Status of Women committee  I'll just suggest that the Government of Canada recently signed on to the statement, the agreed-upon conclusions, from the UN Commission on the Status of Women. That statement includes a section on financing for gender equality, which was the theme of the UNCSW. The Government of

Status of Women committee  I think we have to separate the jobs of public servants and the jobs of ministers. Clearly, they are distinct. The reality is, the minister is not getting the benefit of the best analysis possible, because at this stage of the game, given our vantage point, they're not doing what

Status of Women committee  I understand the degree to which the ultimate policy decisions are being made by government. I think we all get that. The challenge here is that the analysis is not elaborate enough to even identify the potholes, the gaps. So it's fair enough. I think we all understand the parl

Status of Women committee  No, because I don't believe we actually understand it well or that they have outlined their process. What I've tried to remind the committee of is that Status of Women Canada, in its GBA training, has outlined a process, which helps encourage departments to declare ways forward b

Status of Women committee  I think my comments really echo many of Kathleen's in terms of what I see as a profound disconnect regarding why we do gender-based analysis and the origins for which GBA was initially introduced. I think the finance department, despite its best efforts--and we commend it; we app

Status of Women committee  I would suggest that you'd need, obviously, some well-established researchers, tax policy and public investment experts, women's organizations that have credible standing in the community and in the country, and some international experts who you've already heard from who could h

Status of Women committee  Certainly in our previous submissions we have contemplated whether or not the establishment of a gender equality commissioner within the Auditor General's office would be of use in actively monitoring, over a longer period of time, the efficacy of the GBA that's being undertaken.

Status of Women committee  Certainly about a decade and some ago the Lortie Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing suggested that financial incentives could be directed to parties that ran minimum numbers of women, so if you ran 40% or 30% women, you would actually receive a financial inc

Status of Women committee  I think it's a good question to ask regardless of the finance department, because they should be using some of this material as a framework for their own analysis. I think you want to ask them about how current their indicators are and to what degree they are putting in the effor

Status of Women committee  I can start. We've thought a lot about whether or not a dedicated minister of Status of Women Canada would help or hinder the cause, and we've had this discussion internally and externally. As I think both sides of the table can appreciate here, one of the rationales for having

Status of Women committee  Yes. Thank you once again for the opportunity to be here. This is an elaborate and detailed process for all of us, so we appreciate having the occasion to come and share with you some of our thoughts. My thoughts aren't as technical as Armine's or Kathleen's, but they do spea

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, when is the deputy minister of Finance coming? What's the turnaround on this? What's the due date for our homework? Is it two weeks?

Status of Women committee  I'm sorry, I must respond. The call for gender budgeting arose in 2005. We commissioned Armine to do a very detailed analysis of 10 federal budgets that were created under the Liberal government. Just to note, I think it's easier for governments to politicize us, to accuse us o

Status of Women committee  It's unlikely, though we haven't tested those waters.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, there are a couple of other issues here with Status of Women Canada. One is that Status of Women Canada only recently has had the benefit of a senior minister. But that senior minister is cross-appointed. Madame Verner, with all due respect—and this is not unusual—in