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View Lenore Zann Profile
Lib. (NS)
Thank you so much, Adam. Thank you for being so generous and for thinking of my time as well.
I want to say thank you to the witnesses. I know this is a difficult topic, but it's very, very important.
I want to highlight some of the things that Ms. Blaney mentioned, which are totally what I agree with. It is about misogyny. It is about patriarchy. It is about the inequality for women in society and the complete disdain and contempt that some men have towards women and girls. It needs to stop now. The more femicides we hear about, the more angry, really, I become. I know that these can all be averted if people are educated to believe that we are all equal, that you can have your emotions and be upset about something, but it doesn't mean you can kill somebody or try to control somebody else. This is all about control and domination. These are all colonial attitudes and actions anyway. By and large, I believe most women have been affected by this, our first nations people in particular, and I'm so, so, so sorry.
In the submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, the Native Women's Association of Canada stated that some of the recurring themes that contribute to the recruitment of indigenous women in trafficking include—we've talked about them today—precarious housing and poor living conditions; high rates of unemployment, unstable employment and low working wages; lack of access to social and economic resources and programs; prior exposure to human trafficking and sex trade from a young age, through family or friends; and family violence and the impacts of colonization, such as residential school experience and intergenerational trauma.
So tell us about “nothing about us without us”. What are the first steps we need to take to make sure we can crack down on this terrible practice of human trafficking? Putting a price—a price—on a woman's life is disgusting.
Ms. Blaney and Ms. Anderson, would you like to comment?
Fay Blaney
View Fay Blaney Profile
Fay Blaney
2021-06-15 12:17
Okay.
I tied “nothing about us without us” to the funding of autonomous indigenous women's organizations so that we can spread our wings, like I did, in women's centres and in university. Studying women's studies there is where I learned about what happened to me.
It becomes so normalized. There is a book called Black Eyes All of the Time. I think we need another book that talks about the sexual abuse of indigenous girls and how that becomes so normalized that being trafficked isn't so far removed from our reality. The remedy to that, as far as I'm concerned, is capacity building amongst ourselves as indigenous women.
I never know how to do this respectfully, and I do want to be respectful. I have concerns about the fact that we have a well-resourced Assembly of First Nations but a poorly resourced Native Women's Association of Canada that can't adequately represent our interests across the country, much less at a local level. We really need to do that capacity building ourselves. As a result of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, in 1972, I think, non-native women got women's centres all across this country. They got Status of Women Canada and the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women. All of these things happened for non-indigenous women. We need our turn to do that. We need to decolonize from what was done to us in the Indian Act.
That's a long process. I fear we're not even starting that. We're still under the umbrella of our band councils and under this banner of colonialism, without specific focus on gendered colonialism, gendered racism and gendered poverty. Those things are pretty much absent, and they're eclipsed by the bigger questions of colonialism.
That's what I talk about a lot.
View Anju Dhillon Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you so much, Minister.
I'd also like to say how appreciative I am that you brought up Quebec and the 11 femicides that took place in just about the first four months of this year. It's very hard to stomach these, and we mourn the loss of these women.
I would like to ask you, please, if you can provide us with more details on the work to date of the national action plan to end gender-based violence.
View Maryam Monsef Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you so much, MP Dhillon.
To date, as part of our emergency response, we've supported more than 250 organizations in Quebec offering emergency gender-based violence supports with more than $17 million, and that's before budget 2021.
What budget 2021 offers with $601 million for a range of GBV programming is another down payment on the response to ending gender-based violence and providing supports [Technical difficulty—Editor] ways of ensuring that young men and boys, particularly, are healing and that they're part of the solution in [Technical difficulty—Editor] for human trafficking-related programs and capacity building.
There are even core funding supports for GBV organizations as well as a secretariat to coordinate the work with provinces, territories, indigenous partners, municipalities, civil society organizations and the federal government. Also, there are statistics, additional data, that we'll be banking and harnessing, as well as community-based research.
This budget is an important tool and an important step forward in our collective national fight to end gender-based violence.
View Andréanne Larouche Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Madam Minister, thank you for joining us on this day that affects me greatly as a Quebec woman. We are now up to our 13th femicide in Quebec. The figure turns our stomachs. That is the context in which we are meeting with you today, Madam Minister.
I understand that you have come to talk to us about matters such as the action plan to end gender-based violence. But the problem remains. Is it not time to review the strategy a little or to speed up the process?
Recently, I was in discussions with officials from Quebec's Department of Public Security and the Secrétariat à la condition féminine, in Quebec also, about the femicide issue. For them, one essential question remains: how much money goes directly to organizations? Quebec would like to know what the plan is.
Exactly how much money is going to go directly to organizations in Quebec?
There is money for coordination, prevention, statistics and studies, but how much money will go into the trenches, because that is where things are playing out? Implementing the strategy is fraught with delay, and unfortunately, women are still dying.
My condolences go to the loved ones of this 13th victim.
View Maryam Monsef Profile
Lib. (ON)
On behalf of the Government of Canada, on behalf of the Prime Minister, we extend our condolences to families and loved ones grieving deaths that are entirely preventable—entirely preventable.
It wasn't too long ago, Madam Larouche, when all of us, as MPs, were in the House of Commons for an emergency debate. The numbers were a lot lower, but the pain was just as intense and the deaths just as preventable when we debated, for the first time in the House of Commons, gender-based violence as an emergency issue. My team and I took notes, and actually what you see in the budget is an acceleration in the pace of the response and a significant investment from the federal government to move forward.
As you pointed out, there are 132 sexual assault centres and non-indigenous shelters that have received federal funding over this past year, and there are 113 gender-based violence service organizations and seven indigenous off-reserve shelters that have received emergency supports. Moving forward, we are in regular conversation with our colleagues in Quebec and in other provinces to make sure these dollars get to the front lines quickly and that there's no lag in the time it takes for organizations in Quebec to receive funding compared to everybody else in the country.
Madam Chair, I am always open to ideas on how to improve the efficiency and the effectiveness, as well as the equity, in these programs. If colleagues want to reach out to me with their input, please do. I'm happy to take that call and happy to be part of this work.
I assure you, however, that just like you, I am haunted by every single death, by every single headline. Those are just the ones we know of. There are women sleeping in their cars right now because they have nowhere else to go. There are women staying in abusive relationships because they don't know there are other places they can go. There are women trapped in harmful circumstances because of poverty. That is the work we can all do together to move forward and create more choice and opportunity for women and non-binary folks in this country.
View Andréanne Larouche Profile
BQ (QC)
Madam Minister, I wanted to ask you some other questions and I was trying to signal to you.
First of all, during the emergency debate, I pointed out that, last time, there had been a difference of six months between Quebec and the other provinces in terms of signing the bilateral agreements. For me, efficiency means speeding up the signing of bilateral agreements when it is high time to transfer the money. Quebec wants to put that money to use and has the ability and the jurisdiction to do so.
The Department of Public Security and the Secrétariat à la condition féminine are asking for the signing of the bilateral agreements to be speeded up. If we are to be effective, we must also avoid duplications. There is an action plan to end gender-based violence, and there is a federal gender-based violence strategy.
What is the difference between the two?
View Maryam Monsef Profile
Lib. (ON)
The federal strategy that Patty Hajdu brought into effect back in 2017, because of her work, was the first time the federal government was coordinating its efforts and investing significantly in gender-based violence. It gave us statistics and data we didn't have before.
This next phase is phase two of Canada's response to gender-based violence. It has three times as much funding, and of course we've built partnerships, programs and efficiencies that will scale up. If colleagues have input into how to move that work quickly forward, particularly in Quebec, that's a priority for me too and I'm all ears.
View Sonia Sidhu Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you, Minister.
Budget 2021 has set aside specific funding allocation towards programming for men and boys. I believe this is the first time we are prioritizing this group in the work of preventing and addressing gender-based violence.
Could you speak to why this grew to be such a significant priority in the work you do?
View Maryam Monsef Profile
Lib. (ON)
We worked with Mr. Terry Duguid, who was my parliamentary secretary for a time and built a framework to support men and boys in the work to address and prevent gender-based violence.
The new investments in budget 2021 expand on the work we've already done and allow us the opportunities to build systems and networks of organizations that are feminist in their approach and support men and boys as they help other men and boys heal and become champions for equity and change.
View Andréanne Larouche Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Madam Chair.
In my previous comment, I pointed out that the Department of Public Security and the Secrétariat à la condition féminine are still asking for details about the transfers of funds for shelters to assist women victims. They are also asking that more money be invested for social and affordable housing.
The Minister says that she is proud to be part of a government that calls itself feminist. So why has the government been letting the Deschamps report gather dust since 2015? The investigation actually began with Quebec reporters in 2014, and recommendations were made in the Deschamps report in 2015.
The report on the RCMP by Justice Bastarache shows once more that women in the RCMP are victims of all kinds of crimes and they are not in a good situation. But the Bastarache report is still on the shelf.
They may say they are feminist, but they have delayed in implementing the recommendations of the core working group that published the 2021 national action plan for missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. Indigenous women's groups had to go public to condemn the delays in implementing the recommendations before the government became involved.
My colleague Ms. Mathyssen spoke about pay equity. How long have we been talking about that? Even the Minister said that they were talking about the importance of pay equity 50 years ago. The government may talk about it, but the equity has yet to be achieved.
As for the action plan to end gender-based violence, we have often asked for dates and specifics as to the money invested to assist women who are victims of violence.
So many files are gathering dust! I will not even mention women aged from 65 to 74, whom the government has completely forgotten. According to recent announcements, they will receive nothing. However, the seniors who are the most forgotten and the most likely to be poor are women. They are not waiting until they are 75 to be poor. Between 65 and 74, women seniors suffer from poverty and isolation. The pandemic has made it all worse, as it has increased the difficulty for women to take their place in the world of business.
Is the Minister working with her fellow ministers? Our justice system needs to be reworked, because money will not be enough.
Madam Minister, you have 30 seconds to tell us in a few words how the discussions between ministers and your colleagues are going.
View Maryam Monsef Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Chair, my colleague just asked eight questions, so I will try to answer as quickly as I can in the order she asked them.
On public safety and the status of women and our partnership with Quebec, we have a great relationship with them and will continue to work out the details. I hope colleagues vote for the budget so that those funds can flow starting this June.
On housing, we've signed an agreement with Quebec, and we're moving forward with additional funds in the budget.
On DND, my colleague is right. Despite all the progress that's been made, not enough has been done, and we're committed to accelerating that work and additional resources in the budget will help, but that alone will not help. This conversation is part of the greater reckoning we're having as a country, and that culture change has to be part of it.
On pay equity, as she asked, as my previous colleague asked, pay equity legislation is actually moving forward on time, despite COVID, and those regulations will come into effect this year. Employers will have time to then build those plans.
My colleague asked about gender-based violence and seniors as well. I agree women in rural communities, particularly those 55 and up, are hardest hit, and we're working hard to ensure that they have the security and supports they need.
On GBV, we've already rolled out historic investments, and as soon as the funds are unlocked from budget 2021, we'll roll those out quickly as well, so they get to the front lines quickly.
Last, on women entrepreneurs, I was there when Bardish Chagger developed the strategy and ensured that that feminist lens was applied. We're collecting data. Mary Ng is responsible for that file now. She's increased investments for women entrepreneurs during COVID, of course, but budget 2021 also includes additional supports for them. Women entrepreneurs make up about 16% of businesses. We need to double that number, and our government's committed to ensuring that happens.
View Arnold Viersen Profile
CPC (AB)
Ms. Van De Bogart, much of the national strategy to combat human trafficking is devoted to prevention. What percentage of the funding goes to prevention?
View Lenore Zann Profile
Lib. (NS)
Thank you very much. Actually, I will be getting there, so thank you for starting that question.
I want to say to begin with that I know our government has acknowledged that indigenous women and girls experience some of the highest rates of violence in this country and that the COVID‑19 pandemic has only exacerbated this already dire situation. Recently we've seen deeply distressing stories in the media about the lack of proper treatment of indigenous children in care. This is unacceptable.
When women are provided the supports they need to allow them to evade potentially compromising situations, there is a lowered likelihood for exploitation. With regard to specific funding for gender-based violence prevention programming for indigenous women, funding now has been distinguished as capacity building for indigenous and 2SLGBTQIA+ people. That's because the missing and murdered women and girls inquiry necessitated that distinction. The allocated funding for this year's budget, budget 2021, represents $415 million specifically for the Department of Women and Gender Equality, which contributes to a total of $601.3 million to advance the national action plan to end gender-based violence.
I have a question for Public Safety.
In 2019, Canada's national strategy to combat human trafficking added the new pillar of empowerment to emphasize the important role that victims and survivors play in combatting human trafficking. Can you update our committee on what kind of work is being done under this new pillar and on what new funding is being provided to grassroots organizations to facilitate trauma-informed support?
Alia Butt
View Alia Butt Profile
Alia Butt
2021-06-01 13:06
Good afternoon.
I'd like to acknowledge at the outset that I am participating in this call from Ottawa and that I am on the unceded traditional territory of the Anishinabe Nation.
Thank you for welcoming me here today so that I can share a few observations for your study on sex trafficking of indigenous peoples.
We know that indigenous women and girls, women who are newcomers to Canada, Black and racialized women and those living in poverty are at particular risk of being trafficked.
In fact, according to Statistics Canada, in 2019, 95% of victims of human trafficking identified by police in Canada were women and girls.
Human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation is a form of gender-based violence. WAGE is leading the government's efforts to develop a national action plan to end gender-based violence. Budget 2021 committed an investment of $601.3 million over five years to advance this national action plan, which will be achieved in collaboration with indigenous partners, provincial and territorial governments and civil society. WAGE will receive $415 million of this investment, including $105 million over five years to enhance the gender-based violence program, which includes efforts to stop human trafficking.
WAGE has been working closely with Public Safety Canada to support the national strategy to combat human trafficking. Last year, WAGE launched a call for proposals to support organizations on the front lines to develop and implement promising practices to enhance supports for at-risk populations of victims and survivors of human trafficking.
We approved 43 projects to receive $14 million in funding. Some of the projects we funded include one by the Nova Scotia Native Women's Association, which is working to develop and implement the Nova Scotia indigenous human trafficking prevention strategy that will advance knowledge and enhance empowerment supports for at-risk populations and survivors of human trafficking in Nova Scotia. Also, there is the Alberta Native Friendship Centres Association, which is working to develop and implement an indigenous, youth-led, culturally relevant prevention training and education program that will advance knowledge and awareness and empower at-risk indigenous youth and indigenous survivors of human trafficking in Alberta.
We are also striving to ensure that organizations that provide critical services to victims and survivors of gender-based violence are supported through the pandemic. For example, last year, as part of the government's COVID-19 economic response plan, we at WAGE provided $90 million in funding to women's shelters, sexual assault centres, women's organizations and other organizations, providing supports to over 800,000 women and children experiencing gender-based violence across the country.
We also work closely with Indigenous Services Canada to ensure there are supports to indigenous women and children experiencing gender-based violence. As part of the budget 2021 investments that I just mentioned, $200 million will continue to support this critical sector. Another $55 million has been specifically earmarked to bolster the capacity of indigenous women and 2SLGBTQQIA+ organizations to provide gender-based violence prevention programming aimed at addressing the root causes of violence against indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.
Through all of our program and policy work at WAGE, we continue toward advancing gender equality by removing systemic barriers, preventing and addressing gender-based violence, enhancing women's economic security and increasing women's representation in leadership roles.
Thank you. Again, my apologies for the issues at the onset of the meeting.
View Julie Dzerowicz Profile
Lib. (ON)
Minister, we will not be able to achieve gender equity if women continue to battle gender-based violence. Why was it important to include a substantial amount of money in budget 2021 for a national plan to end gender-based violence?
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
I do think this is a measure that all members of the committee will support.
This budget includes unprecedented investments for fighting gender-based violence, investments of more than $600 million. I think that fighting gender-based violence has been an issue in Canada for a long time, but it would also be fair to say that the pandemic has made the situation more acute for many vulnerable Canadians. Being forced to stay at home has meant that some Canadian women have found themselves closed into a dangerous environment, so I'm really pleased that we have this major investment.
I see the chair nudging me to stop talking, so I will.
Drew Lafond
View Drew Lafond Profile
Drew Lafond
2021-04-29 12:30
Thank you for the invitation and apologies for the delays, everybody. Thank you kindly for your patience.
[Witness spoke in indigenous language]
[English]
My name is Drew Lafond. I'm here as the president of the Indigenous Bar Association in Canada. Serving as president, I'm in the second of a two-year term.
The IBA, by way of background, is a not-for-profit organization comprised of indigenous lawyers, judges, academics and students across Canada. Our mandate, generally, is to promote the advancement of legal and social justice for indigenous peoples in Canada and the development of laws and policies that affect indigenous people, generally.
In response to the request by the committee for submissions, the past year has been rife with examples about territorial sovereignty, broken treaty promises between the Crown and indigenous peoples and more shockingly, the disvalue of indigenous lives, particularly the lives of indigenous women and youth.
The COVID-19 pandemic is worsening the underlying legal, political health, economic and social injustices that indigenous peoples and communities face. Against this backdrop, the IBA is acutely concerned with the treatment of indigenous peoples in the recognition and respect of their human rights. The IBA responded to the events in the last year by finding some pragmatic and timely responses to the rapidly changing political, economic and social realities facing indigenous peoples.
The first initiative we undertook was in April 2020. We partnered with researchers at the Department of Indigenous Studies at the University of Saskatchewan to conduct an online survey that examined the legal impacts of COVID-19 and the ability of the legal profession to respond to those impacts. As part of that study, the participants primarily spoke about jurisdictional issues that they were facing, such as conflicts over who has the authority to regulate who's coming into indigenous communities and who has the authority in relation to a community's pandemic and health response. It includes the exacerbation of jurisdictional issues that were happening prior to the pandemic, including the state undermining indigenous laws and legal authorities. Participants expressed concerns regarding consultation and negotiations where existing agreements and precedents meant to uphold indigenous rights were too often being ignored in the interest of economic revitalization plans. Concerns were raised about the case delays, which have worsened an already slow process and deferred indigenous rights matters further. These delays are uneven, with indigenous clients having to wait for access to the courts while resource extraction approvals by the Crown continue at a regular and accelerated pace.
We must address the clear gendered issues in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. These include increased family violence, disproportionate family care responsibilities faced by indigenous women, access to safe and stable housing, gender violence outside of the home, concerns about industry or “man camps” posing dangers to the health and safety of nearby indigenous communities, and worsening economic inequalities for indigenous women. These gender-specific injustices create barriers to indigenous women being able enforce their rights and access meaningful, legal participation.
Secondly, the IBA worked with the UBC faculty of law, the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs' BC First Nations Justice Council, the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council and the first nations or indigenous legal clinic in B.C. to study 21 reports in the last 30 years concerning indigenous peoples in the justice system.
As a result of that study, we pulled 10 recommendations for immediate action, which I'll mention briefly here: create a national indigenous-led police oversight body; establish a national protocol for police investigations; redirect public safety funding to services that increase community safety; implement a multi-pronged indigenous de-escalation strategy; establish a national protocol for police engagement with indigenous peoples; amend Canadian and provincial-territorial human rights codes to include indigenous identity as a protected ground against discrimination; create indigenous courts; increase indigenous representation across all levels of the criminal justice system; and establish requirements that judges give written reasons in all indigenous sentencing cases and require that judges give written reasons in all indigenous child apprehension cases where a child is placed outside of the indigenous community.
Just to close off, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we're facing significant challenges in being able to centre our well-being and our legal rights, including our rights to health, access to our territories, to our laws and to self-determination. Canada has fiduciary obligation to support the enforcement of rights and protections for indigenous peoples.
Those are my submissions to the committee today. Thank you.
Allison Pytlak
View Allison Pytlak Profile
Allison Pytlak
2021-04-27 16:51
Thank you for inviting me to speak today.
We were also pleased to hear that the Government of Canada has cancelled permits to Turkey for the L3Harris Wescam surveillance and targeting sensors. Given the volume of information indicating the diversion of this equipment to other end-users, this is a positive step that is in keeping with Canada's domestic and international obligations. It also sets a precedent that can be applied elsewhere, and we welcome the interest of this committee in the matter.
Yet while this was the right decision to make, there are concerns that need to be registered and lessons learned along the lines of points made by the representatives of Project Ploughshares. I want to focus my statement, however, on a particular aspect of the final report of the review, and that is the gender-based violence or GBV risk assessment, under criterion 6. I have to say that for a government that considers itself to be feminist, that acts as a gender champion within multilateral disarmament fora and that will soon formally release its feminist foreign policy, the quality of the GBV risk assessment is lacking.
The findings in this section of the report overlook vital information and do not demonstrate an understanding of core legal concepts. For example, the Turkish military has become increasingly involved in armed conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Libya since 2016. This is where the technology in question is being used, technology that has been described as “essential” to Turkey's deployment of its uncrewed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, and for launching air strikes.
Yet within the paragraph titled “Gender-based violence in the context of the conflicts in which Turkey is involved”, there is not actually any mention of GBV in those contexts, even though its prevalence is well documented by credible and easy-to-locate sources. Instead, the report states simply that Turkey has not “deliberately targeted children, women, or civilians”, comments on its membership within the Convention on the Rights of the Child and states that Turkey takes in refugees.
This is concerning. It is concerning first because the report fails to include any reference to or findings for the risk of gender-based violence in the context of the conflicts where Turkey is involved and where it is using the equipment in question.
Second, the use of the words “deliberately targeted” indicates that the concepts of “commit” and “facilitate” are possibly being taken to mean the same thing. In legal usage, the word “commit” implies directly carrying out an action, whereas “facilitate” is understood to mean “make something possible or easier”. “Facilitate”, in other words, encompasses a broader range of conduct and arms usage.
A risk assessment is meant to assess for just that—the risk of GBV being committed or facilitated by the items in question, and not deliberate targeting. It bears repeating that GBV is wider than violence against women alone and can also include socio-economic and psychological or emotional violence alongside physical and sexual violence.
Multiple credible sources have documented GBV in Syria, Libya and Iraq and affirm that its prevalence has been greatly exacerbated by protracted armed conflict and violence in all those locations. For instance, in 2018, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria confirmed that sexual and gender-based violence against women, girls, men and boys was a “devastating and pervasive feature of the conflict”. GBV is also pervasive within Turkey's refugee camps and in occupied Afrin. It is therefore difficult to understand how this information could have been omitted from the report and from a GBV risk analysis.
Men and boys also experience GBV and are sometimes uniquely at risk in relation to UAVs and signature strikes. Some militaries use sex—and in particular maleness—as a characteristic by which to determine a target. As a result, military-age males are more at risk of becoming victims of inaccurate targeting. This is problematic because it erodes civilian rights to protection in conflict and has human rights implications and further suggests that sex can be a key signifier of identity, which itself constitutes a form of GBV.
Finally, it's worth noting that in March 2021 Turkey withdrew from the Istanbul convention on preventing and combatting violence against women, a convention referenced in the report. This move has prompted a strong reaction from many high-level officials within the UN human rights community and Turkish feminists, some of whom have also registered concern over increasing levels of femicide and anti-LGBTIQ activities of people within Turkey.
The reason why I am making these very specific points is partly in response to the quality of this particular assessment, but more broadly to offer insights that can hopefully improve the quality of future, or in-progress, GBV risk assessments, such as in relation to Saudi Arabia, as one example.
To close, I would just point out that it is anticipated that our foreign minister will formally launch Canada's feminist foreign policy in the coming weeks.
In order for us to have credibility as a feminist country, we need to, at a minimum, do more to prevent GBV at home and abroad. We also recommend bolder action in the context of Canadian arms transfers and military relationships writ large, because equipping and emboldening aggressive militarism is fundamentally incompatible with a feminist approach.
Thank you for your time and attention, and I look forward to your questions.
View Jack Harris Profile
NDP (NL)
Thank you.
I have one question in relation to the issue of gender-based obligations.
Do you share Global Affairs Canada's assessment that there's no substantial risk of gender-based violence in the context of arms export to Turkey? You did mentioned something about that, Ms. Pytlak. Could you elaborate on that slightly?
Allison Pytlak
View Allison Pytlak Profile
Allison Pytlak
2021-04-27 17:36
No, I don't share their analysis. I think that there is a lot of very credible evidence that has highlighted gender-based violence pervasive in many of the contacts where Turkey is involved militarily. I think that their further aggression in those areas will only exacerbate and increase gender-based violence.
Experts agree that protracted conflict only makes gender-based violence worse, deeper and more protracted. That's why I think it would have been hard for them to not come across this information had they done a very thorough GBV risk assessment. I wanted to speak to that today to offer where they can do better in future GBV risk assessments.
View Gudie Hutchings Profile
Lib. (NL)
Major Brennan, just to get back to my earlier question regarding gender-based violence, is it the case that there's not a lot of sexual misconduct training in the early stages of any CAF career?
Kellie Brennan
View Kellie Brennan Profile
Kellie Brennan
2021-04-22 19:51
There's not specific misconduct training, no. That is missing. We could have discussions regarding prevention and enlightening new recruits to what it could be like and how to protect themselves. That would definitely help.
Lise Martin
View Lise Martin Profile
Lise Martin
2021-04-22 15:59
Thank you very much for this invitation.
My name is Lise Martin, and I am the executive director of Women's Shelters Canada.
I come to you today from the unceded territory of the Algonquin nation.
We are a national organization representing the 550-plus violence against women's shelters and transition houses across the country.
The pandemic has had devastating impacts on women experiencing abuse. In the context of stay-at-home orders, home is far from safe for a number of women and their children. With the introduction of the stay-at-home orders last spring, shelters, along with our provincial shelter associations, were quick to point out that, if home was not safe, you did not need to stay and that help was available. Throughout all phases of the ongoing pandemic, Canada's 550-plus shelters have remained open.
I will focus my intervention on the federal program to provide emergency COVID funding to gender-based violence organizations, more specifically, the funds provided to shelters and transition houses.
In total, $100 million was provided. The first $50 million was announced in late March 2020 while the second $50 million was announced in late October.
In late March 2020, the department, Women and Gender Equality, reached out to us to discuss the possibility of having our organization distribute the funds earmarked to shelters. Although the distribution of funds is not part of our mission, we knew that we had the most accurate and up-to-date information on shelters. We knew that shelters needed funds ASAP. Finally, we knew that our small but mighty team could take this on.
We distributed $20.5 million to shelters in the spring of 2020 and a further $15.7 million in December. These funds were provided to 385 shelters. On average, each shelter received $90,000 distributed over three transfers. The shelters very much appreciated these funds at this time of unprecedented crisis. The impacts on shelters were numerous. What Melpa has described has occurred in shelters across the country.
The federal emergency COVID funds were able to respond to a very real and immediate need. You will recall that the WHO declared the pandemic on March 11, 2020. Between April 13 and 24, we were able to provide initial funds into the bank accounts of most of Canada's shelters.
Women's Shelters Canada provided funds to all shelters with the exception of those funded by Indigenous Services Canada and those within the province of Quebec, where the distribution was made by the provincial government. We continue to be concerned about shelters in Quebec that had to wait much longer to receive these crucial emergency funds. In the first wave, Quebec shelters did not receive funds before mid-June. Whereas our final third round of disbursement was made in late December prior to the Christmas holidays, shelters in Quebec are only now beginning to receive their third installment.
The funding program was designed with a great deal of flexibility allowing it to respond to the very different needs across the country. In terms of the funds that were announced in late October, we were able to negotiate the deadline for funds to be spent. It is September 30, 2021, rather than the usual March 31.
Last fall we argued convincingly that the pandemic would not end on March 31, which clearly it has not. There were, however, a number of cases where bureaucratic rules superseded logic; namely, the fund did not allow for capital investment. For example, we received a request from a shelter in a remote area of Yukon that asked if funds could be put towards the purchase of a vehicle to transport women. There are huge transportation barriers in the north and in our rural and remote communities. The response was that such an expense could not be covered but that they could make use of taxis, and this would be covered. Well, there are no taxis in this community, and shelters often need to get women in the middle of the night and often at great distances.
A number of shelters reached out asking about building an additional bathroom, converting an office into a bathroom, for example. Unfortunately, all of these requests were turned down because of Treasury Board guidelines that did not adapt to these exceptional circumstances.
Let me now turn to what comes next. The pandemic has highlighted that gender-based violence increases in times of crisis and how fragile our systems and services to respond were and are. This needs to change.
Gender-based violence levels won't go back down after the pandemic. More than ever, we need strong and well-funded services and prevention initiatives to deal with the now and to strengthen our response capabilities for future crises.
As organizations supporting shelters, we, as well as the shelters themselves, need stable and ongoing funding. In our 2019 “More than a Bed” report, 74% of violence against women shelters indicated that insufficient funding was a major challenge, and 64% did not receive a regular annual cost of living increase.
Within this context, it is extremely challenging to remunerate shelter workers' wages that reflect their levels of expertise. A recent study from our member in Alberta showed that the women's shelters' workforce earned less and worked longer hours than the average worker in an equivalent role in the province's non-profit and public sectors. As the pandemic has shown, a sector is only as strong as its people.
Earlier this week, we welcomed the federal budget, which included the first investments into Canada's national action plan on gender-based violence, a plan for which we have been advocating since 2013. It is definitely a major step forward. We have, however, clearly indicated that a fully national action plan will require billions, not millions. Gender-based violence is a systemic issue that requires systemic solutions.
Thank you. I look forward to your questions.
Michel Tremblay
View Michel Tremblay Profile
Michel Tremblay
2021-04-22 17:12
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I’d like to acknowledge that I’m joining you from Ottawa on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg people.
I 'm pleased to speak to you on behalf of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
As Canada's national housing agency, we are guided by an ambitious goal: to ensure that by 2030, everyone in Canada has a place to call home they can afford and that meets their needs.
This goal has never been more relevant. Housing affordability is a top concern for Canadians—and it has only been heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
At CMHC, our work to improve affordability is driven largely by the national housing strategy, a 10-year, $70-billion-plus plan to give more Canadians a place to call home.
Most national housing strategy programs focus on those Canadians who are most vulnerable. The strategy also focuses on addressing the biggest challenge to affordability, which is the lack of housing supply. As such, it includes large-scale programs to encourage projects that build new rental homes and renovate existing ones.
The national housing strategy also includes significant funding for housing innovation and research. We recognize that we cannot achieve our aspiration simply by doing things the way they have always been done. Innovative, new ideas and approaches are needed.
One way we are looking for new ideas is through our solutions labs, a $30-million, 10-year program approved by Parliament as part of the national housing strategy that examines persistent, complex housing issues. solutions labs brings together diverse stakeholders, including experts in the field, housing providers, developers and people with lived expertise to quickly develop potential solutions to some of the most difficult challenges facing our housing system today. These project teams are supported by expert consultants, who help design and implement labs that provide a safe space for diverse perspectives to come together, for assumptions to be questioned and for new ideas to emerge and be tested.
It’s within this context that CMHC worked with Generation Squeeze and other stakeholders to establish a Solutions Lab to examine issues relating to housing, wealth and inequality and how to improve housing affordability for Canadians. As of December 31, CMHC had provided funding to a total of 47 solutions labs. I would like to share some examples with you today.
One of the most advanced labs is examining how we can help increase access to suitable housing for Canadians who are released from the federal prison system after completing their sentences. These individuals are often released with no identification, no money and no supports in place. You can imagine the challenges they face in finding a place to live, especially with a criminal record. This lab is also exploring opportunities for ex-prisoners to find jobs in the housing construction industry, including possibly helping to build tiny homes they might one day occupy themselves.
Another lab is creating a road map to remove barriers to shelters and other services for women and transgender people who have been victims of violence. The ideas and materials generated by this lab will help to develop adaptable housing and supports for these vulnerable groups.
We are also funding a Solutions Lab entitled “Housing through an autism lens: A pathway from crisis.” Supports for people on the autism spectrum typically end when the individual reaches age 18, so access to affordable housing is a major issue for autistic adults. Barriers can include everything from knowing what to look for in a suitable house to understanding leases and how to share space with others. The end product of this lab will hopefully be an integrated set of flexible housing-related supports, services and bricks and mortar solutions that will be broadly adopted so that autistic adults have better experiences with housing.
These are just a few examples of the close to four dozen solutions labs that have been supported by the national housing strategy. Each is unique, and each is doing groundbreaking work that will lead to better housing outcomes for Canadians.
Mr. Chair, thank you for the opportunity to speak about this unique approach to solving complex housing challenges across the country.
I’d be happy to take questions from the committee.
Thank you.
View Leah Gazan Profile
NDP (MB)
As a quick follow-up, would you say a violation of these basic human rights—housing, access to clean drinking water—is directly related to the epidemic of violence and murder of indigenous women and girls and two-spirit individuals in this country?
Beth Symes
View Beth Symes Profile
Beth Symes
2021-04-15 13:58
Absolutely. We were at the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls inquiry and called evidence to show that the lack of housing, the lack of health care, the lack of policing all increase, significantly, the risk of missing and murdered Inuit women and girls, who are 14 times more likely to be murdered than non-indigenous women and girls.
Yes, absolutely, all the social determinants of health are key to keeping indigenous women, Inuit women, safe, secure and healthy.
View Sonia Sidhu Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to all the witnesses who are joining us today.
My first questions are for Colonel Leblanc. In your answers, I want you to focus on women and, generally, on survivors.
Can you discuss why it is important for your investigations to remain neutral and independent?
View Nelly Shin Profile
CPC (BC)
The problem I'm seeing here and the reason we're here is that systems are blind to the plight of people and the nuances that are human-sensitive, such as gut instincts and unofficial knowledge of background. When leaders or those in position to impact justice ignore, let's say, an elephant in the room, then a culture can't shift.
You mentioned a lot about strong leadership. Strong leaders shouldn't blame the system but should take action that transcends the system, because they put the dignity and well-being of people first. I, along with many who have observed abdication of responsibility with our current defence minister, wouldn't really be here having these long discussions if there were complete confidence.
Would Madam Deschamps be able to comment on whether the minister could demonstrate more convincing commitment to shift the culture of toxic masculinity in the way he is handling all of this so that he is providing leadership that transcends the system?
Marie Deschamps
View Marie Deschamps Profile
Marie Deschamps
2021-03-25 12:39
I'm not sure whether you're asking me to give my opinion on the way the minister is currently acting, which I don't want to comment on. Certainly, however—
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