Standing Committee on the Status of Women

HOUSE OF COMMONS CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES OTTAWA, CANADA K1A 0A6

Comité permanent de la condition féminine

For immediate release

Ottawa, June 12, 2008 -

Today, the Standing Committee on the Status of Women tabled in the House of Commons its report, Towards Gender Responsive Budgeting: Rising to the Challenge of Achieving Gender Equality.

“In tabling this report, we bring Canada one step closer to achieving its gender equality goals.” said the Chair of the Committee, Ms. Yasmin Ratansi, MP for Don Valley East. “We heard evidence that women and men are still not equal in Canada. Our report identifies how the Government of Canada can take a leadership role in correcting these inequities through various budgetary measures and decisions.”

Ms. Ratansi praised the members of the Committee for “working collaboratively in the past eight months on this study” and for their “hard work and recommendations that will substantially improve the lives of women and men in Canada.” She stated that “the report has unanimous consent which is a remarkable achievement, considering we have a minority Parliament.”

The report contains 27 recommendations designed to enhance the Federal government’s capacity to achieve its commitment to gender equality. The recommendations ensure that federal budgeting decisions and processes consider the differential impact government spending and taxation policies have on women and men.

The report recommends that the Federal government establish greater accountability mechanisms for gender equality such as the introduction of gender equality legislation and the establishment of an Office of the Commissioner for Gender Equality.

The report also identifies areas of improvements in the Federal government’s capacity to undertake gender analysis of government policies.

“We know that the federal budget is an important lever for achieving equality between women and men,” said Ms. Yasmin Ratansi. “That is why our proposals in this report are aimed at making sure gender is part of the budgetary decision-making process.”

A copy of the Committee’s report can be found at: /CommitteeBusiness/ReportsResponses.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=39&Ses=2"1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4">