Not good enough: Feds still struggle with gender parity

Last week, I was proud to stand and vote with my Liberal colleagues in support of the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act, an act to rectify decades of gender-based inequality in Canada’s public service.

It’s been a long road for gender parity, but I’m proud to say that, now, in 2016, the Justin Trudeau-led government has taken the most significant step forward yet.

In 2009, under the previous Parliament, the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act (PSECA) was enacted as a separate “equal pay for work of equal value” regime for federal public sector employers, their employees and bargaining agents. The PSECA was not brought into force.

The Liberal Party believes that pay equity is a fundamental human right and that every working Canadian woman should be compensated in an equitable manner. Our government remains committed to the fight for full economic, social, reproductive, and political equality for all.

While Canada has made progress towards gender equality, we still have a lot of hard work to do. We know that far too many women continue to face discrimination. As Canada’s largest employer, the federal government has an obligation to lead by example. We are committed to restoring pay equity for the federal public service.

Our government knows that women expect, in 2016, to be full participants in the economic, social, and democratic life of Canada; that’s why one of the first actions of our Prime Minister was to appoint an equal number of women and men to his Cabinet.

Our government has also clearly stated that it wants to make meaningful progress on reducing the wage gap between men and women across this country. That’s why this government is setting a new direction on pay equity reform for public sector employees.

The gender wage gap in the federal public service stands at a little more than nine per cent. Canada rates 80 out of 145 in the Wage Equality Survey indicator and 30 out of 145 countries in the overall global gender gap ranking.

In 2016, this is simply not good enough.

We will deal with pay equity in a balanced and responsible way that ensures women's right to equal pay for work of equal value. Our government is committed to developing a new direction and to consult on these matters with unions and stakeholders.

And we will adopt a new government-wide open and merit-based appointments process which will ensure gender parity in positions of leadership.

Our country is stronger, and our government more effective, when decision-makers reflect Canada’s diversity. In 2016, Canadians deserve nothing less.

Paul Lefebvre is the Liberal Member of Parliament for Sudbury