VICTORIA, B.C. – Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands has introduced amendments to the Pay Transparency Act.
“British Columbia has one of the biggest gaps in pay between men and women in Canada. The gender pay gap is especially stark for Indigenous and Black workers, people of colour, and people with disabilities,” said MLA Olsen.
“In 2001 the former BC NDP government attempted to enshrine the right of all British Columbians to be paid equally for similar work. Fast forward 22 years and BC remains one of a few provinces in Canada without pay equity legislation.
“The Pay Transparency Act represents a missed opportunity to adequately address the inequity and discrimination women face at work. The BC NDP could have introduced pay equity legislation and robust pay transparency legislation. Instead, they chose half measures.
“The BC NDP says this legislation is a first step, but is 2023 the time to be making small steps when women and gender-diverse people have been shouldering the burden of pay inequity for decades? We must challenge the notion that a small step toward pay equity is good enough. We should not sit idly by accepting a burden to be unfairly carried for another generation.
“Half measures have consequences. While the BC NDP delays, women, and gender-diverse people are the ones paying the price, literally. We are currently living through an affordability crisis. Inflation has increased, the housing crisis has worsened, and the cost of groceries and childcare has risen, yet women are still paid less than they deserve.
“Pay equity benefits everybody. I proposed amendments to the Pay Transparency Act to make the legislation robust and effective and align with what stakeholders have called for. Disappointingly, the BC NDP and BC United Party voted against them.”
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