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S'enregistrer au Flux RSS Le Sénat du Canada

Post under ‘S-206’ tag

Harper`s conservatives are against women`s equality

3 February 2021 at 20h18

OTTAWA, February 3, 2021 – Senators Conservatives kill Bill S-206, An Act to establish gender parity on the board of directors of certain corporations, financial institutions and parent Crown corporations.

Senator Hervieux-Payette denounces the Conservatives’ refusal to give women the right to be equally represented on boards of directors. 

“The Conservatives have a particularly regressive view of women in our society. In this case, they absolutely do not believe they are entitled to equal representation with men on boards of directors of our companies, “said Senator Hervieux-Payette.

Numerous studies and witnesses who testified before the Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce on Bill S-206 demonstrated that greater diversity in boards of directors leads to greater economic performance.

“The Conservatives are unable to put aside their medieval reformist ideology even when it comes to improving the effectiveness of our businesses in the aftermath of a major economic crisis. How can we still think they are good managers when they do not want to reform boards that were one of the culprits behind one of the biggest economic crises in modern history? “continued the Senator.

Conservative senators killed Bill S-206 by refusing to vote clause by clause and demanding that the proceedings be in-camera.

“The Conservatives have once again shown their contempt for our democratic institutions and their lack of transparency by voting for in-camera discussions to finally refuse to vote on my bill. A situation the Harper Conservatives never cease to reproduce. It is shameful for our democracy, “concluded Senator Hervieux-Payette.

The Liberal Party of Canada believes that the strength of Canadian society is dependent on the full participation of women in our economy, our government and all the country’s decision-making processes.

Coalition for gender parity on Canadian boards of directors

19 April 2021 at 14h23

gender-parity-boards

Women and men must be equally represented on our boards of directors. While the Constitution recognizes gender equality, corporate Canada has clearly not made enough progress in this area.

Given that women are actively involved in the corporate community as business owners, shareholders, executives, managers and employees, and they play an equally important role in the marketplace as consumers, they should have equal representation on boards of directors.

Financial institutions experienced a crisis that plunged the world economy into a deep recession and showed there is no longer a place in today’s society for boards that lack diversity in their membership and perspectives. We need women board members who will introduce new approaches to management problems and reject the groupthink that may have contributed to our current global financial crisis.

According to the research organization Catalyst, women make up 47% of the Canadian labour force but only 14% of board seats among the 500 largest Canadian companies surveyed by the Financial Post. Women’s representation on the boards of publicly traded companies still stands at only 10.3% (29.1% for Crown corporations). Close to one-third of the companies ranked in the Financial Post 500 had two or more women on their boards, but 41.9% still do not have any women board members. At this rate, only one out of five board seats will be held by women by 2020.

As many industrialized countries have discovered, legislation is needed to achieve gender parity in the corporate world. Switzerland, Norway and Spain have passed laws requiring women’s representation on boards to reach 40% within six years. France is working on legislation as well. According to Corporate Knights, only 9% of board seats in Norway were held by women in 2003. That percentage has risen to 44% since the country brought in legislation in 2008.

The Government of Quebec passed a law requiring Crown corporations to have 50% female representation on their boards of directors by 2011.

Given corporate inaction and the slow progress seen so far, the Parliament of Canada must also pass legislation to show that gender parity on Canadian boards of directors is an essential part of our society.

I SUPPORT THE PRINCIPLE OF BILL S-206 TO ESTABLISH GENDER PARITY ON THE BOARDS OF DIRECTORS OF CROWN CORPORATIONS AND PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES.

To give your support, download the petition here and send it back to the address on the form either by email (by scanning the document) or by mail. Letters mailed to MPs and senators do not require a stamp. Thank you!

Read my speech here

 

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