Ontario, our leaders are hearing us make noise for Equal Pay Day!
- NDP MPP Jill Andrew spoke at Queen’s Park about how closing the gender pay gap to key to enabling women’s liberation.
- NDP MPP Lisa Gretzky spoke about how women make up the majority of workers in under-funded community services.
- We received the following responses from Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, NDP MPP Bhutila Karpoche, and Green Party MPP Aislinn Clancy.
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner
Thanks so much for reaching out. Women in Ontario earn significantly less than their male counterparts – and the gap is even wider for racialized, indigenous, 2SLGBTQ+ and disabled women.
Yet, one of the first things this government did after taking office was repeal the Pay Transparency Act, a vital tool for addressing the gender pay gap in this province.
In addition, they rammed through the wage capping Bill 124 which disproportionately affected workers in women led sectors like healthcare, education and childcare.
These are the individuals who work tirelessly to care for us and our loved ones which is why they deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and fairness.
We need this government to step up and support workers in women-led sectors like healthcare, education and childcare. Mike will continue to call on the Premier to reinstate the Pay Transparency Act.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. Thank you for your advocacy
NDP MPP Bhutila Karpoche
Thanks so much for your email and for the work you are doing to address the gender pay gap in Ontario.
Bhutila could not agree with you more that “Economic issues are women’s issues.” This is why issues like public sector wages, accessible childcare, and maternal mental health are top priority for her.
More than 30 years after the Pay Equity Act was first passed, it’s still yet to be achieved, and this Conservative government’s signal to Ontarians has been clear: they have very little real interest in making sure women in Ontario are earning the same as their male peers.
For far too long, they stood behind their harmful Bill 124, which widened the wage gap by suppressing salaries in women-dominated, public sector jobs like teaching and healthcare. Bill 124 has finally been repealed, after twice being found unconstitutional, but problems like unaffordable childcare and privatization continue to make it harder for women to get ahead, especially racialized women, LGBTQ women, women with disabilities, and newcomers, who have been disproportionately impacted by social injustice.
With Budget 2024, the Ford government had a real opportunity to tackle these issues, but instead they delivered a budget that contains no section on childcare and makes major cuts to health care spending, education, and other public services, despite the cost-of-living crisis.
Please know that Bhutila and the NDP team are fighting hard for the solutions Ontario women deserve. Last October, Bhutila rose in the House during Women’s History Month to advocate for fair compensation for public servants, affordable housing, and the creation of overall social and economic conditions that will enable all women to thrive. You can read a transcript of her comments here.
As the Ontario NDP Affordability Critic and former Early Learning and Child Care Critic, she’s been particularly vocal and active in the fight for high quality, affordable childcare, raising this issue in the legislature many times. You can watch her most recent question on the issue to the Minister of Education here.
To this end, Bhutila has repeatedly tabled the Early Years and Child Care Worker Advisory Commission Act. If passed, it would establish a Commission to develop recommendations on how to fix our broken childcare system, support the Early Years and Child Care workforce, and address staffing shortages, including through a salary scale, increased compensation, and improved working conditions. You can add your names to support this bill here.
Bhutila has also tabled the Maternal Mental Health Day Act and Black Mental Health Day Act that would seek to enhance the accessibility and quality of mental health care for groups disproportionately impacted by workforce discrimination.
Fay and Jan, please know that Bhutila and the NDP will continue to push the government to invest in public services and deliver the real change women need. Thank you again for your work on this important issue.
Green Party MPP Aislinn Clancy.
QUEEN’S PARK – Ontario Greens deputy leader and MPP for Kitchener Centre Aislinn Clancy released the following statement to mark Equal Pay Day.
“Every year, we mark Equal Pay Day to call attention to the fact that women in Ontario earn just 87 cents for every dollar earned by men. In the case of racialized, Indigenous, 2SLGBTQ+ and disabled women, that gap is even wider.
Despite this disparity, one of the first things the Ford government did after taking office was repeal the Pay Transparency Act, a vital tool for addressing the gender pay gap in this province.
It also rammed through the wage-capping Bill 124, which disproportionately affected workers in women-led sectors like healthcare, education and childcare.
This government’s track record is harmful to women across this province, and it sets all of us back in our attempts to build a more equitable and caring society.
On Equal Pay Day, I’m calling on the Premier to get serious about closing the gender wage gap by reinstating the Pay Transparency Act and committing to treating all public-sector workers with respect, dignity and fairness.”
