FEWO Committee Report
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Dissenting Opinion —
Conservative Party
Dissenting opinion, submitted to the Standing Committee on Status of Women, Friday, March 2, 2007.
This dissenting opinion is made in response to the motion as presented by the Bloc Member for Laurentides–Labelle, Que. and passed by this committee on the 27th of February, 2007. The statement of motion was passed as a result of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women adopting the following statement as a report to the House which reads as follows:
Pursuant to the Standing Order 108(2) that the Standing Committee on the Status of Women recommend that the government make the necessary changes to the Employment Insurance Program to eliminate its discrimination against women and that the Chair present the adoption of this motion to the House of Commons as soon as possible.
The Operation of the Standing Orders
We do not believe that this motion was brought in accordance with the letter or the spirit of the Standing Orders of Parliament.
Clearly, Standing Order 108 reveals that it is the obligation of the Standing Committee to study the topic and then present the report to the House.
No study has transpired on the Employment Insurance Program to eliminate its discrimination against women or has been studied since the Standing Committee on the Status of Women convened in 2006-2007.
This motion falls short of its basic requirements.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The issue of discrimination against women as related to the Employment Insurance Program is an issue that should be studied and examined to determine to what degree this does occur or if indeed it does occur at some later time. However, this was not outlined in the initial work plan for 2006-2007 for the Standing Committee of the Status of Women.
However, since this issue has not been studied to this point, the Members of the Conservative Party of Canada cannot support this motion.
Joy Smith, M.P.
Conservative Party of Canada
Vice-Chair, Status of Women