Evidence of meeting #26 for Status of Women in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was girls.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:25 p.m.
NDP
The Chair NDP Irene Mathyssen
Thank you very much.
We go now to Madame Brosseau for five minutes, please.
March 28th, 2012 / 4:25 p.m.
NDP
Ruth Ellen Brosseau NDP Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Thank you very much.
I really appreciate the time and the information and personal stories you've shared with us. I find they're very important.
Since I have only five minutes, I'm going to ask quick questions.
We know that Status of Women Canada has maintained funding. That's great, but it has kind of changed the way it is funding and doing things. Canada used to be kind of a front-runner when it came to women's rights and how women are in Canada. That's gone down over the past few years. I think we really need to identify the root causes, which could be poverty, child care, education, and housing.
What can the federal government do soon? What practical steps can we take to make women's lives better? Would those be research, gender-based analysis, pay equity? I'll ask both of you for a quick answer.
Thank you.
4:25 p.m.
Director, FemNorthNet Project, Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women
We have tried to call attention to a number of things.
Research continues to be important. Certainly we support pay equity, and I think the federal government does have direct abilities. Brigitte emphasized the importance of not having an austerity budget but rather continuing to invest in public services and public sector jobs. We've talked about child care, post-secondary education, getting back into the housing field to ensure that there's affordable housing, and working with provinces, particularly around the social programs and social services. It's a joint responsibility. Federal transfers to the provinces are really important, but maybe also, actually, the government should work to develop innovative programs that begin to address these needs.
4:25 p.m.
NDP
Ruth Ellen Brosseau NDP Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Claire Crooks, do you have an answer, like practical steps we can do?
4:25 p.m.
Board of Directors Member, Canadian Women's Foundation
Sure. I like the point Ms. Stinson made about when we analyze opportunities or decisions or any kind of policy, not just doing it on an economic basis and whether you're talking about development in Goose Bay or whether you're talking about a whole new strategy or policy, really putting the social impacts on par with the economic impacts and realizing that if you ignore social impacts they usually end up having very negative and expensive long-term financial ones.
As an example, I know lotteries aren't federal, but what you see is that you can say adding a bingo or a lottery or a race track will bring this much money into the community, and that sounds great. Then you look at some of the analyses around what that actually costs in terms of increased addictions and problems with child care supervision.
It depends where your analysis starts and ends. I would say, for any of these policy decisions being made, to look at both sides of that equation.
4:30 p.m.
NDP
Ruth Ellen Brosseau NDP Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Okay. I'll hand it over to Marjolaine, because we're sharing five minutes.
4:30 p.m.
NDP
Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet NDP Hochelaga, QC
Thank you.
Thank you, ladies, I congratulate you on all your work. It is quite exceptional.
Ms. Crooks, on your website, you say: "Improving gender equality improves economic and social conditions for everyone."
Can you give us more details on this subject and tell us whether, in your opinion, gender equality has been achieved?
4:30 p.m.
Board of Directors Member, Canadian Women's Foundation
First, to the second part, no. That's an easy one. If you look at pay equity—lots of people have articulated it better than I do—no.
I think the point that women are still the heart of their families and of their communities shows that when you lift them up in terms of economic and social prospects, they will also lift up their families, their partners, and their children. That's where it's not just about funding or programming for women for women's sake; it is about increasing the prospects of the whole community.
4:30 p.m.
NDP
Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet NDP Hochelaga, QC
Thank you.
Ms. Stinson, earlier we talked about the obstacles to the education of young women up north, but this problem also exists in the south. In your opinion, what could the federal government do to help solve this problem?
4:30 p.m.
Board Member, Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women
Okay.
Definitely some of the most obvious barriers would be being a single mother, high tuition fees—obviously that might make people not want to go to university, for sure. As well, a lot of universities are not culturally sensitive. Jane kind of spoke a bit about that in terms of the north, in terms of language and not honouring the culture or traditions much, and I guess I'm speaking more toward aboriginal people.
4:30 p.m.
NDP
The Chair NDP Irene Mathyssen
I'm so dreadfully sorry, but our time is up.
I want to say thank you very much to Madam Crooks, Madam Stinson, and Ms. Ginn. It was our pleasure to have you here today. Thank you so much for the information you've provided to this committee. It will be invaluable to our study.
I'm going to suspend briefly now so that our guests can leave and we can proceed to the second part of our afternoon study.
Thank you.
[Proceedings continue in camera]