Hon. Céline Hervieux-Payette:

Honourable senators, I have reflected on the comments my colleagues have made about this issue, which I think is very important. I would like to speak to you about a subject that is particularly important to me, since I was a member in the other place when we adopted section 15 of the Canadian Constitution to establish equality between men and women in our country. I must say, many years later — that was in the 1980s — that I am disappointed to see where we have ended up with the current government.

As you know, Stephen Harper's Conservative government has become an expert on empty promises, to the point that we have now counted over 100 promises that have not been kept. I know that my colleagues have kept track of them all, but I would like to speak about one in particular. It is not surprising to note that the government's promises to women are almost never kept.

We need only think about the minor role that women play in Harper's cabinet, not to mention the fate of Minister Helena Guergis, who had to pay the price for her husband's mistakes. Where are the women in prominent departments like Finance, Foreign Affairs, Justice and Industry? Not a single key job in the government is held by a woman. What do we make of the saga of Minister Oda, who had to follow her boss's orders — who obviously kept his job — at the expense of her own reputation? What do we make of the integrity commissioner, Ms. Ouimet, who had to appear before us here and who failed to maintain the trust of the employees of the public service of Canada and who was forced to resign because of a report by an officer of Parliament, the Auditor General of Canada, Sheila Fraser, who revealed some flaws with the organization?

What about the way Linda Keen, the head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, was treated? Given the situation in Japan today, perhaps we should take a closer look at the comments made by Ms. Keen. Perhaps she made comments on nuclear safety and operations that could be of interest to all Canadians.

I remind honourable senators that, in 1967, the Royal Commission on the Status of Women — in which some colleagues here took part—stated in its report that Canadian women then accounted for only 6 per cent of appointees to federal organizations, crown corporations and task forces. By 2005, under a Liberal government, women accounted for 37 per cent of all appointees. However, based on Privy Council documents, instead of going up — particularly considering the number of competent women on the market — the percentage of women appointed to federal organizations dropped from 37 per cent to 32.5 per cent in February 2006. In May 2010, it stood at 26.7 per cent on Crown corporation boards. I remind my colleagues that the Quebec government has passed a parity measure for Quebec's Crown corporation boards and I can tell you that, to this day, our Crown corporations are doing just fine.

When asked by Radio-Canada Nouvelles about this drop, the Leader of the Government, Senator LeBreton — and someone will tell her about my comments — made a joke. She said this had nothing to do with a lack of commitment towards the promotion of women — perhaps that is a hollow statement like those we hear from the Prime Minister — when in fact the government lacks leadership when it comes to appointing women to key positions. Meanwhile, thousands of qualified women in Canada still do not have access to certain positions in federal organizations, Crown corporations and task forces.

Over the past five years, the Conservatives have made significant cuts in the regional offices of Status of Women Canada. I did not see anything in today's budget to provide sizeable amounts of money to support the women who work for little money in organizations that help our communities, and particularly other women who are experiencing difficulties.

The Conservatives have abolished the long-form census for a good reason. Indeed, this form was used to collect important data on women and minorities. Moreover, they introduced bills that will discriminate even more against women in prison, not to mention the cuts made to maternal health programs in developing countries.

Under the Harper government, the important role women play in our society has diminished. Instead of working transparently and acting as a role model for the private sector in promoting the status of women, the Conservatives have decided to play petty politics and proceed with their backwards ideology, rather than creating public policies that would benefit Canadian women.

Furthermore, the government appears incapable of rationally justifying why it refuses to defend the cause of women's equality in Canada under section 15 of the Charter of Rights. It is a basic right that has been recognized in our Constitution since the 1980s. While women understand that full equality cannot be achieved overnight, we would have thought that after more than 30 years, we should be able to expect equality in terms of salary and access to positions of responsibility, especially in the leading organization in a society like ours. The reduced number of women appointed to positions in federal agencies and Crown corporations and on task forces is just one example of the Harper government's lack of commitment when it comes to promoting and achieving gender equality in Canada.

This year marks the one hundredth anniversary of International Women's Day. This unique event should have served as an opportunity for the government to make gender equality a concrete reality in all Canadian legislation.

I firmly believe that the time for broken promises to women has come to an end, and now more than ever, it is important to take action.

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