Status of Women Committee on March 14th, 2012

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

I take your point. Of course there are many statistics on either side of that debate, but obviously the views of many women's organizations were well represented.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Thank you.

I appreciate the fact that you're doing some work with the RCMP on the issue of sexual harassment, and so on, among women. I think that was a wonderful partnership for you to be able to use gender-based analysis and to be able to do some work in that department. I think we're all going to look for the kind of success and the leadership that I know you're going to show on those issues, as a department.

Have you been able to communicate directly to the department and to the commissioner your concerns with some of the reports of sexual harassment that have surfaced in the last few years?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

Of course all of us were troubled, and of course the commissioner himself was very troubled. He's been very vocal about addressing this issue. Internally he's already taken a number of measures.

Suzanne and other officials met with him to offer our advice, support, and encouragement. I have written to him directly, telling him that I look forward to the results of the complaints commission and also to again offer our support, advice, and encouragement. I plan on meeting with him as well.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

I would think that you would be the appropriate person and the appropriate department to help a department that clearly has some significant issues to deal with.

Do you often get the opportunity to work on the culture of an area that is male-dominated, such as the RCMP, the military, and so on? We have to change the culture of certain organizations if they are to truly make a difference in the opportunities for women to work in them. That ties in with the study we are doing as well. Do you get opportunities to do that, to sit down with other areas and talk about not just the GBA issue but about the bigger culture of a male-dominated organization?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

Sure. Those kinds of conversations happen, as you know, all the time. Gender-based analysis is one tool.

For instance, this year we chose as our theme for Women's History Month, in October, women in the Canadian armed forces. The Minister of Defence and the Minister of Veterans Affairs were present to honour women, and from that came other initiatives through the Department of Veterans Affairs. All of those kinds of initiatives highlight the role of women and I think help facilitate conversations that might address some of the cultural issues.

I see a lot of goodwill, particularly on the part of the Commissioner of the RCMP, to tackle these issues. We're there to support. We're all on the same team, and we want to see solutions to these tough challenges they're facing.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

The point is that I think it is very helpful for the department to work with them. I was very pleased to hear earlier about gender-based analysis and a variety of other things being done. I think it's the only way we're going to deal with our own internal issues. It doesn't matter who's in government; there are issues that need to be dealt with. I thank you for doing some of the work you're doing.

How do you target the departments for a gender-based analysis?

[Suzanne Clément]

In terms of working with them to institutionalize the practice, the report from the OAG and the departmental action plan indicated that we should be working with approximately six departments per year. Some years we go beyond the six. The first year we had seven or eight. Beyond that, other departments have started on their own.

We're moving into year three, so we've already worked with 15 departments. They self-select in some cases. In other cases we will go to the department and say that we believe that the policies they develop are key to being subjected to GBA. It's done in collaboration with them. So far, everybody we've approached has been open to working with us.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Congratulations on what you're doing. Thank you very much.

[The Chair, NDP, Irene Mathyssen]

Thank you very much. That's the time.

I'd like to say thank you to the minister for this opportunity to have this dialogue. I'm sure the committee appreciates it very much. Minister, we would be delighted to have you back at any time, and we look forward to a future visit.

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

Thank you. Thank you for your questions.

[The Chair, NDP, Irene Mathyssen]

At this point, before we proceed to a vote, I would like to say to the committee that the deadline for reporting the main estimates back to the House is May 31, so we have some time. I'll ask the committee if the members wish to leave the study regarding the estimates open for further hearings. Or do you wish to proceed to a vote?

Go ahead, Madam Truppe.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would like to proceed to a vote on the main estimates today, before we start our study afterwards.

[The Chair, NDP, Irene Mathyssen]

Thank you.

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

I don't see a problem.

[The Chair, NDP, Irene Mathyssen]

All right. Then pursuant to Standing Order 81(4), the main estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013, were referred to the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, Human Resources and Skills Development, votes 30 and 35.

HUMAN RESOURCES AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

Office of the Co-ordinator, Status of Women

Vote 30—Operating expenditures..........$9,246,000

Vote 35—Grants and contributions..........$18,950,000

(Votes 30 and 35 agreed to)

Shall I report votes 30 and 35 under Human Resources and Skills Development to the House?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, NDP, Irene Mathyssen]

Thank you very much.

We will suspend for two minutes and allow our next panel to move forward.

[The Chair, NDP, Irene Mathyssen]

I would like to resume now.

I want to thank our guests for returning. Madame Savoie, Madame Waugh, Madame Clément, and Monsieur Goupil, thank you very much for your indulgence.

You have whatever time you need, under ten minutes.

[Suzanne Clément]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. We're happy to return to finish what we had begun last week.

In terms of the presentations, I will ask Sébastien Goupil to

continue the presentation from slide 7. I hope that everyone kept the copies that we had distributed. We will then ask Nanci-Jean Waugh to close with commemorative initiatives.

[Sébastien Goupil, Director General, Policy and External Relations, Status of Women Canada]

I was almost done with page 7 of my presentation, and one of the points I wanted to make was that in fulfilling our obligation under the departmental action plan of gender-based analysis, Suzanne had mentioned we have worked directly with 15 federal organizations so far over the past two years, those who are asked to implement in a phased-in approach the different elements of the action plan. In addition to that, we've been continuing to support a wide range of organizations. In fact, we've worked with almost 30 additional organizations that asked for our support in moving forward with gender-based analysis.

I wanted to stress, in more practical terms, how GBA can inform the work of your committee, because I had mentioned earlier in my presentation that in order to do proper GBA it's critical to look at how gender intersects with other factors, which we know as intersectional analysis.

In the context of your current study, your committee is focusing on gender and age to look at the situation of girls. But you will no doubt look at other intersecting factors—for example, whether a girl is based in the south or in the north or has aboriginal identity, ethnicity, etc. Other important additional factors to consider may be family situation and income with the understanding that girls' economic security will be tied to the income of their families.

The diagram on slide 8 shows the different intersecting factors that will interact with gender to inform a meaningful gender-based analysis.

Slide 9 is another example of how we can use the gender-based analysis to contribute to developing policies or programs that take into consideration the reality that girls are facing.

You received a copy of the “Women in Canada” report that has useful data on girls and education. The data can help shed some light on factors that can compromise girls' security in the future.

For example, the performance of girls and boys in school and the courses they take can influence the choices they will be making all through school. Ultimately, those choices will determine their career paths and their incomes in the future. For example, even if girls and boys perform equally well in math when they are young, we know that, when they reach 15 years of age or so, boys start to differentiate themselves from girls in that subject. So the course choices of girls and boys at the post-secondary level might partly explain that difference.

We see that, over the years, girls will continue to study and form the majority in areas recognized as being traditionally female, such as teaching and nursing. They make choices that can lead them to careers where their incomes will be lower compared to some professions where men are in a majority.

I wanted to use that example to show you how the gender-based analysis does not only look at gender, but also at the interaction between gender and age. So the relationship between being a girl and other factors can help us better understand future opportunities for girls from an economic perspective.

I am now going to move on to slide 10.

I will now conclude my presentation by saying a few words about our international role, which is mainly one of strategic advice and support based on domestic expertise.

I want to stress that we work in partnership with key federal departments responsible for international affairs to help advance overall government priorities on the international stage; deliver on international treaty obligations and voluntary commitments; develop strategic relationships with key Canadian partner countries and international organizations; and, importantly, learn from international experiences and expertise.

You heard in the presentation earlier that Status of Women Canada was co-leading with Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada on preparations for the annual session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. It is the premier international forum for highlighting our achievements in advancing gender equality. The meeting ended last week. In my next slide I will talk very briefly about that, because the minister alluded to it in her presentation.

The International Day of the Girl Child is one of the key accomplishments we can celebrate this year. Under the leadership of Minister Ambrose, and with the unanimous consent of the House, we were able to bring this to the United Nations with the success we note today. It will allow us to raise awareness and foster action on the realities of girls, looking at the specific barriers they may face in their future success.

I am now going to give the floor to Nanci-Jean.

[Nanci-Jean Waugh, Director General, Communications and Public Affairs, Status of Women Canada]

Thank you.

For Status of Women Canada, the international and national days of commemoration are important levers we have to increase awareness of the significant events and milestones for women in Canada, and on the last page we have a number of them.

One we'll be celebrating this year, which will be of interest to the committee, is the first International Day of the Girl, on October 11. We're in a period now for developing materials and trying to increase the awareness across Canada. Minister Ambrose, when she was in New York, was also talking about the International Day of the Girl to increase awareness of this day at the international level as well. But we also have other commemorative dates that assist in terms of commemorating and have a component that could relate to girls. There's International Women's Day on March 8, which we have just had, and we see a number of events that take place across Canada from the government side, from provincial governments, from the private sector as well as public non-governmental organizations, that do take International Women's Day but also use it to promote activities that relate to girls.

The number of those activities has increased over the course of the last number of years. I had, during International Women's Week, a list of probably over 500 I know of that took place across Canada, but there were probably more that we were not able to document.

The International Day of the Girl this year will take place in October, which is in the context of women's history month. It will be also in the same month as Persons Day, which is October 18, which is also the period when we have the Governor General's awards in which five women are nominated by organizations or individuals from across Canada for an award in commemoration of the Persons case.

There was also put in place a number of years ago a youth award where youth, girls under the age of 25, are eligible to be nominated for an award to commemorate their work but also to encourage them to continue with their work towards equality for girls and for women.

The last one of the year is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

Each commemorative date creates unique opportunities for stakeholders to reflect on the particular date, identify issues and concerns that require action, review progress that has been achieved, and identify areas where further work is required.

I think I will leave it at that point.

[The Chair, NDP, Irene Mathyssen]

Thanks, and that is time.

We will now proceed to a seven-minute round, and begin with Madame Bateman.

[Joyce Bateman, Conservative, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for your presentation.

It's interesting. You get to ask more in-depth questions to people such as yourself. And building on some of the things that Minister Ambrose said, I have to confess that it's exciting to hear about some of the work you are doing, and the way you're doing it, the flexibility you're demonstrating with that work.

Minister Ambrose did comment on International Women's Week, and announced at the time that the government would support new projects addressing to a greater extent the issues of violence and economic security affecting both women and girls, particularly those living in rural and remote communities and small urban centres. I would very much appreciate hearing what kinds of organizations have received funding under that policy direction, how they're doing it, and how you're reaching out to these organizations.

[Suzanne Clément]

Yes, we were really excited with that call, as the minister said. We weren't sure what kind of response rate we would get, because often in small communities there isn't a lot of NGO capacity to be able to develop proposals and access government funding. So that's why we used the simplified approach of the call where we're telling groups to create partnerships in the communities and come and see us with commitments from all those partners, tell us what the issues are in your communities with some valid rationale around those issues. And we are providing funding, including that initial planning phase that groups require to work with partners to determine how they're going to tackle the issues.

So it's allowing some of these small organizations in small communities to work with us for the first time and probably for the first time in any government program.

We had two streams in the rural and remote call for proposals. One was economic security and one was violence. I have to say that we rarely have a project that clearly is only one of our priorities. To achieve economic security, you have to live in a safe environment, so there's always an interrelation with the themes, but we look at what the predominant activity is in the projects. We received close to 250 applications. We went through the review process, an initial review process. The minister was able to announce 48 projects, I believe, last week, and there will be more to come, hopefully. We will continue to work with some of the organizations where more information was required to do the analysis. So we will be providing close to $12 million over three years to the recipients of those projects.

To give you specific examples of what they're going to do is not really possible at this point. Because we are funding that first phase, the planning phase, we're allowing them to determine how best to approach. What I could give you is examples, such as CALACS-Abitibi, in Quebec, which received funding to work with girls between the ages of 12 and 17 who were at risk of becoming victims of sexual exploitation. So they're bringing together numbers of community groups in the Abitibi region and particularly bringing in as well leaders and representatives of the aboriginal communities around there, to talk about the issue and what the best approach would be to help these girls and prevent their becoming at risk of sexual exploitation.

In New Brunswick we're working with an organization that is going to work with the schools in their communities and service providers and community partners to look at gender-based violence, and in particular to the more vulnerable girls. Aboriginal girls are identified as the most vulnerable population in those communities. We have quite a series--

[Joyce Bateman, Conservative, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

And it's wonderful. I appreciate that you're excited about what you're doing.