‘They’re worried about the outcome of an evaluation’
Ministers unsure if committee has terms of reference
There were several perplexities this week involving the provincial government’s work on pay equity.
There were ministers who didn’t know whether the government’s pay equity committee has a terms of reference to guide its work.
Women and Gender Equality Minister Pam Parsons couldn’t say whether privatesector retailers know more about her pay equity file than she does.
The minister in charge of the treasury, Siobhan Coady, didn’t know whether male-dominated jobs in the public sector are paid more than femaledominated jobs.
‘I HAVE NOTHING’
In 2022, Saltwire learned through an access request that the provincial government’s pay equity committee had no terms of reference to guide its work. On Wednesday, Saltwire asked whether that has changed.
Saltwire asked Parsons, who is the lead on the pay equity file, as well as Labour Minister Bernard Davis.
Davis said he “would think that they wouldn't have a terms of reference, but I can't say that for sure,” and Parsons said, “I have nothing — the same — I align with what my colleague just said.”
In 2018, the committee was tasked with “exploring the potential of pay equity,” per a brief, vague letter that served as a sort of informal terms of reference. Today the committee is working on drafting regulations for the Pay Equity and Pay Transparency Act.
The regulations were supposed to be released by the end of 2023.
Currently only a small section of the legislation pertaining to core government employees is in force; the rest of it is pending release of the regulations. The government couldn’t give a firm answer this week on when the regulations can be expected.
RETAILERS GIVEN MORE INFORMATION THAN PUBLIC
Periodically during 2023, Saltwire checked in with Parsons and her department to see how the regulations were coming along. By mid-december last year, with time running out to meet the original deadline, Saltwire asked Parsons if the regulations were still on track to be completed by year’s end.
“I can’t say,” she said at the time.
Saltwire asked her communications official the same question.
“The work is ongoing,” Saltwire was told.
On Wednesday, while searching for something pay equity-related on Google, Saltwire stumbled upon a much more concrete answer to those questions that was provided on Oct. 24, 2023.
The Retail Council of Canada’s (RCC) website, which represents the interests of retailers, updated its members on delays in passing the regulations.
“In conversations with senior government officials, RCC has been informed these regulations will not be enacted in 2023. Government officials would not provide further comment other than to state their goal is to have these regulations implemented at some point in 2024,” the website reads.
‘THERE’S NOTHING TO HIDE, OBVIOUSLY’
Saltwire asked Parsons on Wednesday if the retailers had more information in the fall of last year than she did in December.
“I really can't comment on that, or anything further,” she said.
Saltwire asked again if she didn’t have that information.
“I can't comment on that because this is the first time I'm hearing of it,” she said.
Saltwire posited that if the retailers knew the regulations weren’t going to be ready by the end of the year, then she must have known.
“Yeah, nothing, I don't — can't — there's nothing more that I can say than what I've already said about it,” Parsons said.
“This is where it is. We're being as transparent as we can. There's nothing to hide, obviously, and as my colleague (Minister Davis) has said, this is important legislation.
“It has to be right for everyone, the employees who are going to benefit, the employers as well. And it's important to get this right, and not to be rushed to meet a deadline of any sort,” she said.
Saltwire asked Parsons if the regulations are delayed because the government is going back to the drawing board to revisit the legislation as women and gender equity advocates have asked.
“Not that I’m aware of, no,” she said.
COADY TOUTS ‘GENDER BLIND’ SYSTEM
Saltwire also spoke Wednesday with Treasury Board President Siobhan Coady, who is responsible for pay equity in the public sector.
An information note prepared for Parsons in 2021 said there’s been no evaluation to determine whether or not male-dominated jobs in the public sector are paid more than female-dominated jobs.
Without such an evaluation, it is unknown whether there is pay equity within the public service.
“This evaluation is required to determine pay equity,” the note said.
Saltwire has repeatedly asked Coady for months whether she would initiate such an evaluation. When asked again on Wednesday, Coady said the government already has a pay equity-compliant system, the Job Evaluation System (JES), which she called “gender blind.”
However, government officials in that 2021 briefing note said the “goal” of the JES was to provide a pay equity compliant analysis to all positions within government, but there’s been no evaluation done to determine pay equity.
REQUEST FOR INDEPENDENT REVIEW
The note also included advice from the Justice Department that the government should “exercise caution” when undertaking further research about the extent to which pay equity exists within the public sector, adding that based on current case law, if it’s found that the province is not pay equity compliant, then it may be required to pay out present and former employees retroactively.
On Wednesday, Saltwire asked Coady if she knew whether male-dominated jobs in the public sector are paid more than female-dominated jobs. She said she didn’t have that statistic.
NDP MHA Lela Evans wrote to Coady on Jan. 23. Evans asked Coady to commission an independent review of the Job Evaluation System.
Evans said there still isn't a full understanding of the status of pay equity in the public service, and an evaluation must be done to determine whether pay inequity exists.
“This evaluation is required to affirm your assertion that JES achieves pay equity,” Evans wrote.
“They're worried about the outcome of an evaluation,” Evans told Saltwire on Wednesday.
“Probably the evaluation will show that there's pay inequity within the public service, and they will have to address it. They will actually have to take steps to address it,” she said.