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In reality, the reason women make less than men is that, on average, their productive output is lower — primarily because they tend to work fewer hours. According to the Ontario Ministry of Labour, the hourly wage gap is only 11.9 per cent. And controlling for education, experience, job tenure, job type, age, and other factors would likely make that remaining wage gap disappear. Of course, these factors must be controlled for all at once. Controlling for only one factor at a time, as the CCPA does in its analysis, is useful for very little except misleading the public on the wage-gap issue.

Indeed, if the gender wage gap is actually a result of pay discrimination as the CCPA seems to believe, there is a much easier for conscientious activists to correct the situation — and make a lot of money at the same time. Instead of sitting around writing reports and editorials, those who believe a significant wage gap exists for reasons other than differences in productive output should launch scores of new businesses. After all, there are, according to the wage-gappers, millions of female workers whose wages are far below their productive output. Why not secure their employment by bidding their wages up just a bit, and rake in the massive profits?

It seems rather bizarre that no money-loving capitalist has yet decided to seize this amazing opportunity. If female labour were actually 29.4 per cent cheaper, why would anyone ever hire a man? Indeed, the existence of any significant pay gap due to discrimination is a remarkable claim: It means employers are more interested in indulging their male chauvinism than in capitalizing on the gap to earn higher profits.