Women and Gender Equality Minister responds to the opposition about pay equity legislation

Helen Conway-Ottenheimer had said someone from the Minister’s office replied to her email asking why pay equity legislation is not in place after 2 years by saying “there is nothing new to report.”

Women and Gender Equality Minister Pam Parsons is speaking out about recent comments made by the opposition shadow, Helen Conway-Ottenheimer.  Ottenheimer had said someone from the Minister’s office replied to her email asking why pay equity legislation is not in place after 2 years by saying “there is nothing new to report.” The Pay Equity and Pay Transparency Act was passed in the fall session of the House of Assembly in 2022. Consultations then took place throughout NL and virtually, and were completed in 2023. Minister Parsons says hundreds of stakeholders took part in these sessions and they received hundreds of responses. She says they received  hundreds of responses and to say government is neglecting the needs of people in this province is  simply not true.  Parsons says pay equity is simply one tool in the toolbox to help close the gender wage gap. She says this is a cross-government approach involving several departments and all the information has been submitted for regulations. She says a pay equity officer has been appointed, and the document, “What we heard” will be available to the public when  completed. Parsons says concrete things are happening such as the creation of an additional 5600 new regulated child care  spaces by 2026, which includes the implementation of  a new pre-kindergarten program, as well as support for women to engage in the tech sector.