Evidence of meeting #30 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 job.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Clerk of the Committee  Mrs. Marlene Sandoval
Carol Stephenson  Dean, Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario
Laurel Rothman  National Coordinator, Campaign 2000

5:15 p.m.

Conservative

Susan Truppe Conservative London North Centre, ON

Thank you.

5:15 p.m.

NDP

The Chair NDP Marie-Claude Morin

We will now move to the representative for the official opposition.

Ms. Ashton, you have seven minutes.

5:15 p.m.

NDP

Niki Ashton NDP Churchill, MB

Thank you.

I'd like to thank Ms. Stephenson and Ms. Rothman for your very interesting presentations today and for the scope you shared with us. I think it is absolutely critical.

Ms. Rothman, I'd like to pick up on some of the points you raised. First off, I wanted to note that I thought your initial point about the well-being of girls being inextricably linked to that of their mothers is a critical piece. I believe that in some ways in society we have this tendency to think that you can make it on your own. All you need is yourself, basically, when in fact, we're not always looking at the facts and the factors that determine who we end up being and what we end up doing.

The title of what we are doing is focusing on girls. But I think it's important to remember the connection with the women around us and the fact that we end up being women and facing challenges that are similar to those who have gone before us.

I wanted to ask you a bit about a point you touched on. I'd like to ask you about the trend you might be seeing in Canadian society.

Canada was known as a country that was at the top of the world when it came to gender equality in so many ways. The reality is that we have fallen in many of these ways as well. We have seen cuts to housing, child care, and legislation, such as pay equity. We continue to see violence against women, particularly targeted against marginalized women. We are seeing factors continue in our society that, of course, set women back.

I would be interested to hear about your work from Campaign 2000. To what extent might you be seeing a trend in terms of women's equality and the kind of equality girls are facing going forward?

5:20 p.m.

National Coordinator, Campaign 2000

Laurel Rothman

What I would start with is that my most recent experience was doing this cross-Ontario project where I did go to all 11 communities, and we met with more than 250 low-income women. I think what I heard.... It was before the Occupy movement, but let me say that these women very much saw themselves as part of the 99%, and maybe even further. They really didn't have some of those basic skills, or if they had the skills, they didn't have the time and the opportunity to use them to move out of poverty.

So, what does that mean? It means that for the women in Pembroke, for example—a rural community an hour and a half from Ottawa—who are in crises around violence, there's no family shelter there. What happens when you're in a real crisis? You actually get driven, or whatever, to Ottawa for some kind of emergency measure. So, to get that woman and her family to get things together to then get settled, to find affordable housing, to get her resumé together to try to move out of social assistance into work, the other barrier that someone like that faces.... I'll tell you another example is lack of child care.

So here we have communities, in particular some of the outlying communities, where there are few opportunities, period.

I did want to make sure I said the third thing I didn't get a chance to mention earlier that women told us they needed: safe, appropriate, affordable housing. I guess that's one of our other recommendations. Canada is still the only industrialized nation without a national housing program that looks to the future, period. I think we need that.

Let me also tell you about a woman in Orangeville—a country-suburban community that is part of the greater Toronto area—with two young children, lone parent, divorced, who somehow got herself into a position where she was able to go back to post-secondary for a college degree. One year, she actually had to leave school because she couldn't get child care arrangements. By the time I met her, she had figured something out and was back in school but worried what would happen when she finished and tried to get a job, especially if it were not a nine-to-five job.

So, we have some serious holes in what used to be a robust, or a more robust, social safety net for women and children, and we're not making enough progress on it.

5:20 p.m.

NDP

Niki Ashton NDP Churchill, MB

Thank you.

The other question I wanted to ask is with respect to advocacy. We've seen severe cuts when it comes to women's advocacy organizations across the front. In recent days, we've heard of cuts with respect to research programs focusing on women's health and aboriginal health, which we know provide tools to people to say where we need to be going in the future and where the gaps are. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts with respect to what impact Canadian girls and women will see in the years to come as result of the cuts we've seen to advocacy.

5:20 p.m.

National Coordinator, Campaign 2000

Laurel Rothman

Well, the cuts to advocacy and research, and if you will, civic engagement are of serious concern to lots of the groups we work with. I guess we were particularly upset to see the cuts to the national statistical agency working with first nations communities and the National Aboriginal Health Organization, as well as the National Council of Welfare. For 40 years that has been a major, unique organization with access to all kinds of data telling us about how women are doing or not doing in terms of moving out of poverty. You probably know it by an annual publication around welfare rates, “Welfare Incomes”, helping us understand where we're making progress and not.

The loss of that kind of information means that we really don't know how to plan well for the future—I should say we don't have the facts to plan. If we were a business, we sure would be upset if we didn't have some solid numbers to go on and we would wish—

5:25 p.m.

NDP

The Chair NDP Marie-Claude Morin

Thank you, Ms. Rothman.

Ms. Ashton's time is up. We will now move on to a member from the government.

Ms. O'Neill Gordon, you have about five minutes.

5:25 p.m.

Conservative

Tilly O'Neill-Gordon Conservative Miramichi, NB

Five minutes?

5:25 p.m.

NDP

The Chair NDP Marie-Claude Morin

Yes.

5:25 p.m.

Conservative

Tilly O'Neill-Gordon Conservative Miramichi, NB

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to thank the witnesses for being with us today.

First of all, I want to say that I was glad to hear you say that about your role models. I feel strongly about that. Your role models were definitely a factor.

Coming from a classroom, I see every day how the role models affect these young girls. When you are shown early the fact that you can make choices.... And you did make choices: your early experiences made you choose, while your persistence made you hang in there. Along the way, you show the importance of choices and sacrifices.

We, too, need to get that message out to young girls today. Many of them do not have this role model. I'm wondering how we can go about making sure that girls have more of a role model. What things can we, as a government, put out there that would help our young girls?

I think that's a very strong factor in our world today. They do need role models. I do know that Girl Guides and things like that can be a big factor for them, but are there other things that the government should be looking at in arranging to help parents have their girls see real role models and in giving them the encouragement and the factors they need?

5:25 p.m.

Dean, Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario

Carol Stephenson

I'll jump in on that one.

First of all, I think that as elected members of Parliament, you are also role models. I would encourage you to do everything to encourage young women to follow in your footsteps, because they do look at you and see the leadership you provide in government.

On the mentorship programs, I think there are a lot of organizations that do quite a good job, such as Junior Achievement, and I'm sure you've talked about the financial literacy programs they have in schools. Also, a group of women who have been friends for 30 to 40 years all have young girls who we mentor.

I'm not so sure that a government-sponsored mentor program is the way to go. I think mentorships are so much about relationships and people clicking together. If you try to mandate it, sometimes the chemistry is not there and it doesn't work. I've had experience with that, where it has been mandated that everyone must have a mentor, and about 20% of them work.

So I think the encouragement that government can give is to the organizations that are providing this kind of support, and maybe again I'll go back to my point about recognizing and celebrating these organizations. But I would not recommend some sort of wholesale government-led mentorship program.

5:25 p.m.

Conservative

Tilly O'Neill-Gordon Conservative Miramichi, NB

Is there any comment from our other speaker?

5:25 p.m.

National Coordinator, Campaign 2000

Laurel Rothman

I would agree with what Carol Stephenson said about mentorships. In work I've done in newcomer communities, I think it is important that it's a good fit between people.

But I would say that the other important role government could play is just to support some kind of career entry—I don't know what we want to call it these days—or first job opportunity. I don't even know whether to call it that. Maybe it's a one-year program, or maybe a little more than that, to help young people get some experience under their belts in their fields. Those fields could be everything from science, technology, or social services to—I don't know—forestry or high tech. Some fields may need it more than others, but getting that first job and supporting organizations to be able to offer that.... Some are probably in more of a position to do it than others.

5:30 p.m.

Conservative

Tilly O'Neill-Gordon Conservative Miramichi, NB

I am, of course, an MP from New Brunswick, and I am the only woman elected there. Very often I am invited to career days, or to speak to Girl Guides, or to go to a school and speak.

I assure you that I always take the opportunity, and I'm very happy to do it, because I think, as you say, that we are a role model in ourselves regardless of whether we realize it or not. It is great for girls to see women in politics and to see women holding different opportunities and different careers than just the regular ones.... I do enjoy that.

I usually have staff with me, and when I go back to my office, the comment is, “I don't know who enjoyed it more—the girls or Mrs. Gordon”. So yes, I do agree that we should be jumping into those opportunities.

Thank you.

5:30 p.m.

NDP

The Chair NDP Marie-Claude Morin

Thank you.

I see that it is 5:30, which marks the end of our meeting.

I would like to thank our two witnesses for having been with us today via videoconference. Your testimony was greatly appreciated by the committee.

The meeting is adjourned.