Status of Women committee  When we looked at the 16, we were able to see that for a good number of them there were no gender issues. If there are none, then it doesn't beg for further work. That's when the public servants should stop and say, “We've looked at it. There are truly no gender issues.” That's w

Status of Women committee  In some cases it may become clear fairly quickly that there are indeed no gender issues, and we're not trying to create gender issues when there are none.

Status of Women committee  We don't profess to be experts in GBA . I think Status of Women Canada would be in a much better position to help you understand that. You would look at the different trades. If you're talking about major construction projects, the likely employment opportunities tend to be wit

Status of Women committee  I highlighted earlier that reporting is indeed a weak spot. There is no external reporting by any of the departments. In terms of cost, do we have any information? I'll ask Richard.

Status of Women committee  No. There is no costing information. Again, though, Status of Women Canada might be in a position to help you gather such information. It is a centre of excellence to promote GBA. I think they would welcome any interest from parliamentary committees and the government to try to

Status of Women committee  I don't believe our audit tried to look sector by sector. What we did was select several portfolios, so four departments out of the 25 were selected so that we could look at some of their initiatives.

Status of Women committee  I believe that Status of Women Canada would welcome the opportunity to provide orientation and training for members of this committee and parliamentarians. I don't think I would be speaking out of turn in saying that. I can't see their not welcoming that particular invitation. Th

Status of Women committee  We can certainly provide that information after the hearing.

Status of Women committee  Regarding the process, we look at data, we do consultation, and then we step back to see what that tells us. If it tells us that there are gender issues, then we would expect the public servants to consider how they would modify the program they are proposing or the changes they'

Status of Women committee  I don't know if I have a good answer for that. It's an international commitment that the government has made. How the government chooses to implement some of these international commitments is sometimes a weak spot in terms of how we further whatever policy objectives we have. It

Status of Women committee  Again, I don't think I have a wise answer to that. Certainly, with a new Parliament, with new committee structures, it is important that the various committees interact with one another, so that you're working in synergy. If you have a subject that's being studied by one, but the

Status of Women committee  Richard, maybe you can continue to explain that.

Status of Women committee  In other words, there is a template to be completed when you file these Treasury Board submissions and MCs. In there, there is a box that you need to complete, so to speak, on these environmental assessments and also on GBA. The Treasury Board analysts or the PCO analysts look at

Status of Women committee  We're not making that observation.

Status of Women committee  The best thing is really to look at the four departments that we looked at in a more in-depth way because our look at the other 19 was kind of like a snapshot in terms of what's happening with the group of 25 that have made that formal commitment. When you look at the four—we h