FEWO Committee Report

The Conservative members of this Committee have many reservations about the recommendation put forward in this report.  As well, the Conservative members are gravely concerned that the draft report was written and discussed before the Committee had the opportunity to hear from all witnesses.  The Conservative members believe in the importance of having a fulsome discussion on this important issue and were dismayed to see a draft report submitted to the Committee before all witnesses had the opportunity to testify before the Committee.

This Conservative Government respects the principle of equal pay for work of equal value.  Our commitment to this fundamental human right is why the Government introduced the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act which, with the support of the Liberal Party, received Royal Assent on March 12, 2009.

The Standing Committee on the Status of Women has repeatedly heard from many credible witnesses that the previous pay equity system was broken and ignored the interests of women; the old, complaint-based system was lengthy, costly and adversarial. It was a system that forced women to wait decades before having their complaints resolved before human rights commissions and courts.

Conservative members of the Standing Committee believe that pay equity is a fundamental human right and women should not have to wait to receive fair pay. Further, both unions and employers should be required to ensure fair pay for women proactively during the bargaining process, which is something the new Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act demands.

The Conservative members feel it is important to strongly clarify that the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act has not changed the right to equal pay, rather it has changed the system so that women no longer have to wait decades before receiving their right to equal pay for work of equal value.

Conservative members would like to highlight the following testimony:

“Collective bargaining has a rich history of achievement in matters such as fair wages, hours of work, working conditions including parental leave, and occupation health and safety. It is not surprising then that several Canadian studies including ones done for the International Labour Organization and one for the Canadian Labour Congress' Women's Symposium have included recommendations to achieve pay equity through collective bargaining.” - Ms. Hélène Laurendeau, Meeting 28

 “Ontario, Manitoba, and Quebec have regimes that require a form of proactively, a feature that is supported by most experts in this field. However, these regimes do not oblige employers and unions to actually address pay equity considerations every time wages are set. The Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act tackles this head-on by requiring employers and unions to do exactly that. The legislation sets out robust requirements for transparency, information-sharing, recourse, and for the regular conduct of equitable compensation assessments. The act will not allow parties to bargain away this human right, but rather it details parties' obligations for regularly determining how to attain and maintain that right. In so doing, the act recognizes the long and positive history of the achievement and protection of human rights through collective bargaining, which is itself a fundamental right.” - Ms. Hélène Laurendeau, Meeting 28

“Achieving equitable compensation is a human rights matter and an employment matter that requires a human rights and employment-based solution.” – Mr. John Farrell, Meeting 22

“…we believe this act contains important principles and sound provisions that will improve the ability of employers and unions in the federal public sector to implement equitable compensation for women that is pragmatic and fair.” – Mr. David Olsen, Meeting 22

Conservative members support the Government as it continues to work for the right of federally employed women across the country to achieve equitable compensation and look forward to the Government Response to this report.