Gender at centre of spending plans
Dads get more parental leave, pay equity to be enforced in latest Liberal budget
OTTAWA— Canada’s self-proclaimed feminist government says it will “lead by example” with new pay equity legislation in this year’s genderthemed budget that aims to tap into the economic potential of more women.
The 2018 spending plan, unveiled Tuesday by Finance Minister Bill Morneau, centres on an argument that women will be crucial to economic growth in the coming years.
To unleash this potential, which Morneau said Tuesday could add billions of dollars to Canada’s economy, the Liberal government is proposing to tackle the pay gap between men and women by implementing a new law to enforce equal pay for equal work in federally regulated sectors.
“What we can do is lead by example,” Morneau told the House of Commons Tuesday as he tabled this year’s budget. “It is our hope that in doing so, all employers will reflect on the way in which work done by women has been too often undervalued.”
The government also plans to give couples who share parental leave an additional five weeks’ paid benefits, starting in June 2019, to increase the number of men who take time off after the arrival of a new child.
The extra time for parental leave will cost $1.2 billion over five years, and then $345 million annually after that, the budget says. Currently, twoparent families can take 12 or 18 months’ leave after the arrival of a new child, but the vast majority of claims for parental leave — 86 per cent — come from women, according to statistics in the budget.
To change that, a new “Parent Sharing Benefit” will allow two-parent families — including same-sex parents and people who adopt — who agree to share leave an additional five to eight weeks.
In the face of uncertainty on trade with the United States and an aging population, Morneau said more opportunities for women will be essential to the health of Canada’s economy in the coming years.
“The way to best impact our longterm demographics is to get every Canadian with a real and fair chance not only to work, but to have really good work,” Morneau told reporters before tabling the budget in the House of Commons.
“And we start with women. If half our population (is) held back, we’re just not going to be as successful.”
Toronto software company executive Ron Spreeuwenberg, 36, welcomed the budget’s new parental leave, and said he would “definitely” take the extra five weeks if he was eligible.
Spreeuwenberg said the extra flexibility will also help women in childbearing years feel better about applying for jobs, knowing that if they become pregnant there are now more opportunities for fathers to shoulder some of the load.
The pay equity legislation, meanwhile, will apply to employers with10 or more workers, set timelines for implementation and create an online mechanism to post existing pay information that shows wage gaps in federally regulated workplaces.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Tuesday that he’s encouraged by the move, but questioned whether the government has earmarked enough money to enforce pay equity in federally regulated workplaces. The budget includes $3 million over the next three years to implement its online pay transparency regime, but did not outline how much enforcement and oversight would cost.
Singh said that was “very concerning, very problematic.”
Last year, the Liberal government claimed a historic first when it included a “gender statement” in its budget, which was considered through a gender lens for the first time. At the time, the government outlined the persistent wage gap and overrepresentation of women in low-income sectors. It also pledged $7.5 billion over 11 years for early learning and child care, which is being implemented through a series of agreements with the provinces to create subsidized child-care spaces.
On top of that, Ottawa will spend $6.7 million over five years to create a new branch of Statistics Canada to track data on gender, diversity and inclusion, the budget says.
Charlotte Kiddell, national deputy chairperson for the Canadian Federation of Students, said the government’s vision for gender equality “misses the mark” by failing to address student debt and high tuition costs. She said the majority of people with student debt are women, and that the cost of education is a barrier to participation in key, high-paying sectors of the economy.
“Women also will take longer to pay back loans due to the gender wage gap,” she said.
“Failing to allow women to access education is impeding women from entering the workforce.”