QUESTION PERIOD — Justice
Gender-Based Analysis
June 8, 2022
My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.
Senator Gold, gender-based analysis plus, or GBA+, is an essential tool that the government introduced in 1995 in the development of its policies, programs and legislation. That said, as far back as 2009 and again in 2015, the then auditors general identified barriers to its implementation.
Just last week, the Auditor General noted that the previously identified and still unresolved problem of collecting and using disaggregated data explains why so little progress has been made in fully integrating GBA+.
Senator Gold, can you explain why these gaps in disaggregated data collection persist? As you can appreciate, without that data, it is difficult to effectively address systemic inequalities.
I thank the honourable senator for her question. While progress has been made, there is still much to be done to identify gaps and continue removing barriers. The Government of Canada remains committed to this issue. One step has been to address the gaps in disaggregated data, as traditional institutions have historically limited access to vulnerable populations.
As a reminder, the government applies GBA+ throughout the life cycle of an initiative, from policy development to implementation.
I note that the 2021 budget provides $11 million over five years for gender-based violence research and knowledge mobilization. This funding is intended to support the important data collection and research work being done by organizations on the ground to better serve under-represented groups. This research is the foundation of GBA+.
Senator Gold, in our role as legislators, it is important for us to have access to all the tools we need to do our work in a thorough and professional manner.
Would it be possible to provide us, on a regular basis, automatically or systematically, even a summary of the comparative analyses conducted as part of the development of government bills every time they are brought to our attention?
I will follow up with the government and try to provide a response shortly.
