Statement made on 08 March 2011 by Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette
Hon. Céline Hervieux-Payette:
Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.
Nearly 30 years ago, I was speaking in the other place during a debate on a gender equality clause. Now, 30 years later, we would have thought that our policies would allow us to make progress.
On March 3, 2011, after studying the Financial Post 500 companies, Catalyst revealed that that the percentage of women in senior corporate roles grew by less than one percentage point in two years, rising from 16.9 per cent in 2008 to 17.7 per cent in 2010.
That is a far cry from a rate of 50 per cent. Furthermore, more than 30 per cent of Canadian companies did not have any female executives, in 2008 or in 2010.
Statistics Canada reports that for the past 20 years, there has been a larger proportion of women than men with university degrees.
In 2007, of the 242,000 students who obtained university diplomas, 61 per cent were women. This gap between men and women continues to widen, which is causing some concern. In light of this, I assume that policies will be developed to correct this situation once we have reached the point where men are less educated than women.
I would like to know what programs and measures the government has planned to promote the idea of female executives, knowing that in Canadian corporations, diversity is one key to economic efficiency.
Please click here to read the full text of the Senator's question