Status of Women committee  I think the most telling story is that inequities are persistent and growing, so the tools and approaches that we've had have failed us very significantly across all policy sectors.

Status of Women committee  Yes, I would say so, but the question should be, for which women and for which men—not just men versus women?

Status of Women committee  I completely agree. Of course, I'm probably the most provocative of the bunch, and I would say that we need different language. It's not about a GBA, it's not about GBA+. It's about mainstreaming equality, leaving no one behind, and looking at gender in relation to other kinds of factors.

Status of Women committee  I don't think that legislation is the only way. It can't be a stand-alone solution, but it's almost the minimum that you need for success to be realized.

Status of Women committee  I think that kind of oversight is very powerful. It is the naming and shaming, at the very least, but if you actually give that person some teeth, then it can be part of that more oversight, coordinated effort that is sometimes required to bring all the information together.

Status of Women committee  It's about resources, really. Resources, the time to do the work well, and also making sure that the people who are appointed to those focal points, the champions, actually know what they're doing. It should not a case that somebody is appointed who hasn't had the proper background, training, or ongoing support.

Status of Women committee  I think twinning would be excellent. I think that is a good example. I think the way it was mandated in that particular department—I know, because I spoke with them—was a bit of a fluke. It happened when nobody was watching. I would say yes, twinning, but there's no magic bullet.

Status of Women committee  I think there are some resources one can look at as inspiration for the Canadian context. The UN has a swap system that is a basis for all UN agencies to report on how they're advancing gender equality. It's a fairly new mechanism, but it's done wonders in allowing comparisons to be made across different agencies as to how well they're doing.

Status of Women committee  I think the ombudsman is a great idea for sure, but I wanted just to speak to the resources. I'm also the director of the Institute for Intersectionality Research and Policy at Simon Fraser University. We have developed a number of different primers of how to apply intersectionality to policy analysis and different kinds of research.

Status of Women committee  I can't comment on that because I have not really looked at the private sector, other than knowing that it is a challenge to get the private sector to.... Well, maybe not, when you make an economic argument of diversifying views and perspectives within business and organizations as a way of increasing productivity and the bottom line.

Status of Women committee  I think the coordination committee that was set up between the federal level and the provinces and territories got off to a much better start in about 2012. I'm not sure where it's at right now. But putting some resources into developing those relationships helps with coordination, knowledge transfer, knowledge sharing, and joint activities.

Status of Women committee  I would agree with a phased-in approach, but again, I would like the conceptional work to be sorted out first. What are we talking about when we're talking about mainstreaming equality? What tools, guides, and approaches are we talking about? It's about getting all of that sorted out before you move any further.

Status of Women committee  I would just add that Statistics Canada has excellent statistics; it's a question of the way you use them, what you look for. There is no such thing as an innocent number. If you're only looking at very simple disaggregations, you're going to get a certain evidence base. If you complicate the story and look at other factors, you're going to get another evidence base.

Status of Women committee  I'll just speak to the research that I've done. I would agree with some of the earlier comments that no country has it right. I think what we can look at are some good examples and case studies from different countries where the implementation has gone well. I also think it's very true that the train has left the station in terms of really thinking explicitly about factors beyond gender in a more systemic fashion.

Status of Women committee  We've just talked about the role of civil society, and I would say that successful GBA is a three-legged stool: you need folks in government and you need civil society representation, but you also need the research community. I think where there's a really missed opportunity is creating those networks in a relationship with researchers across the country who are working in various areas of policy, who have their finger on the pulse, have the knowledge, have the statistics, have the evidence that can inform the work that analysts need to do on the ground—sometimes very quickly—because this is their work.