Status of Women Committee on May 1st, 2008

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Fair enough.

Thank you very much, and I thank you and your staff for coming here.

[Graham Fraser]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

The meeting is suspended for a minute.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Committee members, welcome back.

We have a motion before us is by Madam Deschamps.

Madam Deschamps, could you read that motion for the record, please?

[Johanne Deschamps, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Yes, Madam Chair. It reads as follows:

That as part of its gender analysis study, the Standing Committee on the Status of Women ask that the committee members be invited to be part of the Government of Canada's delegation to Peru, in May 2008, to attend two major international meetings, the 13^th Women Leaders Network Meeting and APEC's Gender Focal Point Network meeting.

I'm not sure if I can move an amendment at this point in time. Something is missing. I would like to add: “and that the chair take the appropriate steps to this effect.”

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Yes, you can go first.

Ms. Davidson had something to say.

[Bruce Stanton, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

On a point of order, Madam Chair, I don't believe the mover can make the amendment to her own motion.

[An hon. member]

Do you want to bring it in, Bruce?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

She hadn't moved the original motion, so this is the original motion she's moving. Yes, she's allowed to, according to the clerk. It's a clarification that she's doing to the original.

Ms. Davidson and then Ms. Mathyssen.

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Thank you. I just had a couple of comments first, and then a couple of questions for the mover, please.

After you presented this motion verbally to us at the last meeting, I did some checking. This conference is not a ministerial event and the Government of Canada is not sending a delegation. This motion refers to their being part of the government's delegation, but there is no delegation. Claire Beckton is the only senior official who is going to represent the government. Because of the nature of the conference, there are probably going to be some independent entrepreneurial women there--because that's what the conference is about--but they're not attending as part of a delegation.

I personally feel very strongly that if it's an issue, and if it's a conference that there will be parliamentarians at, we need to be present. But this is not one of those. I'm told that any of the countries that would be sending any political representation would be very small countries, that comparable countries such as the U.K., the U.S., and Australia will not have political participation there. I firmly believe that we need to have political representation when in fact that is the type of conference that is being held.

I just wanted to make that comment to the mover, and then I have a couple of questions.

If this motion passes, and I expect it likely will--it looked as though there could have been concurrence on the other side--would this be an official committee trip? Maybe that's what you're referring to by the addition you put on your motion today. Would all members of the committee be attending, or just representatives? What's the rationale behind it? Why are we doing this?

As I pointed out before, did you realize when you put this forward that it wasn't a ministerial or parliamentarian conference?

I would appreciate it if the mover could clarify that for me.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

I just want to clarify.

If you go their website and download the APEC stuff, under the category of who should attend, it says government representatives. It is there, but I will ask Madame Deschamps to respond to the questions and then I'll continue with the speaking list, if you don't mind.

Thank you.

[Johanne Deschamps, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Madam Chair, I tabled this motion—and I refer to APEC because in 2005, I participated in the conference that took place in Chile, if memory serves me well—because, in my opinion, when these types of international meetings take place, and when they deal with issues that can enhance our role as parliamentarians, for example, issues dealing with gender analysis, there are no binding commitments. If you read my motion carefully, you will note that it expresses a wish. If I go by previous years—I do not have a considerable amount of experience here, as I was only elected in 2004—I believe it was the government's custom to invite or inform parliamentarians or opposition critics of the issues in question, and to ask them to participate, to be part of a delegation or a group of parliamentarians, and attend these international meetings. I think that this is a matter of ethics and of respect for the role of members of Parliament.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Merci.

Ms. Mathyssen, followed by Ms. Neville.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to thank Madame Deschamps, because I think she's raised something very important here. It has come to my attention that either in late October or early November Canada is going to be reviewed in Geneva by the United Nations committee for compliance under CEDAW. That's a very important meeting for us, so I've given it some thought and I wonder if I could make a friendly amendment to Madame Deschamps' motion.

I've actually written it out. I'll repeat it here: that as part of its gender analysis study and all issues that pertain to the work of the committee on the status of women, the Standing Committee on the Status of Women wishes to be included in all the meetings that the Government of Canada is invited to attend.

I didn't list the meetings because I'm not aware, perhaps, of all of them and I wouldn't want to delete something that should be there; hence the inclusion of “all”.

I'd also like to say that it's interesting with regard to the Peruvian invitation. It says, “Who should attend?” and the response is “government representatives”. So I think that's quite clear in terms of governments being invited.

At any rate, I'll pass my amendment around.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

The clerk is going to come and take it.

Ms. Neville.

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I was actually going to speak to the same issue as Ms. Mathyssen did.

And I want to assure Ms. Davidson that if there's been any concurrence or collusion on this side of the table, I have not been part of it.

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

I didn't mean that; I just...you know.

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

I have not been part of it in any way.

I think, Madam Chair, how this has come about is that the meetings in February at the UN, for the first time in my history here, did not have political representation at them. Last year I was part of a delegation. There was one member from each party. The delegation was headed by Senator Nancy Ruth, from the Conservative Party. But there was representation, and Madame Demers was part of it as well. For us not to have political representation this year, to my mind, is unprecedented. We have a very capable coordinator—I'm not sure of Ms. Beckton's title. She is very capable, and I don't want to take anything away from her, but she is a bureaucrat. She's not part of the political direction of this country.

So I think it's very important that there be political representation. I don't know whether 12 people should go or whether it should be representation of the various groups, but my point is that there has to be representation.

As it relates to the meeting in October or November, I was going to put forward a motion—and I haven't got it drafted today—specific to that particular meeting. Canada is being reviewed in Geneva, and I have here the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Regarding what it is being reviewed on, it has submitted much of its documentation already. But many of the issues that will be dealt with there are issues we have looked at in this committee, whether it's trafficking, aboriginal women, violence against women, or poverty. So in my mind, that is of particular importance.

I don't know what the committee wants. If you want, I can put forward a notice of motion. I won't be here next week, but I want to single that one out as being an important one, for there to be representation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Thank you.

Madame Boucher.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

When we received this motion, of course we did some research and we were told that no members of Parliament from the major countries were going. Therefore, if we go, we won't have access to certain activities because members of Parliament aren't going. No parliamentarians have been invited, only NGOs. Government officials will be going.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Madame Boucher, can you provide us with a list of who is going? How do you know there are no parliamentarians going? The website, when it says, “Who should attend?”, says “government representatives”. So if you have a list of the delegates who are non-parliamentarians, I believe the committee would like to know so we can bring an end to the motion.

We're dealing with the amendment to the motion, and I would like to read it and take a vote on it, if there are no further discussions. Here is the amended motion:

That as part of its gender analysis study and all issues that pertain to the work of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, the Standing Committee on the Status of Women wishes to be included in all the meetings that the Government of Canada is invited to attend, and that the chair take the appropriate steps to this effect.

Mr. Stanton.

[Bruce Stanton, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

I'm having difficulty with the way the motion is worded. It's inclusive of the committee and speaks of the committee as a whole. Does that put it into the category of committee travel? It's a technical point. The committee's agenda, where we seek funding to go on committee travel, is one thing. It's another thing, though, to suggest that there should be a delegation invited by the government of the day to attend when these issues are in play at an international conference.

The way I hear the wording, it's more the former. I don't know that this was intended by either the mover or Ms. Mathyssen, who formulated the amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Can I ask Ms. Mathyssen to respond first? Then I will get Madame Demers to speak.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Essentially, I think probably representatives, but I don't want to speak for Madame Deschamps. I would feel more comfortable if we went back to Madame Deschamps or Madame Demers for those specifics.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

I'm reading the amendment you submitted, and that is why I'm coming to you. Otherwise, I will go to Madame Deschamps, who had an original motion that we be invited to Peru.

Do you wish to address what Mr. Stanton is saying?