Still work to be done, but women’s wage gap isn’t so wide after all

Alberta has highest average pay rate, and the highest median rate

That women — or anyone, for that matter — should take career advice from a politician is a dubious proposition.

Mind you, Calgary Conservative MP Joan Crockatt might know a thing or two about crafting a successful career. Either way, it’s odd that she should be pilloried for pointing out the obvious.

This curious controversy began last week with the release of a report from the left- wing Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives ( CCPA) which ranks the best and worst Canadian cities in which to be a woman. The overarching premise of the report is that a large pay gap exists between men and women, and those cities where the gap is smallest tend to rank the highest.

Calgary, Edmonton and Kitchener- Waterloo rank at the bottom. The CCPA report specifically cites the fact that these cities feature “predominantly male industries” such as “oilsands, construction and IT.” In other words, the CCPA is pointing out industries that pay higher wages, and where women are underrepresented. A logical conclusion might be to somehow get more women into these trades, but the CCPA isn’t interested in that.

But Crockatt seems to be. When asked about this report and the apparent wage gap, Crockatt said that “women are choosing professions that aren’t as high- paying, and some of that is completely understandable and by choice, but if women want higher paying jobs, those jobs are out there waiting for them.”

Again, the CCPA report has already established this fact, which was not exactly a secret to begin with. But that didn’t stop the ensuing firestorm.

Liberal MP Kirsty Duncan fired off a letter to Labour Minister Kellie Leitch demanding that Crockatt apologize for her remarks and that Leitch denounce them. New Democrat MP Peggy Nash concurred, noting that “no woman chooses to be paid inequitably.”

Nash, though, also conceded that “yes, of course we want to encourage women to get into science, technology, trades.” But that’s essentially what Crockatt said. So what’s the problem?

The real issue here is the perception that Crockatt believes the wage gap is not a problem for government to solve. Or that it’s not a problem at all. It’s unclear what exactly her position is, but it’s certainly the case that there is much wrong with this CCPA report, as well as the assumptions behind it.

For one thing, this report doesn’t objectively compare the plight of women in one city to women in another. Under the CCPA formula, if oilsands workers took a big wage hit, Calgary’s ranking would rise. How would that benefit women in Calgary?

The fact is, though, Alberta has the highest average wage, highest median wage and highest average hourly wage for women. Calgary’s rate of female employment is second only to Regina’s.

Alberta has the country’s highest paid teachers and highest paid nurses, two examples of professions with high female representation. One would think these facts would be noted.

But here’s the big problem with the CCPA and its defenders: the wage gap is nowhere near what they claim it is. This report, for example, cites Statistics Canada several times, but avoids a major conclusion from StatsCan: “among full- time workers … employed in broadly comparable industries and occupations, women’s wages amounted to 92 per cent of men’s wages in 2011.”

You won’t see that figure in this report or in the conversation that has followed. As a result, we’re overlooking not only the current reality, but the remarkable progress from the last three decades.

There’s still work to be done, but it doesn’t seem as though the authors of the CCPA report or the likes of Duncan or Nash have any more or less to contribute than Crockatt. But pointing out to women which professions pay higher wages, and helping them access those trades if they so desire, doesn’t seem like an unreasonable place to start.