Status of Women committee  It's a complex question. I'm engaged in a research project right now that's looking at episodic disabilities, which are conditions like MS, for example, that have fluctuating periods of ability and wellness. We have a system that has as the ideal a full-time, full-year male wor

Status of Women committee  I think it's a false choice, frankly. I will tell you that my first job was as a teacher in Project Head Start in the United States, a program that's targeted to low-income children. Generally what we see is that programs targeted for poor families and poor children tend over t

Status of Women committee  If you're thinking about health care or about public education, we wouldn't say “have a sliding scale”. Right?

Status of Women committee  We see it as a public service. It's what you see the program as. If it's a consumable good, then you might have a sliding scale to help offset the cost. But if it's a publicly funded program that benefits all children and all families, then you would not do that.

Status of Women committee  I don't think I could say that any one province has uniquely met all the criteria we might like. I think there are elements in some of the provinces. Ontario has moved to have full-day junior kindergarten for children, which on the one hand has enabled universal free child care

Status of Women committee  Thank you for the question. My comment about long leave periods—anywhere from nine months and longer—at a lower rate of replacement, as we currently have, was that it has been shown to have negative impacts on women's employment. Use-it-or-lose-it leave, or designated paternity

Status of Women committee  I would just say that the statistics we have, which I think all of us would agree could be improved tremendously, do a disservice to men in that many men take what I call invisible paternity leave. They take time off from work as vacation time, or even sick days, because those ar

Status of Women committee  Thank you. Good morning, and thank you for the invitation to appear today. Improving women's economic security and ensuring their equal participation is not a trivial matter, as you know. These goals are central to reducing poverty for women and children; for enabling women to