The BC government is beginning public consultation on new transparency legislation to close the province’s gender pay gap, which it says is one of the highest in the country..Supported by the minister of labour, the parliamentary secretary for gender equity, Grace Lore, intends to close the gap by “continuing to address systemic discrimination in the workplace,” and will supposedly do so through new pay transparency legislation..BC is one of four provinces without pay transparency or pay equity legislation; Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador being the other three..BC’s women are making 20% less than men on average, according the the province..“Transparency and accountability is a step to address the pay gap in BC,” said Lore on Monday..Pay transparency would require employers to disclose information about employee compensation..“Indigenous women, women of colour, immigrant women, and two-spirit, non-binary and transgender people also face barriers that others do not,” said Lore, providing no further detail as to what specific barriers she spoke of..“We want to hear from a variety of groups and individuals so that we can build made-in-BC pay transparency legislation that will help us address pay inequity and move toward equality.”.Also on Tuesday, BC Liberal MLA representing Surrey-Panorama, Stephanie Cadieux introduced equal pay legislation for the fifth time..The bill, called the Equal Pay Reporting Act, would require certain businesses to report the pay gap between male and female employees performing the same jobs. It will be debated in the next legislative session..As for Lore’s announcement, Cadieux called it a “good step.”.Consultations will begin this spring with various organizations and “groups that work to create equal opportunity for women.” Employers who have already established pay transparency policies will also be included..The announcement coincided with international women’s day..The province is seldom clear as to whether the gap represents average earnings by men and women respectively across industries or whether it means that women working the same job with the same qualifications as their male counterparts are being paid less, on average. The difference between the two is significant. One is discriminatory and the other can be easily explained by a multitude of non-discriminatory factors..Reid Small is a BC-based reporter for the Western Standard.,rsmall@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/reidsmall
