It was gratifying to see the support given to a motion from a Vancouver Island MP aimed at eliminating the wage gap between men and women, but it’s sad that such a motion is deemed necessary in Canada in 2016.
A motion introduced in Parliament by Sheila Malcolmson, the NDP status-of-women critic and MP for Nanaimo-Ladysmith, passed by 224 votes to 91 Wednesday.
The motion calls on the federal government to close gaps in pay equity in Canada, recognize pay equity as a right, implement the recommendations of a 2004 task force on pay equity in the public service and appoint a special committee that would propose a pay-equity regime for Canada.
Malcolmson’s motion was supported by the Liberals, the Bloc Québécois and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May.
Some Conservative MPs spoke in favour of pay equity, but the Conservatives voted against the motion after proposing amendments that would have removed the sections on the 2004 task force and the creation of a special committee. Malcolmson did not consent, so the amendments died.
The motion does not push the issue in any new direction. Pay equity is already a fundamental right under Canada’s Human Rights Act. The federal Employment Equity Act already requires employers to engage in proactive employment practices.
The goal of the act, according to its preamble, “is to achieve equality in the workplace so that no person shall be denied employment opportunities or benefits for reasons unrelated to ability and, in the fulfilment of that goal, to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment experienced by women, aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities.”
So why is Malcolmson’s motion necessary? Because in Canada, there’s still a gap between what men and women are paid. Even though the level of education for Canadian women has surpassed that of men, women are still paid, on average, 67 cents for every dollar a man earns, according to 2012 figures from Statistics Canada.
Even after considering such factors as difference in occupations and taking time off for family, the gap is still 73 cents for each male-earned dollar, a level that hasn’t changed much for more than a decade.
Canada’s gender wage gap is bigger than the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development average. The most recent World Economic Forum gender-gap ranking put Canada in 19th place, behind Latvia and Burundi, while the UN’s measure shows that Canada dropped 11 spots between 1995 and 2013.
Paying women equal wages for equal work is the right thing to do, and it’s good for the economy. According to RBC economists, the increase of women in the labour market in the past 30 years has added $130 billion to annual economic activity in Canada. The McKinsey Global Institute, a U.S. private-sector think tank, calculates that full gender equality in the workforce could boost the world’s GDP by $28 trillion by 2025.
While women lag at both the top and bottom of the pay scale, it’s at the lower end where it really hurts. Women are more likely to earn minimum wage, work part time and live on low incomes. Life is made more difficult, especially for single mothers, by erratic scheduling and insecure work.
Malcolmson’s motion applies to the federal public sector and federally regulated industries such as the banking system, telecommunications and airlines, but speeding up progress toward gender equality in those areas would influence other sectors of the economy.
As Canadians, we believe in equality. As we narrow the difference between what women and men are paid, we will narrow the gap between what we believe and what we practise. It’s the right thing to do.
