Status of Women Committee on May 5th, 2014

[Victoria Lennox]

Yes.

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

What would you suggest to them that might be able to help them? Was it that they didn't know what to do?

[Victoria Lennox]

The grassroots communities are so new that there's no mechanism like a formal organization to facilitate the guidance. What we're doing for Startup Canada across all of our communities is developing a policy on this for how we expect our members to conduct themselves when they are at our events across the country.

But these issues do pop up, and we need to be able to respond to them. I think that's part of the community maturing, and that's part of women stepping up, not being silent, and actually saying something.

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

It's good that you have that feedback.

Is my time up already? Wow, that was fast.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Thank you very much, Madam Truppe.

Mrs. Sellah, you have seven minutes.

[Djaouida Sellah, NDP, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

First, I would like to thank all of the witnesses for their testimonies and for sharing their points of view with us. As a woman, I care deeply about this.

My first question is for Victoria Lennox.

You know that entrepreneurship is central to job creation, economic growth and prosperity. The matching that Startup Canada does between companies just starting out and investors is extremely important. You also just mentioned that, in 2012, you travelled to 40 communities across Canada to raise funds through crowdsourcing.

It was noted that female owners of start-up companies had difficulty finding funding. Why do women have more difficulty with this compared to their male peers? Could you please explain that to us?

[Victoria Lennox]

There have been studies from Barbara Orser at the University of Ottawa that really document the financing gap for women entrepreneurs, particularly as that relates to angel finance and venture capital finance, when they go beyond the banks in order to solicit equity finance.

I don't have the stats in front of me, but statistically, men will invest in other men, so having men investors who understand women entrepreneurs and who will invest in them is very important. The National Angel Capital Organization, based out of Toronto, is doing a lot more in terms of educating male investors about investing in female ventures, as well as encouraging and elevating the acumen of female investors to invest in female entrepreneurs, but there's a long way to go.

I think what's really great in terms of developments is that now you have great opportunities through crowdfunding, with Kickstarter and Indiegogo, for entrepreneurs to access alternative finance. I think that's great, but I think there's still a gap as it relates to equity-based finance for female start-ups.

[Djaouida Sellah, NDP, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Do you think the high tax rate for SMEs is an obstacle for these women?

[Victoria Lennox]

No. I don't think so. I think it's culture. I don't think they are adversely affected more than men as it relates to taxation levels. I think the biggest thing to think about, though, is child care and that single woman who is trying to make a life for her family and who's thinking about starting her own company so she can stay at home with her children.

[Djaouida Sellah, NDP, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you.

In 2011, the overall economic contribution of SMEs owned by women was about $148 billion. According to a study by RBC, a 10% increase over the next 10 years in the number of companies in which women hold a majority could make that economic contribution climb to $198 billion. However, there are very few programs aimed specifically at funding SMEs owned by women in Canada.

Do you think the government is doing enough to encourage women to start companies?

[Victoria Lennox]

At the provincial level, I think the province that stands out in terms of facilitating women entrepreneurship is the Province of British Columbia. I think Quebec does some excellent work in that area as well. I think that across the Prairies there has been more consolidated effort in order to facilitate these types of things, but I think it's still fairly nascent. These programs are no more than five years old and their impact hasn't been measured, so there's still a lot of work to do.

Do I think we're doing enough? Absolutely not. You can see the gap. Do I know exactly what to do? The answer is no. I think there needs to be just a bit of further study, but I also think we need to test different things, see what works, iterate, and move forward with things that do work.

I think what you see here, especially with this next generation.... We call this a start-up generation, these young people who want to start their own companies, so I think that with them it doesn't require a lot of government financial support. But what it does require is encouragement, incentives, and positioning role models, so that it can be an aspirational goal for young women.

[Djaouida Sellah, NDP, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

I have another question for the representative from Startup Canada.

Do any programs exist that would support aboriginal women or women who are visible minorities?

[Victoria Lennox]

Aboriginal Business Canada has programs for young entrepreneurs, young aboriginal entrepreneurs, and I think that organization would likely be the best point of entry in engaging with the young aboriginal population and women entrepreneurs.

I will note that the Wilson Centre for Entrepreneurial Excellence out of the University of Saskatchewan, which is funded by former “dragon” Brett Wilson, has done a tonne of work to support female aboriginal entrepreneurs and it's definitely worth noting.

[Djaouida Sellah, NDP, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you.

How much time do I have left?

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

You have a minute and a half.

[Djaouida Sellah, NDP, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Okay. My question will be a quick one for the representatives from Canada Without Poverty.

As you know, our current study is on the economic leadership and prosperity of Canadian women. On my travels, I have met with a lot of women who would like to start a business but who, unfortunately, cannot. In some cases, they cannot even participate in the economy. That was the situation I was in when I arrived here as an immigrant. I felt bad that I could not contribute to the economy. I faced obstacles related to my profession and the professional associations. I did not ask my husband for money; he was the only one working in our family of five. I did not have any money, but I did not dare ask him for some.

For me, poverty is the complete opposite of prosperity. Could you please give me your definition of poverty?

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Thank you.

Very briefly.

[Brenda Thompson]

I'll be as brief as possible.

Poverty is the opposite of prosperity. It is not being able to participate in the economy, in the culture, and in the democratic process. When women are in poverty, that is a huge barrier to them. On the continuum of prosperity, poverty is at the opposite end.

[Djaouida Sellah, NDP, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Mrs. O'Neill Gordon, you have seven minutes.

[Tilly O'Neill-Gordon, Conservative, Miramichi, NB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to thank all of the presenters here this afternoon for your information and thoughts.

As you know, our committee continues to stay focused on how we can learn what is best for women in the society and how we can help them to become participants in our local economy.

My first question is to Victoria Lennox. You mentioned the start-ups in different areas and you mentioned one area being Fredericton, New Brunswick. Coming from New Brunswick, I was interested in finding out how many start-ups we would have in New Brunswick? I would assume Fredericton is the main one, being the capital city. Do you have idea of how many would be around in New Brunswick?

[Victoria Lennox]

I don't have the statistics on how many start-ups are in Fredericton or New Brunswick, but in our community we have over 50 start-ups that we actively support right now. The community is one year old as of Friday so we'd like to expand support. What's been really encouraging about New Brunswick, in particular, is that through ACOA and through the province there's interest in actually getting into Saint John, and Bathurst, and Moncton and developing a province-wide strategy as it relates to grassroots communities.

[Tilly O'Neill-Gordon, Conservative, Miramichi, NB]

Some of the areas of ACOA really are helpful to young women looking at entrepreneurship and we're glad to hear you say that because we find that to be a very important program. Our government is working hard in that area to make it valuable for all of us, really, so we appreciate that. Thank you for that suggestion.

One of the aims of our current study is to identify some of the obstacles to women's prosperity that exist and where these problems are rooted. Could you identify the top two barriers that you think women face when it comes to achieving this and tell us why these problems are so prominent.

That's for Victoria, please.