FEWO Committee Meeting

    Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the 20th hearing of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. Today we are undertaking our study of the 2014-2015 main estimates.

    I want to welcome the Minister of Status of Women, the Honourable K. Kellie Leitch, as well as those accompanying her: Ms. Linda Savoie, Acting Head of Agency, and Ms. Anik Lapointe, Chief Financial Officer and Director, Corporate Services, both from Status of Women Canada.

    I will first of all yield the floor to Dr. Leitch.

    You have the floor for 10 minutes.

    Merci, Madam Chair.

    Thank you to the committee members for inviting me to discuss the 2014-15 main estimates for Status of Women Canada and our priorities over the next fiscal year.

    I'm joined today, as was mentioned, by Linda Savoie, our acting coordinator and head of agency for Status of Women Canada, and by Anik Lapointe, chief financial officer and director for corporate services.

    Before going any further, I would like to highlight for the committee that the Prime Minister has recently named Meena Ballantyne to become Head of Status of Women Canada, effective May 12, 2014. I look forward to working with her collaboratively on issues affecting Canadian women and girls in the weeks and months ahead.

     I'd also like to thank Suzanne Clément, the former coordinator of Status of Women Canada, on the occasion of her upcoming retirement for all of her achievements and service to Canadians over the last 37 years. She had an outstanding career in the public service and has done an outstanding job for Status of Women Canada.

    Since I last met with your committee, I've continued to reach out to Canadians from coast to coast to coast. What I've heard from Canadians is that they want jobs, growth, and long-term prosperity, and they want us to continue our efforts in building a society where women and men are equal participants in the social, economic, and democratic life of our country.

    In 2014-15, Status of Women Canada will continue to focus its efforts in a number of key areas: creating economic opportunities for women, including increasing representation as entrepreneurs and in skilled professional trades; ending violence against women and girls; promoting women in leadership and decision-making roles, including increasing representation of women on corporate boards; and strengthening implementation of gender-based analysis.

    As members of the committee, you know our government's annual support for community-based local projects has nearly doubled since 2006-07, with a substantive increase from the $10.8 million under the former Liberal government to just under $19 million today—its highest level in Canadian history. These funds have supported over 720 new local projects that continue to improve the lives of women and girls across Canada and have done so since 2007.

    A key component of the women's program is an investment of over $54 million since 2007 to increase the economic security and prosperity of Canadian women. We've just recently announced a new call for proposals for local community projects that will advance economic opportunities for women in three key areas: entrepreneurs and professionals; to support mentorship and sponsorship, helping them find their champion; and to advance Canadian women's financial preparedness. By developing and investing in local partnerships, these projects will help identify and address the unique challenges women face when seeking out promising economic opportunities.

    Economic action plan 2014 included a number of benefits for Canadian women. We know that mentorship can mean the difference between a promising business and a successful business. Announced in the budget was a new initiative to increase mentorship among women entrepreneurs, and I'm excited to be leading this effort on behalf of the Government of Canada because the facts are very clear. Women-led businesses employed 1.5 million Canadians last year, and women majority-owned businesses generated $148 billion in the Canadian economy in 2011 alone. They punch well above their weight.

    Madam Chair, our government also recognizes that women's economic security and prosperity go hand in hand with their safety. That's why we've placed a very high priority on addressing violence against women and girls. We all know the enormous impact it has on victims, families, and their communities. As a government, we also understand the complex nature of this issue and we're taking a multi-faceted approach to addressing it. Examples of initiatives we've spearheaded include passing the Safe Streets and Communities Act to improve safety for all Canadians, launching a national action plan to combat human trafficking, increasing penalties for violent crimes, and introducing legislation to give police and prosecutors new tools to address cyberbullying.

    In addition, just a few weeks ago, the government announced the long-awaited victims bill of rights, a significant piece of legislation that will create clear statutory rights at the federal level for victims of crime, for the first time in Canadian history.

    Since 2007 we've invested $69 million through the women's program for local community projects to end violence against women and girls.

    Some of these projects have focused on engaging men and boys in ending violence, addressing violence against women and girls in rural and remote communities, and supporting the reduction of violence in post-secondary campus communities.

     Our government also understands that communities need to be engaged in order to succeed in combatting violence against women. Our government is strongly committed to promoting and protecting the rights of women and girls internationally. I was honoured to lead Canada's delegation to the 58th meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York just a few weeks ago, where we continued to advance Canada's priorities at the United Nations General Assembly, such as the elimination of child, early, and forced marriages.

    This devastating issue and the effects of child, early, and forced marriage are indisputable. I'm very proud to say that Canada has taken a strong stance against the practice and is leading international efforts to address it. We participated in a cross-regional group to develop a procedural resolution to address the issue at the 24th session of the Human Rights Council, and Canada co-led the first-ever stand-alone resolution on child, early, and forced marriage at the UN General Assembly last year.

    In addition, we've recently announced $5 million to tackle the causes and consequences of child, early, and forced marriage in countries around the world. These funds are being used initially in programs in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Ghana, Somalia, and Zimbabwe. We strongly condemn this practice.

    The practice of child, early, and forced marriage is a violation of basic human rights. It is a form of violence. It jeopardizes the physical and mental health of girls and it prevents them from getting an education. It touches their families, communities, and the world in which they live. Our government places a high priority on the full participation of women and girls in all aspects of society, and as I say, we condemn this practice.

    We are also convinced that a significant reduction in the number of child, early, and forced marriages will result in a healthier and more secure society, increase development, and therefore lead to more prosperous societies. I'm proud of Canada's commitment to this cause and the Prime Minister's unwavering leadership to eradicate this practice, which harms women and girls around the world.

    In closing, whether it be a region of our country or around the world, our government will continue to take decisive action to help create positive, concrete changes for women and girls. That is our commitment. That is my commitment.

    Thank you very much for having me here today. I'd be happy to take any questions.

    Thank you very much, Madam Minister.

    We will now begin our first round of questions.

    Ms. Truppe, you have seven minutes.

    Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Minister Leitch, for being with us here again today.

    I think I can speak on behalf of all the committee members. We know that you're busy and you have quite the schedule, so we really do appreciate your taking the time.

    Thank you also to Madams Lapointe and Savoie for being here as well.

    The main estimates lay out several priorities for the office that coordinates the status of women, the most important of which is creating conditions or influencing our culture to foster success for women and girls in Canada.

    How would you say the department accomplishes this with the funds that are made available?

    Thank you for that question.

    Status of Women Canada has several funding opportunities, and probably one of the more substantive is our regular call for proposals that is done on a thematic basis, a theme that is carefully considered to make sure that it's meeting one of the three core priorities of Status of Women Canada.

    Whether it be a focus on economic security for women, making sure that they are developing new skills so that they can acquire the jobs that are available in our economy, whether it be to end violence against women and girls—something I spoke of just a few moments ago and something that I think all Canadians put top of mind as something that has to be eradicated—or whether it be providing women leadership skills, whether that's in a parliamentary domain, like this, or in their local community, these are our three priorities. We do that by creating funding opportunities for local community projects through a call for proposals, which are carefully considered.

    But in addition to that—and I want all Canadians to be aware of this—we have one of the few departments that has a continuous intake program, an opportunity for anyone across the country who's interested in focusing on these issues that create equity for women to apply any day of the year. They can do so in an effort to make sure that they are representing their community and providing a local project.

    One of those projects that I'm delighted that we have, which focuses on that issue of making sure that we're dealing with violence against women and girls, is our most recent project with the Toronto Argonauts and the White Ribbon campaign. It's one that we're supporting to end violence against women and girls. It is a 36-month project called Huddle Up & Make a Call, a mildly amusing name. But that being said, it's providing opportunities to educate young men and boys with respect to appropriate behaviours, so that we can end and eradicate violence against women and girls. I think it's exceptionally important.

    Thank you. I know that ending violence against women and girls is an obvious priority, but I'm glad you're also working on the entrepreneurs as well.

    You mentioned the continuous intake program. I think that is just a fabulous thing that Status of Women Canada has. I promote it almost every time I speak. Individuals can apply anytime throughout the year as long as there are funds available. It's probably one of the few departments that do that.

    Status of Women Canada's report on plans and priorities has a focus on women entrepreneurs. Supporting women entrepreneurs is also a 2014 economic action plan commitment, as you mentioned. We know that you're very interested in this issue, as you mentioned in your comments at the beginning, and that through the many round tables and trips to different parts of Canada you've had the opportunity to meet many Canadian women who want to contribute to Canada's prosperity.

    Through the women you have met, what would you say are some of the perennial issues for businesswomen in Canada?

    Again, thank you for the question.

    I was delighted to see this opportunity that was presented in economic action plan 2014. It was very forward-looking, I think, for the former minister of finance, Jim Flaherty, as well as the Prime Minister to be focused on women entrepreneurs and their enormous potential.

    As I mentioned just a few minutes ago, we know that Canadian women-led businesses employ 1.5 million Canadians. We know that they actually hire more women into their firms. We know that they generated $148 billion in economic wealth in our country just a few years ago, and that continues to rise. These firms, these women, punch well above their weight. The investment that we're making is in developing a mentorship and sponsorship program so that more women can be supported to make sure that not only do they begin and start up their business but they can maintain it and grow it, employing more Canadians and providing an excellent quality of life for their families.

    I'm delighted with this new program. I encourage all parliamentarians and other Canadians to please suggest to us who we should talk to in order to build a robust and focused program. I've been hearing from women and men across the country on how to develop the best mentorship program we can have in the country. If you have suggestions or ideas, I welcome them at any time.

    Thank you.

    From your travels across Canada and meeting these women, what would you say is the most important issue you've come across, or maybe the most important suggestion, if you've received any?

    The round table discussions with regard to women's leadership was something I began well before the budget. The issues that came up and that were top of mind were about the items that will allow a woman to be the most successful.

    Mentorship is the number one item that comes up again and again. Hence, I'm pleased that it's supported in economic action plan 2014. The other item is having a champion, having someone who actually speaks to supporting you at the table. Hence, the sponsorship component part of this program.

    The other component parts, which are supported by our most recent call for proposals, are making sure that women are financially literate, that they are financially prepared, so that they can maintain their business and grow it. That's why our most recent call for proposals includes a component part of allowing organizations across the country to apply for support for financial preparedness.

    It's also making sure that women entering into skilled professional trades are supported. Many of the women who are entrepreneurs actually are skilled professional tradespeople. They are out there doing an outstanding job getting their apprenticeship and then making sure that they're starting their own small firm, whether as an electrician or a carpenter, and being involved in their local community.

    Our new call for proposals approach I think covers the facets of what Canadian women and Canadian men across the country have said are the best ways for getting women involved in the economy.

    Thank you.

    I'm still okay for time?

    You have just enough time to say, “Thank you very much, Madam Minister”.

    Voices: Oh, oh!

    Thank you very much.

    Ms. Ashton, you have seven minutes.

    Thank you, Minister, for joining us today.

    I think any Canadian would agree with the statement that progress for women goes hand in hand with safety and certainly putting an end to violence against women. But we have some real concerns about the way in which programming around that priority of ending violence against women has been decided on.

    From the 2012 figures, we understand that out of 288 applicants, only 26 received funding. Clearly there's a much greater need than what this government is responding to. Perhaps even more disturbing is the fact that a disproportionate number of the applicants that are indigenous organizations focused on women...in fact, more than 60. We know that the vast majority of those didn't receive funding. In fact only two of these organizations were funded. We know that more than 800 indigenous women are missing or have been murdered in Canada. It's a national epidemic. We hear calls of action and the need for a national inquiry.

    On the most basic level of programming, why is the status of women agency choosing to fund only two out of the 62 indigenous women's organizations that have actively reached out for support?

    I want to be very clear. Status of Women Canada since 2007 has supported over 200 aboriginal women's programs. Violence against women and girls needs to be eliminated. We are very focused, as a top priority of our government, on eliminating violence against women and girls, but in particular on making sure that this issue is addressed amongst aboriginal Canadians.

    But with regards to—

    One moment, I think there is a problem with translation.

    I can't hear the interpretation.

    Wait; I think it had been turned off by mistake.

    Okay. It seems to be working now.

    You may continue.

    Merci.

    We have very specific criteria with respect to the programs and proposals that are presented to Status of Women Canada. In fact we receive hundreds of them. The criteria are very clear and they are made out to all Canadians. But I am delighted with the programs that have been supported in local communities that aboriginal women are supporting.

    By way of example one of our best programs, I think, and one thing that I think many people are very proud of is the aboriginal women's leadership program in Saskatchewan. This is an indigenous leadership development program that received $325,000 for a 30-month project. The end result of this was not only that many aboriginal women were trained and able to take on leadership roles but that the first woman vice-chief in the history of the Federation of the Saskatchewan Indian Nations was actually elected—proven results for an excellent program put together, developed, and implemented in a local community area.

    So do I encourage as many women from aboriginal populations, Inuit, and Métis across the country to apply? Absolutely. In fact I was in Thunder Bay on Thursday, Winnipeg on Friday, and Kenora on Saturday meeting with a wide range of Canadian women including indigenous women. I talked to them all about the program. I encouraged them all to apply.

    But I will be frank. We do have very strict criteria and all Canadians need to meet that criteria. Our staff and the public service work extremely hard to make sure that all Canadians have access to this program.

    Thank you.

    We have heard of the program in Saskatchewan, which is definitely positive. We'd certainly love to see it extend across the country. We were heartened to hear from Status of Women officials a few weeks ago that in fact there is an examination into why the criteria isn't being met by the vast majority of indigenous women's organizations. We certainly encourage that process because clearly two out of 62 organizations is unacceptable.

    Minister, I have had the chance over the last number of weeks to hear from service providers, advocates, lawyers, shelter and transition house workers, all who work in the area of violence against women. Most recently I had a chance to be in British Columbia to hear from people on the ground there.

    What I've been hearing from people across the country is very similar in messaging, a kind of frustration the people at the front lines are facing as a result of cutbacks, particularly from the federal government. In fact in the NGO community we are hearing from people that are saying they are effectively subsidizing the work of government and that when it comes to their priorities, accessing short-term project funding does not give them the kind of security and stability to deal with critical issues in the area of violence against women.

    My question is about how you would respond directly to these service providers who are telling us that the granting programs of your department do not meet their needs.

    We have almost doubled the amount of funding provided through Status of Women Canada since coming to government. We provide direct funding for local community projects. What I'm told by individuals across the country—and I can confidently say I meet literally hundreds of Canadians every week—is that they are delighted that our investments are in local community projects that are having a meaningful impact in their communities.

    Overall, Status of Women Canada has funded over 720 projects in the last seven years and across the country has created an outstanding fabric of local community involvement that provides great opportunities but addresses local needs. We know the Canadian growing up and being impacted by an issue in downtown Vancouver is exceptionally different from that individual who may be in your hometown of Churchill or who may be on the Atlantic Canadian coast.

    These local community projects—which are what we were asked to do and how we were asked to develop this program just after we became government—are exactly what we're implementing. I can tell you that they're developing results, whether those are an increase in the number of women entering the skilled professional trades or the meaningful impact we're having on campuses in Vancouver because of our initiative addressing violence against women and girls. These projects are having a meaningful impact.

    I would tell them to look at the program and apply to the program. We are always open to new and exciting ideas that address one of the three core project areas at Status of Women Canada. We would encourage as many Canadians as possible to apply, to let us help them, and to work on what that community project is, so we can address the needs in their local community.

    Thank you.

    Thank you very much.

    We will now hear from Ms. O'Neill Gordon for seven minutes.

    Thank you, Madam Chair.

    Thank you, Minister, for being with us today. We certainly realize you have a busy schedule and we appreciate the time you have taken to be with us here today. As well, I want to thank and welcome Anik Lapointe and Linda Savoie for being with us.

    I know you are here to speak about the main estimates and how they fit into the larger picture of our government's economic action plan.

    As we all know, Canada has enjoyed great success internationally, and this year the IMF declared that it expected Canada to be the strongest-growing economy in the G-7 over the next two years. Our economy continues to grow, as do our various industries and commerce sectors. In fact both the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development expect Canada to be among the strongest-growing economies in the G-7 over this year. The next three major credit-rating agencies have reaffirmed their top ratings for Canada.

    This is very good news, Minister, as you know and we all know. It is expected that Canada will maintain its AAA rating in the year ahead.

    We have seen investments in Canada through Status of Women Canada, and as you indicated, in the last seven years alone the Government of Canada has provided over $53 million for projects to promote women's economic security and prosperity. Of this amount, more than $9 million has gone to projects that address women's entrepreneurship. That alone certainly brings a lot of money into our Canadian economy.

    I'm interested in hearing about our economic action plan for 2014, and specifically about the increasing role of women in Canada's business sector. Does action plan 2014 offer support to women in areas where it had been lacking before? Why is this such an important issue for all of us?

    I thank you for the question.

    Economic action plan 2014, as have the other budgets, is very focused on job creation and making sure that our economy is sound and growing, and that Canadian families have jobs. One of the main focuses, one I mentioned already in my remarks that I'm very pleased with, is this new investment for women entrepreneurs. There's a $150,000 initial investment in order to develop a robust mentorship program to allow women to be supported, whether in a start-up business or in growing and expanding the business they already have.

    A lot of women are only now realizing that there are great economic opportunities for them and their families to have a great quality of life by entering into skilled professional trades. One of the things I have heard since the announcement of the budget this year, which has been so powerful, is the new apprenticeship grant program and loan program. This is an over $100-million investment to make sure that interest-free loans are available, for the first time in Canadian history, for young apprentices. We had heard that a barrier to entry into apprenticeship, whether that be for women or men, was the financial hardship. Now these individuals, just like university students, have an opportunity to access an interest-free loan, and I think this would be very encouraging to young women who are interested in the skilled professional trades.

    I was at Durham College about five weeks ago, where I met three outstanding young women: one wants to be a carpenter; another wants to be an electrician; and the other wants to be a pipefitter. I'm a cross between all of those as an orthopedic surgeon. It was outstanding. Not only did they know where their placement was, where they already know a job is available for them, they will also now be financially supported in doing that, and they may go out and run their own business in the future.

    I'm delighted with these two substantive initiatives, and I'm hopeful that Canadian women will take full advantage of both.

    As you know from visiting my area, Minister, this certainly is good news for the Miramichi area and for all of Canada. We certainly appreciate all you are doing to make these things be of value to our women in the area.

    Our committee is studying women's economic prosperity and leadership, and we heard from some very impressive women in business along the way, when we were doing our study.

    Could you tell us how the ministry for status of women offers support to women through its funding opportunities?

    Initially, just so we're all on the same page, the economic action plan 2012 announced an advisory board for women on boards. It requested that we develop a robust plan in order to encourage women to enter into these leadership roles. But in addition, we have a call for proposals opportunity, and both most recently, for women entrepreneurs, and also in the past, for women in non-traditional roles—skilled professional trades and otherwise. We provided opportunities for local communities to put forward programs, proposals, that they would find the most beneficial to the individuals in their area.

    We know there isn't probably the biggest need for a pipefitter in downtown Toronto as there may be in Fort McMurray, Alberta. We do know that we need to make sure we're providing mentorship for women to enter into financial roles in downtown Toronto that we may not see in other areas of the country. I think our local community program approach is one that is appreciated by Canadian women across the country. They can tailor things to meet their local needs, and at the same time we're providing the skill set so that women can enter into the local jobs available to them.

    Absolutely.

    How much time do we have left? One minute....

    Okay, I don’t mean to change the topic, but in our last study, on eating disorders among women and girls, we certainly learned a lot about it and learned things that were really hard to imagine. However, these things are really very important. We are now looking forward to tabling our report.

    Would you have any input on this issue or on the study itself?

    Well, I will put a little bit of a different hat on. As a pediatric physician, I have met a number of these young women coming through the emergency department or in my clinic. Eating disorders are quite pervasive. Most physicians who take care of children have at one time or another, unfortunately, met one of these young women. This is a devastating disease, and it's devastating because the opportunities for them to be identified still need to be identified, and the issues—

    Dr. Leitch, go ahead very briefly.

    No problem.

    All I will say is that I am delighted that the standing committee undertook this study because I'm sure there was some very meaningful input and information that we can act on in the future. I thank you very much for undertaking it.

    Thank you very much.

    Mr. Casey, you have the floor for seven minutes.

    Thank you, Madam Chair.

    Dr. Leitch, you indicated in your opening remarks that one of the priority areas for the department is the ending of violence against women and girls. You spoke at some length about programs for the indigenous community, in response to a question from Ms. Ashton.

     I'd like to follow up on that, please, with a fairly simple question, Dr. Leitch. Do you accept as fact that indigenous women in Canada experience rates of violence that are significantly higher than the non-indigenous community and that young indigenous women are much more likely to die as a result of violence in Canada than non-indigenous women?

    I think the statistics speak for themselves. That's why this government is focused on making sure that we deal with this issue.

     We know that the statistics show that aboriginal women experience more violence than non-aboriginal. That's why for me, as the Minister of Status of Women...that's why this government has made this a priority. It's about taking action. It's about making sure that we identify what the issues are that the families identify.

     I've spent the last number of weeks travelling across the country and I will continue over the course of the next number of weeks to speak confidentially to families to ask them what their concerns are and where we should be focused. Whether that would be a family that's lost a loved one because they've been murdered or are missing a loved one, which would be beyond challenging to deal with, or if there's a young woman who lives in fear, or a family member who lives in fear of their loved one being the next, I've asked confidentially to speak with families, and I will continue to do that.

    This is an issue that must be addressed. Ending violence against women and girls, no matter which Canadian woman it is, has to be addressed. We know those numbers are higher among aboriginal women and we're moving forward with a number of actions in order to make sure we deal with this issue.

    Do you accept that more than 800 indigenous women and girls have disappeared or been murdered in Canada?

    I don't think the number has been quantified specifically. Status of Women Canada was working with NWAC in order to develop a comprehensive list. We're still waiting on the RCMP to know what that comprehensive list may be in working with NWAC. The number may be lower or it may be higher than that number.

    You would accept that it's very serious?

    I think it's an exceptionally serious problem.

    Okay.

    Dr. Leitch, you are undoubtedly aware that since 1981 there have been 10 royal commissions in Canada. In 1981, we had the commission on newspapers, the Kent commission; in 1986, one on seals and the sealing industry; in 1993-94, one on new reproductive technologies; and some time later, we had one on the Air India bombing when there were 329 people killed. Given the range of the subject matters of previous royal commissions, can you explain why it is that you oppose a royal commission with respect to murdered and missing aboriginal women in Canada?

    It's because I believe action is needed, not more talk.

     This is very simple. These families that I have been speaking with have said to me unequivocally, “Please act.” In fact, this extremely articulate young woman came to me in Kenora on Saturday. She was outstanding. She had lost a family member. What she said to me was, “I want action now”, and on a number of different specific items.

     That's why I'm out speaking to families. It's not about all of us having a conversation about this, or quite frankly, others having a conversation about it. It's about taking action. Now this government is taking some action, and we need to take more. We recognize that. That's why in economic action plan 2014 there's an additional $25 million placed in the budget, based on what the special committee had done, so that we can focus on what families believe is most appropriate. That's why I'm out speaking to families.

    I do speak to them confidentially. The reason I do that is that as a physician I think it's exceptionally important that we treat them with respect and that they get to choose what is divulged to the public or not. That's not for me to choose. That's for a family to choose.

     So whether it be the things we've already done, such as the national centre for missing persons or actions that we've taken with the Canadian Police Information Centre, or whether it be our national website or even the website that we have at Status of Women Canada to deal with violence against women and girls, these are some actions that have been taken. But we have allocated in the economic action plan $25 million more in order to specifically deal with the issue of aboriginal murdered and missing women, because it is a top priority.

     Do I understand you to say that you oppose a royal commission because you don't think it's necessary?

    No, because I think we need to take action now. Every woman that passes away is one too many. I'd rather take action now than talk to you about it.

    So, we don't need a royal commission because you already know the answers.

    No. I'm out talking to families who tell me what actions they want taken, and we've already taken a number of actions. We can have a royal conversation about this, Mr. Casey, but this government is about taking action and that's what I would like. That's what I believe these families would like.

    So action in the form of a public hearing in order to allow for people to come forward and tell their stories isn't part of the government's action plan. Is that what you're saying?

    No, Mr. Casey. What I'm saying is that a number of families have told me they've come forward and told their stories. They would like to continue to do so and they have been with me. They did with the special committee. They've told their story so many times they don't want to do that anymore. They want us to take action and that's what we're doing.

    Thank you.

    Thank you very much.

    I now yield the floor to Ms. Ambler for five minutes.

    Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Dr. Leitch, for being with us today to talk to us about the estimates.

    I had a few questions for you, but Mr. Casey's questions were also of interest to me as the chair of the Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women, which I was honoured and privileged to take part in.

    I'm sure you'll agree, and perhaps you could tell us about that committee and briefly, whether the government plans to respond to the recommendations. Minister, with the 40 studies that have been done in the last number of years on this issue, do you think those are what the families were referring to when they said, “Enough study, now it's time”?

    This committee, which was formed to look into murdered and missing aboriginal women, was struck by a unanimous vote of the House of Commons. It was the 41st study of its kind. Just a brief answer because you've obviously answered a lot of questions about this issue, and it's not really what we're here to talk about.

    Do you think that committee did some good work on behalf of parliamentarians here in Canada toward finding the answers? Do you think that those answers were good ones and that the government will likely follow the recommendations made by that committee?

    I want to commend all the members, all parliamentarians, who participated. Obviously, this is an extremely important issue and the contributions by all members who participated on the committee and otherwise was extremely valuable.

    More importantly, the contributions of families and organizations that have been impacted by this issue, their contributions are the most important. Similar to the committee, that is what I've heard, that they would like action.

    Our government has taken, as I say, some actions to deal with this tragic issue, whether that be the development of the new DNA database, or whether that be community pilot projects in order to make aboriginal communities safer. Our focus is taking action and I would like to commend all of the members of the committee from all parties for their participation because I think it was outstanding work, and we will be coming forward with a government response.

    Thank you, and I'd like to say thank you to you as well for taking the issue so seriously as minister. We do appreciate the work that you've done and the consultation that you have done with aboriginal groups and the families, the victims and the families of the victims as well. On behalf of the Government of Canada you have made us proud in that regard. We appreciate that.

    I'd like to talk about the commemorative days because I had some good personal experiences this year with women's history month and the recently celebrated international women's week, March 2 to 8, with International Women's Day falling on Saturday, March 8. I attended a couple of events commemorating these special days. On Friday, March 7, I went to a fundraising dinner event coordinated by the Peel Committee Against Woman Abuse, which is a group of women I know well in my community who do terrific work on behalf of vulnerable women in Peel. The next day, on March 8, I was in Thunder Bay to speak to FCM, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, women's political panel. They have a standing committee, the purpose of which is to increase women's participation in municipal government. It was a great meeting, very well attended, and I met dozens of bright, ambitious women from across Ontario who are running for office.

    I guess I'm wondering what you did to celebrate women's accomplishments, and what the ministry did to highlight women's issues during the International Women's Day and week this year.

    I'm sure I don't have to tell you, but the theme was strong women, strong Canada. That's how the running-for-office theme fit in. It highlighted women entrepreneurs, Canadian women creating jobs, one business at a time.

    Maybe you could tell us a bit about your experiences there.

    Thank you very much.

    The one thing I will comment on is that I want to commend all parliamentarians. We had individuals from all parties, from all parts of the country, participating in events for International Women's Day, and I think that speaks volumes for Canada's interest and focus on this area, making sure that individuals across the country are participating. I was delighted with the interest and uptake of not just parliamentarians of my own party but also the NDP and the Liberals who I think were—

    You're going to cut me off, aren't you?

    Yes, but thank you very much.

    Thank you to everyone for participating.

    Thank you very much.

    Ms. Sellah, you have the floor for five minutes.

    Thank you, Madam Chair.

    Madam Minister, thank you for being with us. I also thank the officials from your department.

    You probably know that we are currently focusing on a study of the economic leadership and prosperity of Canadian women, as well as their successes and the challenges they face.

    You referred to the 2012 Economic Action Plan and women who occupy important positions in enterprises. That plan mentioned the creation of a working group to increase the number of women on the boards of directors of companies.

    During our previous meetings, we welcomed two representatives from Status of Women Canada. We asked them what the conclusions of that working group were and if the objective had been attained. Unfortunately, they were unable to answer us. I would like to put the same question to you, Minister.

    Can you share with us the results obtained by the working group set up in 2012? Also, can you tell us what funds were allocated to it?

    Thank you very much.

    I think the initiative that was undertaken under our previous minister is exceptionally important, and I had the good fortune of inheriting the advisory board. I've worked intensely with them. We have developed a report that I have submitted to the Prime Minister and I'm waiting for his response to that. We should know very soon, all of us, what the response to that is, and I'll be delighted to share it with Canadians.

    Madam Minister, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that my colleague here tabled motion M-444 to create a national action plan to fight violence against women. This plan would include funds for the Native Women's Association of Canada, as well as a national inquiry into the disappearance or murder of aboriginal women.

    Can you tell us whether the government intends to consider and to put into effect the motion introduced by my colleague Niki Ashton?

    Thank you for the question.

    I will agree with you that action is needed. We've taken action, and we'll continue to do that. As I mentioned before, whether it's our newest response and additional funding for the DNA database; whether it's the funding for the national centre for missing persons, which I know that many Canadians are committed to and focused on; or whether it be the development of a new national action plan to combat human trafficking or other issues that deal with violence against women and girls, these are all actions. I think we actually all do have common cause.

    My hope is that when it comes to violence against women and girls, whether it's aboriginal Canadian women or otherwise, we all stay focused on the goal at hand. I think if we all look at the goal, which is elimination of violence against women and girls, we can all come to common cause to actually do that. My hope is that we all focus on that, and we take actions towards that so that all Canadian women are beneficiaries.

    Madam Minister, long before I was elected, I met with groups of aboriginal women who wanted an inquiry to be held. They wanted to find out the truth about these persons who have disappeared or been murdered.

    Do you think you could ask for a national inquiry that would attempt to shed light on the deaths and disappearances of these aboriginal women?

    Well, as I mentioned before, what I'm hearing from families and what I'm hearing from organizations representing aboriginal Canadian women is that they want action. I can repeat exactly what I said before, but they've been very clear with me, as most recently as Saturday in Kenora. They would like action taken.

    We've taken action on a number of items raised by these families, and I continue to ask them about what the most important things are for us to focus on. As I outlined, in economic action plan 2014 there is additional funding to address the issues that were raised at the special standing committee but also the issues that these families are raising. I'll continue to focus on taking action, as they have requested of me.

    Thank you, Minister.

    Mr. Young, you have the floor for five minutes.

    Thank you, Madam Chair.

    Thank you, Minister. Welcome to our committee.

    Status of Women Canada is very focused on preventing violence against women and girls, and doing so through engaging with the community and changing attitudes towards women. For example, your recent call for proposals about combatting cyberviolence and sexual violence invited communities to propose solutions and programs that lent peer-to-peer support around these problems and offered measures that came from the communities themselves.

    We know that in order to work toward eliminating violence against women and girls, we need to engage all members of society, so I want to ask you specifically about the roles that men and boys have to play in this. Could you please inform the committee about what kinds of projects you've been involved in that are aimed specifically at men and boys? What is it that makes them effective?

    Thank you very much for the question.

    First off, just with respect to our most recent call for proposals on cyberviolence and sexual violence, I'm delighted that we've had numerous projects that had been recommended by local communities. I even had the good pleasure in Winnipeg on Friday of doing a project announcement at the Klinic, as it's called, to support a wide range of organizations throughout rural and remote Manitoba and their shelter system to make sure that victims of sexual assaults are supported.

    With respect to men and boys, the issue that has come forward is making sure that young men are well educated on what is appropriate behaviour. Status of Women Canada receives a number of proposals, but two that actually have had a substantive impact, and continue to, are those linked with what I think young men are interested in, individuals who they want to emulate in society. Whether that be a person who's an athletic giant or whether that be an elder in their community, these are the most effective organizational proposals.

    One that I've been involved in I'm delighted is having a great impact. I've been out to see exactly what they're doing. It's one with the Toronto Argonauts. It's called, as I mentioned before, Huddle Up & Make the Call. The Toronto Argonauts, with the White Ribbon campaign, are working in high schools across Toronto to make sure that young men understand what appropriate behaviour should be so that they treat women appropriately.

    We see the BC Lions doing exactly the same thing. They have some extremely effective videos that I have to say truly, I think, will change behaviour. In addition to that, we've most recently seen the Winnipeg Blue Bombers step up to the plate. They are developing their own new program, implementing it on the ground in Winnipeg and across Manitoba.

    So I think there are great opportunities. We're open to other ideas of what would be opportunities to have a men and boys engagement campaign to reduce violence against women and girls. This is a whole society approach. It's not just about saying that this attitude, this process, was bad; it's about making sure that these young people who may be perpetuating crimes actually understand what appropriate behaviour is.

    Thank you.

    Last month you attended the 58th meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and you had the opportunity to meet delegates from all over the world and a number of opportunities to speak.

    Could you please tell the committee what types of issues you highlighted to your fellow delegates during the announcement you made in New York on forced marriages?

    Well, as I mentioned in my comments earlier, Canada has taken a substantive leadership role in early, child, and forced marriages. This is abhorrent, unacceptable behaviour. This is something that needs to be eradicated.

    The impact this has on young women across the globe, affecting millions of young women across the globe, whether it be that they do not have access to education because of their experience or because of the serious health risks that they're put in the position to feel.... It is incredible. We know that if a young woman under the age of 18 becomes pregnant, the chances of her child having a decreased quality of life or having an anomaly are substantially higher than if that woman is over 18. We know that the risk of death of that young woman through her pregnancy is even higher...let alone the other health care issues that can arise.

    So the huge issue of eradicating early, child, and forced marriage is something Canada has taken a leadership role in. We put forward the first motion at the United Nations. We're going to continue to stand up for the rights of girls and women and that's something I think all Canadians should be very proud of, because this is something that some people may have an issue with. But it's not about doing the expedient thing. It's about doing the right thing to make sure that women's rights are upheld not just here in Canada but across the globe.

    Thank you very much.

    Ms. Crockatt, you now have the floor for five minutes.

    Thank you so much.

    Thank you very much, Minister, for being here. I know we all feel you're providing an absolutely phenomenal role model for women, young women, women in Alberta, who we lay claim to in coming from Fort McMurray, and someone who has really succeeded in what was once primarily a men's occupation, both in medicine and in politics. So thank you for your leadership there.

    I thought the idea you were bringing forward at the beginning about the top three things that are going to improve women's economic position was really important. I wonder if you could expand on that a bit. I believe that mentorship and financial preparedness were two of them, but can you tell us about what you feel we need to really focus on in order to improve women's economic position in our society?

    Thank you very much for the question.

    Our new call for proposals does focus on the three areas that Status of Women Canada...and what we heard across the country about where it is that women thought we should focus.

    The first is mentorship. That is what I hear the most about, making sure there's an individual there to aid you in starting your company, maintaining your company, and growing your company, not just domestically but also internationally. In addition, champions, sponsors.... There is a difference between the two and I can say this, having been championed in my two professional careers by two different people—the last time I checked, Dr. John Wedge was not a parliamentarian and Jim Flaherty was not a surgeon. Having a champion at the table who is willing to put your name forward and provide you with opportunities is extremely important. So that's the intent behind our call for proposals and also the economic action plan 2014's program.

    As I mentioned before, we're open to ideas and I'm doing cross-country consultations on building the most robust program on this. It's making sure that we are providing women with that mentorship and sponsorship.

    The second is the focus on financial preparedness and it's not just financial preparedness for the woman who's starting her business or the woman who might not know the basics of financial preparedness. I've heard from many women across the country that they have a small business with eight or 10 people working for them and there is great potential for expansion but they don't necessarily know what all those component parts are that are required for financial literacy and where to focus for growth. So we are making sure that those tools are made available to them to help them grow their businesses, which I think provide great opportunities for Canadians across the country. It will increase the number of jobs available.

    Also, and I think importantly, we know that women-led businesses employ more women, disproportionately, and that provides a great opportunity for more women to be employed in the economy in areas that they may find of substantive interest.

    Our last area is focusing on professionalism and various professions, including as I mentioned the skilled professional trades, and making sure that women who are interested in those areas have the skill sets they need to be successful. So looking forward to this, I encourage all parliamentarians and Canadians across the country to please apply. This should be an excellent opportunity for Canadians to benefit.

     I believe you have touched on this, but I think it's critical that we all understand it. Can you talk to us about the opportunities for the government to actually fund women through Status of Women Canada, so that they can participate in these opportunities?

     We have two opportunities. One is through the continuous intake program and one is through our call for proposals.

    The call for proposals has specific deadlines and themes. But the continuous intake allows any Canadian to apply 365 days of the year to Status of Women Canada at www.women.gc.ca, in any one of our three core areas. Whether that be violence against women and girls, whether that be economic security and prosperity, or whether that be women taking on leadership roles, these are the three areas we cover.

    I've been trying to encourage many not-for-profit organizations and individuals across the country to apply. It's a great program. Our public servant staff do a fabulous job of working with organizations to make sure they can meet the criteria and implement an excellent program. Our programs are not just for a single year. They're 24, sometimes up to 36 months. It's not just one-stop shopping, quick funding, and out. Unlike other departments, we have longer programs. Organizations can become sustainable and can grow the opportunity they've been provided.

    Madam Minister, thank you very much for having made yourself available and for having answered the questions of the members of the committee.

    Thank you to everyone.

    We will now suspend the hearing for a few minutes as we get rearranged.

    Good afternoon, everyone. We will resume our meeting.

    We still have with us Ms. Savoie and Ms. Lapointe, whom I have already introduced. They are joined by Mr. Daniel Sansfaçon, Director General, Policy and External Relations at Status of Women Canada.

    Welcome, Mr. Sansfaçon. Since you will not be making a statement, I will invite you to begin answering our questions straightaway. We will go into it cold, as we say.

    I also want to inform the members of the committee that we are going to be ending the meeting about 10 minutes before the planned ending time, because of the vote on appropriations.

    We will begin with Ms. Young.

    You have seven minutes.

    Thank you so much.

    Of course I want to thank the people from the Status of Women department for being here today and for always providing excellent information and sharing when they come to committee.

    I have a number of questions. We've just asked questions and received answers from the minister about program funds and program priorities and all those sorts of things, so I think we have at least a good context and basis to start the second round of questions.

     The Status of Women department is one of the smaller departments within government. What I want to know specifically is how you work with other departments and what you do with other departments to leverage and/or work with those other departments to ensure that some amount of their funding goes toward women-specific programming?

    What I'm trying to say is that of course your department is not the only department doing work for or providing program funds to women. There are many others. Let me give you an example. Employment Canada has training programs and so on specifically for women, so how do you work with other big departments that are also doing work and/or programming for women?

    I'll start and I may let my colleague speak a little on another aspect of this.

    Of course, being small, we tend to draw from the expertise of the larger departments that have the depth of knowledge on any given issue. For instance, we're very focused on entrepreneurship right now and we have the luxury of having some very solid colleagues within the federal family. We have departments like Industry Canada, for instance, that have a depth of knowledge that we could never aspire to, that are always willing to share their experience and their tools and their knowledge with us. We have an excellent working relationship with a number of departments that provide some expert subject-matter knowledge to us and we use that same network to share information about project proposals when we're developing a theme for calls for proposals, for instance. We consult with them to make sure we take into consideration the type of knowledge they have acquired over time.

    Thank you. Because we do always have a shortage of time, may I just break in for a second?

    Can you go across the government, then, and compile a report for us that specifically identifies which programs and in what areas there are specific program or funding expenditures for women? Can we ask for that?

    For example, I know that in Employment Canada they have so many programs specifically targeted towards women. Also, as you said, Industry Canada probably has a number, and Health has a number, and Public Safety probably has a number for victims and to support women in situations of violence. Can you capture that for us, please?

    We do not typically do that, and I'm not sure about the level of resources that would be required for that. Typically the way our structure works is that each department is responsible for examining itself with regard to gender diversity to make sure its programs hit the mark. So instead of our department compiling...we tend to be its conscience.

    I understand that, but as a standing committee member, I'm often asked to speak to the public. If I say that our program funding for women is $43 million, that is obviously not real, because in all these other departments across Canada, the Canadian government also has many other programs as well as funding targeted towards women.

    I know this request is a little unusual, and perhaps that's something you could take back to your department and provide to us, because I think that would be very interesting for all of our colleagues and in fact for all of the women across Canada.

    So you're talking about women-specific programs across the federal family—

    Exactly.

    —under the economic pillar?

    Well, no, I mean everything. We talked a lot about violence against women. I think you need to explore the public safety and crime prevention programs and all of those sorts of things. I was sitting on that standing committee as well, and we provide a number of programs and services specifically for women there.

    I think my point has been made, so thank you very much for that.

    I was just curious, because I didn't know if you captured that information and why you wouldn't. Why wouldn't we be capturing that information? If we're going to say we support women's programs and funding, we need to be capturing that across the spectrum, particularly in these key target areas that we have identified such as violence, health, business and entrepreneurship, and jobs and skills training, which we're also looking for.

    Can you share with us, then—because we haven't talked about it for a while—how the implementation of gender-based analysis is going and what is happening in that whole area right now?

     Thank you for the question. I would say that, in fact, this is not unrelated to your previous question about women-specific funding across the federal government. In fact, just let me give you a tiny example where it might be a bit difficult to do exactly this, which would be addressing violence.

    For example, you mentioned Public Safety's national crime prevention strategy. They will obviously fund projects that intervene with girls as well as boys, men as well as women, so it would be very difficult in many regards to try to distinguish where the specific funding goes, whether it's actually specific to women or not.

    That said, in regard to the gender-based analysis across the federal government, as you will remember, there was a 2009 action plan. Status of Women Canada fundamentally plays a capacity-building role. We are knowledge brokers. We help departments develop the capacity. It's fair to say that over the years of implementing this action plan we've seen good and positive results across the board, whether it be in the health sector, for example, or more recently in the science and technology sectors.

     Clearly, gradually through the various initiatives undertaken by Status of Women Canada we do see successes being achieved across the federal government.

    So are you saying then that in fact there have been huge strides taken, however, we don't capture it in quite that way, and therefore we don't have the information or statistics on many of these different areas?

    I will let you answer briefly, Mr. Sansfaçon.

    Departments do submit their annual reports as part of the action plan to Status of Women Canada, but it is fair to say that there is no requirement, as it were, to capture information across the federal government on the implementation of gender-based analysis. But we do work very closely with departments to provide the expertise, support, and tools that will help them implement gender-based analysis.

    Thank you very munch.

    Concerning Ms. Young's request, Mr. Sansfaçon has clearly explained the difficulty of separating out all of the programs that affect the status of women. A document was also referred to. We will see if that is possible. Perhaps certain initiatives could be listed, depending on available resources.

    Thank you.

    Thank you so much, Madam Chair.

    So my time is up then?

    Thank you very much for that, I appreciate it.

    Ms. Ashton, you have the floor for seven minutes.

    Thank you very much, and thank you for joining us today.

    I want to follow up on our question to the minister about the obvious failure rate of Status of Women to support indigenous women's organizations in terms of funding. In mentioning two out of 62 organizations in the case of the 2012 call for proposals, that's a 3% success rate. I'm not sure any organization would call that doing enough. I'm alarmed that the minister seemed to coast over it.

    With a 3% success rate when working with a vulnerable population, indigenous women, in the area of violence where we know they're disproportionately impacted, I'm wondering if Status of Women is doing anything. I remember a few weeks ago there was talk around outreach and communication with applicants, but clearly there's obviously more to be done specifically around criteria and applications.

    Is the full gamut being explored here and what is Status of Women doing to increase what is a failure, at 3%, to support the most vulnerable women in Canada when it comes to ending the violence that they face?

    Thank you for that question.

    That call for proposals with the low number of indigenous projects that was approved was an anomaly. Year over year we tend to invest at least 15% of our funds in aboriginal projects and if you look at the long-term trends...because as I mentioned at my last appearance, we don't tend to work call by call. We look at the trends over two years, three years, and even longer to identify some issues and challenges that need to be addressed. So that being said, this was an anomaly but it's a serious anomaly and we're taking it seriously.

    Yes, we are looking at issues such as the criteria. The very early discussions we've had with aboriginal groups that were not successful and those that have been successful are showing us certain trends. First-time applicants, whether aboriginal or non-aboriginal, are not as successful as applicants who are coming to us for a second or a third attempt.

    What we are going to be determining now is whether we had more new applicants in that aboriginal group that was unsuccessful in that specific call. So there are trends and we're keeping a close eye on it. We take it seriously. I'm confident that when we're looking at this over the last two or three violence calls and the next violence calls, we will be correcting this, because I have every indication that the minister is also taking this very seriously.

     We certainly hope so, and we look forward to watching how this progresses.

    I want to quickly touch on a stated priority by the minister in her speech on the issue of early and forced marriage. It's our understanding that Canada's financial commitment.... There has been a lot of rhetoric at the international level. In terms of putting money where our mouth is, as a country, it's our understanding that money has been directed—in terms of international players—to UNICEF, rather than UNFPA.

    One of the questions is whether this is because UNFPA invests its funds into reproductive services, including access to abortion, which is a very much-needed service for girls and young women who are forced into marriage, and obviously forced to become pregnant.

    I'm wondering if you could speak to why Canada's money is going to UNICEF rather than UNFPA. If it's not possible to share that answer right now, would it be possible to provide that answer in writing?

    I can give you an answer right away. It's not an issue that I could speak to because we are not a player in terms of international funding. The relevant department would probably be DFATD, Foreign Affairs.

    I appreciate that. It's a sign of, perhaps, the disconnect, that the minister considers this an important issue, yet it's not her department that's actually funding solutions on the ground.

    Quickly turning to gender-based analysis, the 2014-15 report on plans and priorities for the Status of Women states:

    I'm wondering what the results have been of this plan. Will we find the same priorities in this new plan in regard to the implementation of GBA? What level of funding has been invested in each priority area to date?

    If we don't have enough time to get to these three questions, would it be possible to answer whatever remains in writing?

    As I mentioned earlier, Status of Women Canada provides support to departments. It provides support, in particular, by engaging senior management. For example, we make presentations at management tables across departments and in the past year in particular, we have, for example, organized a boot camp for various departments involved in specific sectors, as well as organized specific events in the science and technology sector in November 2013.

    These are examples of the progress that is being made across federal departments in implementing gender-based analysis. With regard to your question about the level of investments, did you mean within Status of Women Canada?

    I'm guessing these boot camps and these kinds of events require funding. I'm wondering what kind of funding is being put toward realizing the commitment to GBA+.

    Within Status of Women Canada, relative to our budget in this directorate, it's approximately 4.5 FTEs and about $400,000 that we invest of our proper funds to support the implementation of gender-based analysis federally.

    To follow up on that, could you share with us how many departments took part in your events that you organized, and what are the gaps that remain in implementing this level of analysis?

    I don't have the exact number of departments that did attend. I think it was 12 or 13 that attended the boot camp. I forget, again, the specific number of departments that attended the science and technology event in November, but I could certainly provide this information.

    Thank you very much.

    Ms. Truppe, you have the floor for seven minutes.

    Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, again, to the witnesses for attending our committee today. I know everybody is really busy.

    I do have some questions, but I just wanted to mention.... Ms. Ashton had talked about Status of Women Canada not funding the solutions on the ground. I was actually going to mention that too.

    I mean, this is a Status of Women committee, so we only have so much funding for Status of Women. I know from being on the special committee for the murdered and missing aboriginal women that there were millions and millions of dollars being spent in aboriginal communities. I don't think you do, but I just thought I would check, you don't have any stats on the spending for women, do you?

    No. Government spending is not really captured in this manner, so any time there's a request for one department to look at a specific issue, a call goes out to all departments to try to extract information from their systems. But unfortunately the financial systems are different from department to department, and we're not always able to sort things out in the manner we're looking for.

    Thank you. As I said, I know many departments are involved because there are different projects that they're always funding, so thank you for that anyway.

    We were hearing about allocations of funds for Status of Women and how you work to fund projects that speak to your mandated goals of improving economic security for women and girls, ending violence against women, and supporting the advancement and increased representation of women and girls in leadership roles. The women's program seems to be the main conduit through which you disburse the funding and support to accomplish this.

    I know that the women's program operates with continuous funding as well as targeted funding opportunities, but what are the specific aims and goals of the program? How do you organize your priorities and programming to achieve these goals? I mean, there are so many great programs that you have.

    You're correct that the women's program is our primary conduit for doing work out in the communities across Canada. Each year we revise our priorities under the three pillars that have been fairly consistent over time. We look at the issue of violence, the issue of economic security and prosperity, and women's leadership. Our departmental priorities will fall within one of those three categories and will be more specific. So this year, as last year, we have certain priorities that relate to violence against women and girls.

    But we do have some new priorities with respect, for instance, to the entrepreneurship that I was speaking to, and those tend to align with government priorities, and the direction comes from government to determine where we will be focusing our efforts.

    Thank you.

    I'm glad that Status of Women Canada is including men and boys in some of the programs now, because I do hear that when I am attending or hosting a round table or meeting with other individuals or some of the non-profit organizations in my riding. I mean, you can keep, you know, reminding and informing women of what is acceptable and not acceptable, that they don't have to be in certain situations or ways to get out of them. But, you know, I think it's very important to tell the men and boys as well, so I'm glad that seems to be working itself in there.

    How do you ensure that your targeted call for proposals reflects inclusive criteria and is not biased towards one demographic of Canadian women?

    Our criteria are fairly consistent, call after call, on many levels. What we are looking for are groups that know their target audience, so rather than us trying to figure out what works well with an immigrant population in Toronto or an aboriginal population in northern Saskatchewan, we rely on the expertise of the applicant group. Part of the criteria is demonstrating that they have that expertise, that they know their population, and that they know what recipes and approaches are appropriate, culturally appropriate, or otherwise appropriate geographically, etc.

    Our criteria tend to be at the level that allows us to assess based on partnerships, capacity, and knowledge. It doesn't need to be that granular. Our criteria will not go into specific populations themselves; they will be assessing the group that will be delivering the actual project.

    Thank you.

    How do you get the word out? I mean, I know you probably have certain groups that are always applying time after time, and maybe they continue to get funding or maybe they don't, or maybe they get it once. But what about...? There are probably some great organizations out there. I know certainly in London I tried to send it to as many people as I could think of. If they apply, great, but at least they know. But how do you get the word out to some of these groups?

    Well for instance, in this latest call, the spring call, by having a very strong economic focus, we are tapping into the networks of our economic partners like the economic development agencies and also the federal-provincial relationship with multiple provinces that have a common interest. So we tap into other people's networks, and it's not uncommon. Actually it's more the norm for the information about our call for proposals being circulated through newsletters of other agencies, not just our own.

    We also have our own database. Anyone who has contacted us or who has applied is entered into our own database for what we call our email blasts, so the word gets out. We've been fairly satisfied with the degree of reach that we've had over the last few years—actually for a number of years. Just the number of applications we get I think is a reflection of the success we've had reaching out. We also monitor very closely how many are repeat applicants, and how many are people who are totally new to us and unknown. So consistently, call after call, we get new applicants in good numbers, sometimes 25%, sometimes 50%. We are still continuing to diversify the reach to the groups that could have an interest in our cause.

     Thank you.

    As far as schools or community groups promoting certain events, specifically international women's week or the International Day of the Girl, do you send out any hard copies? I know you have the website, but is there anything that goes out to the schools to promote to young girls that it's International Women's Day or the International Day of the Girl?

    We don't tend to send out paper-based material any longer, but we do make our material available for schools, for women's groups, for school boards. So, yes, our material becomes available for school boards interested in having an event; for instance, International Women's Day or women's history month.

    I’m sorry. I’m good for my last question.

    Very well.

    Mr. Casey now has the floor for seven minutes.

    Thank you, Madam Chair.

    I noticed in the briefing materials provided that there's no plan for a decrease in the workforce at Status of Women Canada. Within Status of Women Canada, do you have employees in all provinces of Canada?

    No, we do not. We have service points that, in many cases, cover multiple provinces. For instance, the Atlantic office is located in Moncton and serves the four Atlantic provinces.

    Okay, so there are no employees in the other Atlantic provinces. For the Atlantic area, the office is based in Moncton.

    Yes. Our structure is such that we have an Atlantic office in Moncton. We have a western office in Edmonton, and we have an office for Quebec that’s in Montreal.

    How many are in the Atlantic office?

    There are five.

    Thank you.

    Back in 2010, the government announced $25 million over five years for a seven-point strategy to improve responses of law enforcement in the justice system, the cases of murdered and missing aboriginal women and girls, and to increase community safety. I presume you're familiar with that? Okay.

    Can you take us through, to this point in time, what progress has been made? The goal of the program was to improve responses of law enforcement, improve responses of the justice system, and increase community safety. I presume that these are being measured against some metrics.

    Can you tell us what data is available on the progress of that announcement and that investment?

    First of all, I will remind the committee that the Department of Justice has a responsibility overall for the implementation of the seven-point strategy, and presumably there will be an evaluation of that strategy in the coming months that will eventually report to Canadians the results of this 7.5-year strategy.

    So far, there has been progress made under each of the elements. For example, the creation of the national centre for missing persons, which is now in existence in the RCMP, or for that matter, the additional support to victims of crime, and the creation of shelters for aboriginal women, the community safety plans through Public Safety Canada—there has been progress on each front. But as I said earlier, Justice Canada will ensure to undertake an evaluation of the strategy.

    Okay, thank you for that.

    Is it fair to say that the better person to ask those questions of would be the Minister of Justice as they have overall carriage of the program?

    If your question is about the results of the 7.5-year strategy, yes. The question is better addressed to the Minister of Justice.

    Thank you.

    I know you spent some time in the last half hour talking about gender-based analysis. I want to come back to it because your organizational priorities mention a plan to expand gender-based analysis. Based on your previous answers, I understand that the Status of Women Canada puts on programs for other government departments, to bring awareness and promotion to gender-based analysis. Is that essentially the role or is that essentially what you're talking about when your organizational priorities refer to expanded partnerships in gender-based analysis?

    Maybe I wasn't clear earlier in my response. Essentially, as I mentioned, we are in—

    It could just be that I'm a little thick as well.

    No, no.

    As I said, we are essentially in a role of providing support to other government departments. We provide leadership. We provide tools. For example, this very day I am very pleased to announce that the revised online course that we have created to support departments implementing gender-based analysis has been relaunched. In fact, it has been very successful. This online course in the past year or so has been completed by almost 1,000 people: civil servants, academics, NGO representatives. It is a very successful tool to try to mainstream gender-based analysis.

    Our role is to work with the departments to help them implement gender-based analysis as what it really is, which is a good solid approach to doing good policy, in whatever sector it is.

    When you talk about expanded partnerships, then, it's both within government and outside government.

    By expanded partnerships, do you mean the depth of the partnerships or the number of them, or both?

    You're right to say that it is both internal to the federal government, and external with stakeholders.

    For example, with the provinces and territories, through the FPT ministers' round table, we will in fact have a discussion of this very issue. We will take stock of progress made using GBA in provincial and territorial governments this coming June, and with academics, taking stock of the latest knowledge in how to implement gender-based analysis in the mainstream. We similarly involve these external stakeholders, and within the federal family, we aim toward a more in-depth way with specific sectors, for example, as I mentioned earlier with the science and technology sector.

    GBA is a tool for good public policy. In this regard, if we are able to mainstream GBA within these sectors that are so vital to Canada's economic prosperity, then presumably this will also lead to increasing women's economic security as well as contributing to Canada's overall economic prosperity.

    That's also why we work with these clusters of departments, including in this case, as I just mentioned, science and technology. NRCan is one good example where we have certainly made progress in the past year.

    Thank you very much, Mr. Sansfaçon and Mr. Casey.

    Ms. O'Neill Gordon now has the floor for five minutes.

    Thank you, Madam Chair.

    Thanks to all of you for being with us today.

    I was certainly happy to hear that there is much support in each department across our government—support that is so beneficial for women right across Canada—and that every department considers this to be a major issue.

    The minister recently announced that Status of Women Canada is providing $200,000 to Nishnawbe Aski Nation for a 24-month project to advance the economic security and prosperity of first nations women and girls. The project will develop community-driven and culturally relevant strategies to address barriers to economic opportunities for women in the community.

    Could you give us some other examples of programs that fund culturally appropriate programming? Is this taken into account when funding is allocated?

    In terms of culturally appropriate projects, we strive to make sure that any time a project is working with a specific population, whether aboriginal or inner-city young girls, or older rural women, that the material and the approach they develop is going to be appropriate, whether culturally or for whatever other adaptations need to be done.

    I'm at a loss to be more specific than that because pretty much every one of our projects tries to do that. For instance, earlier the minister was speaking about the project that we're doing with the White Ribbon campaign in collaboration with the Argonauts. Well, there again, they are focusing on a very specific age bracket, young men, and finding the appropriate language, tone, and areas of interest to be relevant to this audience.

    I have other projects that are working with very young aboriginal girls in a remote community, so again, the project is adapted for that very specific environment. Unfortunately, because we have some 300 projects that are going on at any given time, I would fail to give justice to the quality of what's being done if I tried to be specific. Every project strives to be culturally appropriate.

    I understand very well what you're saying and I realize that each one of these projects is so important to the community and is doing much to help our women and girls.

    Do you have something you wanted to say, Daniel?

    No.

    How much time do I have left?

    You have two minutes.

    The national day of remembrance is a day we all take a moment and commemorate those women who lost their lives as a result of gender-based violence. I would like to know what initiatives your department is taking to address the issue of gender-based violence, and if this helps to gain national attention for this issue.

    Like most of the issues we tackle we tend to try to have more of a programmatic approach, a triple approach: programmatic, policy, and communications. For violence in particular we have levers that work in each of these areas. I'm not sure if there's something specific you'd be interested in, but of course we do fund projects. We issue press releases and send material to make sure there's awareness and sensitivity building with respect to issues, and we work with partners across the federal family to make sure they're also involved and participate where appropriate.

    So we tend to have the same recipe, if you will, for the issue of violence as we do for economics and leadership.

    Thank you for the great job you're doing.

    Thank you very much.

    Ms. Sellah, you have the floor for five minutes.

    Thank you, Madam Chair.

    I would like to go back to the issue of women's access to boards of directors.

    According to the 2014-2015 Report on Plans and Priorities of Status of Women Canada, the organization is committed to increasing the representation of women in positions of responsibility and decision-making. One of the ways of promoting the presence of women on company boards of directors consists in supporting the leadership role of the minister, and cooperation with the private and public sectors, in compliance with the commitment made in Canada's 2012 Economic Action Plan.

    Could you describe the consultation process which took place between Status of Women Canada and the private and public sectors? How was the advisory committee on this file created? Could you also describe the work done by the committee up till now?

    The advisory committee created by the minister met twice and gave its opinion and advice to the minister. Currently I am not in a position to tell you in a more specific manner what action will be taken following those recommendations made by the advisory committee.

    I can however tell you that the representation of women on boards, which is an extremely important matter, is one of the ways of contributing to the economic progress of women. It is a priority on several fronts. We are working on this with the provinces and territories, where this matter was also discussed in 2013 following the 2012 Economic Action Plan decision. Over the next few weeks I presume—it is not for me to say—that a certain number of details will be made public on the subsequent steps which will make it possible to increase the participation of women on boards of directors.

    I put that question to the minister, who replied that this famous report would be released in a few weeks, as well as the recommendations.

    I thank you for your answer, but I wanted to know, rather, how that committee was created. I also wanted to know how the consultation process between the minister and the public and private sectors took place. You answered that question in part by saying that there were two meetings, but you have not yet replied to those two points. I would like more clarifications on that.

    Regarding the advisory committee that was created, its purpose was to provide advice to the minister, and not the department. If you look at its members you will see that it is made up of Canadians who are well-informed and very competent regarding this issue. These people were chosen to advise the minister. So there are some things that are beyond our control and do not fall under our purview. However, the experience and expertise provided by these people around the table is outstanding. It is clear that they represent an interesting pool of competence and knowledge.

    I do not know if the minister referred to this earlier, but aside from the advisory committee, the minister, as did her predecessor, also holds round tables and meets with a lot of people from outside of the department. That is a part of her consultation process to determine the needs, and also to provide material for discussions within her advisory committee.

    Do I have any time left?

    You have time left for a very brief question and a very brief reply.

    Actually, my question has been answered. I simply wanted to know how the advisory committee had been constituted. In fact, the minister chose the people who were to advise her concerning the recommendations and the work to be done. As for the rest, it is normal that she would consult people on the ground.

    Thank you.

    Thank you very much.

    Ms. Ambler now has the floor for five minutes.

    Thank you, Madam Chair.

    Thank you very much to our officials for being here today.

    I'm wondering about the minister's travel outside Canada, and in particular how your department prepares the minister, as well as our parliamentary secretary, for trips into places where there are different cultural norms specifically related to gender.

    Do you have the capacity and have you ever had the need to prepare them for different types of...? We're very lucky here in Canada, obviously, that travelling is just not an issue, but when they travel outside of Canada, do you sometimes have to make other arrangements? Do you help the minister and the parliamentary secretary with those arrangements? Can you tell us how you do it, if you have the capacity, and what kinds of things need to be done?

    We are lucky that we can draw on the competencies of Foreign Affairs.

    Any department, when its minister travels, tends to look to Foreign Affairs for that level of expertise, because they would have a depth of knowledge in terms of cultural background, gender-appropriate behaviours, etc. We do not claim to have that level of expertise within the Status of Women, but we do have the ability to tap into that knowledge if it becomes required.

    Oh, okay. Thank you. It's good that you work together on that.

    That sort of relates to my second question, in that I'm wondering which other ministries Status of Women works with to implement programs. Perhaps the list is too long to answer the question or maybe there are one or two that you work with more often, such as, for instance, Justice.

    You're correct that there are certain complementary points that are greater between certain departments than between others. For instance, on our aboriginal file, we work very closely with Justice. We work with Aboriginal Affairs. We work with Public Safety. On the issue of violence, we work very closely with Public Safety. We've worked with Health Canada.

    If you look at the federal family of maybe 40 or 45 key departments, I'd say we work quite closely with at least half of these, depending on what the issue is. Our mandate is so broad and the edges are so soft that we can develop these relationships. If it's an economic issue, we're working with Industry and with the economic development agencies. If it's a violence issue or a health issue....

    I'd hate to pick a favourite right now.

    No, that's good to know, actually.

    I'm also particularly interested in encouraging more women to run for office. What ministries would you work with on those programs? What are the programs and do you think they're working?

    A lot of that work is happening at the provincial level, but federally, we have funded organizations that have worked in multiple parts of the country. We've worked with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, we've worked with Groupe Femmes, Politique et Démocratie in Quebec. We've worked with some youth organizations and student councils.

    So we work with a range of stakeholders that touch upon leadership positions in bringing young women or not so young women into these types of leadership positions. Canadian Heritage does some tremendous work in terms of youth programming to bring the citizenship component to the forefront of the education of young people. There are a number of other departments—maybe Daniel has others that come to mind—that play a role in this.

    But clearly also the provinces and municipalities are quite active in this field.

    Yes, and I know it's something that the minister's interested in.

    Is Equal Voice one of those groups that Status of Women Canada is working with?

    Yes, we've worked with Equal Voice on numerous files over time. They always bring some very solid expertise to the table.

    Yes, they're very knowledgeable.

    Thank you very much.

    Mr. Young, you have five minutes.

    Thank you, Madam Chair.

    I'd like to give my time to Madam Young, if that's agreeable.

    Thank you.

    Thank you, Cousin Young.

    It's me again. Sorry about that. It's just because we kind of got cut off a little earlier, so I do appreciate my colleague sharing his time.

    We talked a little bit earlier about capturing programs and services that support women, and children and youth, obviously, in the different departments. But I want to just touch a bit about international work as well, as some of my colleagues have here.

    I was very fortunate in that I was able to travel to Cambodia a couple of years ago and see one of the maternal and child health clinics that our government is funding under the Prime Minister's maternal and child health initiative that he did with the G-7 in 2009, I believe it was. That, as you know, is a $2-billion project and program with international funding. It's specifically targeted to women and children, and we all know that it's saving something like 6.6 million lives around the world. So there's that.

    The second component of this is the human trafficking national action plan, which was headed up by one of our members of Parliament, Joy Smith, and outlines our plan internationally as well to work with and support women—mainly women, obviously—who are being trafficked. It was heartbreaking, but I also had the ability to go and see some of those programs that were funded through World Vision in Thailand and in India just recently, with the Governor General as a matter of fact.

    I also wanted to talk to you about the fact that we are currently in the middle of doing a study, obviously, as was mentioned previously, on the economic prosperity and leadership of women. Under that we had somebody come in from the federal Business Development Bank who said that they also had a program helping women get set up to do business, whether it was a small business or a medium business, etc. So there again, there was another program specifically targeted for women.

    Of course we all know about the International Day of the Girl that Minister Rona Ambrose developed and led internationally with the United Nations and the impact that is obviously, hopefully, having around the world.

    So I guess my question to you good people is how are we capturing those international, really important, significantly impactful programs that this country, our government, is leading, and not just in Canada because some of these programs, obviously, are happening here too. We have the human trafficking one, for example. We have actually, as you know, busted groups and people who were trafficking, and there's a lot of work happening in that area.

    So how are you capturing those things, and how is it that we can then learn from that?

    Thank you.

    In a sense, again coming back to what Linda was saying earlier about the very broad and horizontal mandate of Status of Women Canada, we don't as Status of Women Canada capture this information specifically. However we will be made informed by the relevant departments, whether it be the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development, whether it be specifically—I forget how it's called now—the development agency, or indeed in other cases, Citizenship and Immigration, Public Safety Canada, or through the RCMP working internationally in the case of human trafficking.

    So we will be made informed, if you will, of these initiatives but not necessarily about specific project funding, these being their direct responsibilities.

    I'd add that within the federal family the information is often shared through interdepartmental working groups. A number of the subject matters that you've mentioned just now have some interdepartmental working groups that specifically focus on that given issue. For instance, there is one of these working groups on forced marriage. There's one on human trafficking.

    A voice: That's right.

    Ms. Linda Savoie: Those become a place for the exchange of knowledge and information and ensuring complementarity of effort. We tend to take an issue-based approach, get the players around the table who should be discussing the issue, and share knowledge then.

    I hope that is somewhat helpful.

    Madam Chair, do I have more time or...?

    Thank you very much for that.

    Ms. Savoie, Mr. Sansfaçon, Madam Lapointe, thank you very much for having taken part in this meeting and for having answered our questions.

    I would now like the attention of all the members of the committee, as we will be voting on items 1 and 5 under the heading “Office of the Co-ordinator, Status of Women”, and there is something important that must be understood about those items. Since the fiscal year begins April 1 and the budget is voted on in the month of June, there are always provisional votes that are adopted so that the government machine can function. That is why following the meeting we just held, we are going to vote on vote number 1 under the heading “Office of the Co-ordinator, Status of Women”, minus the amount granted in Interim Supply.

    Shall vote 1 carry?

    I'm sorry, but where are you getting this?

    What has happened is that we've just heard the officials and the minister on the main estimates, so I'm asking for the vote.

    Ms. Truppe, there is no document properly speaking; we are simply going to vote on the amounts allocated to the Office of the Co-ordinator of the Status of Women.

    Maybe I can give you the information just briefly. We've just studied the budget of the main estimates, and usually as a protocol we would vote on those credits. Okay?

    Shall vote 1 under the heading “Office of the Co-ordinator, Status of Women”, less the amount granted in Interim Supply, carry? I would like you to express yourselves clearly.

    (Vote 1 carries)

    Shall vote 5 under the heading “Office of the Co-ordinator, Status of Women”, less the amount granted in Interim Supply carry?

    (Vote 5 carries)

    The vote is clear. Thank you.

    Shall the chair report the main estimates 2014-2015 to the House?

    Some hon. members: Agreed.

    That is crystal clear.

    Our next meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 30, 2014, in room 228 of the Promenade building. We will then continue our study on the economic leadership and prosperity of Canadian women.

    The committee is adjourned.