T. welcoming the legislative measures which have been adopted in Mexico, in particular the February 2007 General Law on women's entitlement to a violence-free life, as well as the creation of specialised institutions at federal and local level, such as, inter alia, the Special Prosecution Service for crimes related to violence against women, which was set up in 2006, the Juárez Commission, and the National Institute for Women,

When it comes to the needs of women in general, in Quebec and in Canada, I would in fact say that, in this budget, the federal government is neglecting certain women for whom it is actually responsible.

These are not coincidences (1450) YWCA Canada recommends that the federal government financially support women's equality-seeking organizations through core funding; double Status of Women Canada's budget; create a full-time ministry for women's equality and create a women's equality act; enact pay-equity legislation; sustain the parliamentary Standing Committee on the Status of Women and implement its recommendations; instruct the Auditor General to conduct a full audit of the federal government's performance on women's equality on an appropriate cycle; and maintain a strong policy partnership with women's organizations.

The Coalition for Women's Equality believes that the federal government should strengthen its mechanism regarding the status of women by: enacting a status of women bill, to give force of legislation to the government's commitment to provide equality for all women; appointing a full-fledged minister with an in-depth knowledge of the status of women who would work with her colleagues in Cabinet and make sure that the issue of equality for all women in Canada is raised whenever a new policy comes up for discussion; creating a department of the status of women with adequate funding and led by a full-fledged deputy minister who would be re ...[+++]sponsible for making sure that the Act is enforced; providing adequate funding for an independent women's movement; and finally, mandating the Auditor General to carry out at appropriate intervals a full assessment of the government's performance regarding women's equality.

Mrs. Marlene Jennings (Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, given the visit of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Canada during International Women's Week, and given that Mr. Annan focused precisely on the issue of HIV-AIDS, I would ask the Minister of State for the Status of Women to tell us and Canadians about federal initiatives to address this issue, particularly as it pertains to women.

Hon Sheila Finestone (Secretary of State (Multiculturalism) (Status of Women), Lib.): I am informed by Status of Women Canada (SWC) as follows: The four week New York preparatory meeting for the World Conference on Women March 15 to April 7, 1995 was held concurrently with the regular session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (a) Cost to the federal government for participation at these meetings were as follows: Secretary of State (Multiculturalism) (Status of Women)-$973 Status of Women Canada (three officials)-$19,677 Foreign Affairs (one official)-$5,000 Canadian International Development Agency (one official)-$8,055 Non-governmental organizations (two representatives)-$16,215* *Funded by Status of Women Canada Total Cost:-$49, ...[+++]920 (b) Representatives on the Canadian Delegation included: Secretary of State (Multiculturalism) (Status of Women); Status of Women Canada, Valérie Raymond, executive director, world conference secretariat; Status of Women Canada, Rhonda Ferderber, director, external relations and communications; Status of Women Canada, Sheila Regehr, senior policy analyst; Foreign Affairs, Adèle Dion, co-ordinator, international women's equality; Canadian International Development Agency, Diana Rivington, senior policy adviser, women in development directorate; NGOs, Madeleine Gilchrist and Gulzar Samji; and two representatives of the government of Quebec, costs covered by the government of Quebec.