Treasury Board submission to implement and basically to get its allotment in order to spend against its appropriation in a particular area, once you're actually at that implementation phase and they come forward with a Treasury Board submission, they are required within that submission to have provided or have performed a gender-based analysis.