OTTAWA – On the same day that President Obama passed a bill to protect pay equity in the United States, the Conservative and Liberal parties are set to vote down a budget amendment that would do the same for Canada.

“This is a sad day for our country,” said New Democrat Leader Jack Layton. “There are families out there who depend on mom’s income to put food on the table and buy school supplies for the kids. When she isn’t paid a fair wage, everybody suffers.”

“The budget didn’t mention women even once. New Democrats could never support a budget that ignores the needs of 52% of our population.”

Stimulus measures in the budget were invested in industries like construction where women make up only 7% of workers. The need to also invest in female-dominated industries is crucial for many working families. The lack of reform to Employment Insurance means that only 42% of part-time workers have access to benefits despite paying into the funds. Seven out of ten part-time workers are women.

“Obama today is strengthening women’s access to pay equity while in Canada the Conservatives are using the economic downturn to attack women’s rights. Women still make 72 cents on every dollar a man earns - nothing the Conservatives have proposed will improve this reality,” said New Democrat Status of Women critic Irene Mathyssen (London-Fanshawe). “Despite all their promises, Conservatives clearly didn’t give any thought to how the budget would affect women. This is no great surprise given their track record of cuts to status of women funding and refusal to implement a national childcare policy.”

“What comes as a shock is that the Liberals, who were so critical of those cuts, would now support a budget that entrenches these regressive policies.”