The Standing Committee on the Status of Women met at 11:08 a.m. this day, in Room 209, West Block, the Chair, Hedy Fry, presiding.

Gisèle Pageau, Barbara Byers and Marie-Thérèse Chicha made statements and, with Teresa Healy, answered questions.

At 12:58 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 12:59 p.m., the sitting resumed.

On motion of Nicole Demers, it was agreed, — That the Committee call on the Minister of State for the Status of Women and the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development to ask Statistics Canada to measure and value unpaid, “invisible” work, like it did in the 1992 General Social Survey.

At 1:02 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 1:03 p.m., the sitting resumed in camera.

It was agreed, — That the draft report, as amended, be adopted.

It was agreed, — That the report be entitled: “Towards Improving Access to EI Benefits for Women in Canada“.

It was agreed, — That the Chair, Clerk and analyst be authorized to make such grammatical and editorial changes as may be necessary without changing the substance of the report.

It was agreed, — That the Chair present the report to the House.

It was agreed, — That the Committee append to its report a supplementary/dissenting opinions from members of the Conservative Party, Liberal Party, Bloc Québécois and New Democratic Party provided that they not be more than four pages in length and that the dissenting or supplementary opinions be submitted electronically to the Clerk of the Committee no later than May 20, 2009 at 5:00 p.m..

It was agreed, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the Committee request that the Government table a comprehensive response to the report.

At 1:49 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.