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Gender-equal prices in Canada?

Signs advertising a summer sale draw a crowd of shoppers to a downtown Toronto mall. But being caught in the crush doesn`t faze Leah Barnes. She loves a good deal. What bothers her is that the prices are unfair. "Prices sometimes discriminate against women," she says. "It happens all the time when I`m buying clothes, tailoring pants ... and getting haircuts, especially where I pay $10 to $15 (Canadian dollars) more for a basic cut." But a proposed bill in the province of Ontario would prohibit what women including Barnes are calling the "gender tax" - charging one gender more for similar products or services.

Supporters of the measure, which could pass as early as next month, say it will protect women from discriminatory pricing. But critics say enforcement of such a law would be difficult. Some even argue that the price disparity for men and women for a number of goods and services is justified.

"A dollar in the hands of a man should be worth the same as a dollar in the hands of a woman," says Lorenzo Berardinetti, the Toronto Liberal who introduced the bill into the provincial parliament after his wife noticed she was always charged more than men for haircuts, deodorant, suits, and dry cleaning. "We have had this discrimination going on for so long.... We want to make it fair for all." Under his proposal, consumers could file complaints in court or the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Businesses could be fined up to $5,000 for violations. The measure is based on the 1995 Gender-Tax Repeal Act in California, the first state to make it unlawful to discriminate based on gender in the pricing of services. Similar legislation has also been passed in Florida`s Miami-Dade County, New York City, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.