Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On March 9, 2009, I made a Member’s statement in this House on gender-based analysis. It was the second time I made a statement on this and asked questions on this topic. Today it will be the third.
Gender-based analysis makes gender equality issues visible in the mainstream of society, taking into account the full diversity of men and women. This type of analysis contributes to the redress of past and systemic discrimination and contributes to the development of a mission policy. Implementation of gender-based analysis policy builds upon the good work done by the government with respect to their Traditional Knowledge Policy. In addition, gender-based analysis responds to the provisions in legal documents such as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Federal Plan for Gender Equality, the Canadian Human Rights Act and various international obligations and commitments. In short, it is a tool that will help the GNWT develop more appropriate and relevant as well as socially and culturally aware programs, policies and legislation.
On March 9, 2009, when responding to questions I asked, the Premier indicated that -- and this is actually a quote from the unedited Hansard of March 9th -- “The gender-based analysis process is underway. We are working within the Executive to come up with a position paper and hopefully have that out sometime during the spring.” When asked for a time line, the Premier responded as follows -- this is also from an unedited Hansard from March 9, 2009 -- “We are hoping to have a position paper developed by this spring, working on a training document and training scheduled for implementation during this upcoming fiscal year.” Spring has come and gone. We are also more than halfway through the 2009-2010 fiscal year. I have been waiting for some follow-up on this important initiative but haven’t seen any public notice indicating that the government has made any progress.
A policy on gender-based analysis will put people at the heart of policy development. It leads to better government by involving both women and men and makes full use of human resources. For the benefit of all our residents, we should develop and implement a gender-based analysis policy and we should do it now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At the appropriate time I will have some questions for the Premier on this topic. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
