Status of Women Committee on May 12th, 2014

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

So you don't sugar coat it. You tell them it's not fun, it's not great, but get there.

When you feel this is ridiculous, you're getting nowhere because they're not treating you well, and God forbid if they ask you to get a coffee, where do you go? What is your help?

[Chief Betsy Kennedy]

I go to the elders. They are more understanding than anybody. They go out of their way and they tell you what you're doing is good. Don't let anybody bring you down, but continue doing what you're doing, and that really helps. That's one of the reasons why I persevere.

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

So they support you, but they don't go to the male chiefs or the people who are giving you problems. They're giving you feedback and support, but I suppose they're not intervening for you, so it must be difficult for you. Good for you, again. I think we all commend you for doing that.

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Ms. Truppe.

Ms. Ashton, you have seven minutes.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Ms. Beckton, Ms. Cornish, Ms. Lahey, and Chief Kennedy for joining us today and sharing your very dynamic testimony.

I want to thank Chief Kennedy, especially because I know you had the longest road to travel to get here: rail, road, and then plane. Thank you so much for sharing your personal experience, which is unique.

In your introduction you alluded to violence as one of the barriers that indigenous women face. We know that aboriginal women in Canada face higher rates of violence than non-aboriginal women. I believe aboriginal women face three times as much violence, and young aboriginal women are five times more likely to be killed than non-aboriginal women.

Today we heard from the UN rapporteur who's calling for a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women. We know women from first nations in northern Ontario are drumming on Parliament Hill, calling for a national inquiry. Do you believe we need a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada?

[Chief Betsy Kennedy]

Absolutely. It's very hard to lose a child, and to lose a loved one.

[Joan Crockatt, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Madam Chair, on a point of order, I'm that sure we would love to hear what the chief has to say on this topic, but it's not the topic of this study. Maybe the member opposite could characterize her questions more in terms of how we can achieve prosperity, and thereby allow the chief to be able to answer whatever question she'd like.

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Thank you very much.

I think you can briefly answer the question, Chief Kennedy, and how barriers—.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

If I could just respond, we've acknowledged that violence is a barrier to women's economic prosperity. It's entirely relevant to the study and, frankly, I think we should show respect to the chief by allowing her to answer the question.

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Thank you very much.

Could you tie it in as a barrier to economic leadership and prosperity.

Thank you.

[Chief Betsy Kennedy]

In one of the meetings I had with the chiefs on missing and murdered women, all the women chiefs in Manitoba asked the men to be supportive of that effort. But for us, we had to be more aggressive on what we would like their support to be. We just said, “What if it was your daughter or any young relative you had lost?”

In terms of action for our missing and murdered women, I think if there were more of an inquiry, maybe there wouldn't be as many.

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Thank you.

Ms. Young.

[Wai Young, Conservative, Vancouver South, BC]

On a point of order, again, being from Vancouver and having been a counsellor in the Downtown Eastside for native youth and families, I know that the issue of missing and murdered women is painful. However, this study is about the economic prosperity of women, so I think that question was completely disingenuous and is not relevant to the study at all. I think we need to focus on the study—

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Thank you, Ms. Young.

[Wai Young, Conservative, Vancouver South, BC]

—and it's not fair to ask a witness to answer a question that is completely not within the purview of this study.

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Thank you, Ms. Young. I allowed the answer.

Ms. Kennedy, do you have anything else to add, or shall we go to the next question?

[Chief Betsy Kennedy]

Yes, go ahead.

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Ashton.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Thank you very much, Chief Kennedy, and for sharing a very difficult issue that many aboriginal women face.

I wonder if you could also speak to the importance of economic development that reflects the interests of your region? I know that women in first nation communities across the country are seeking employment. They often face high rates of unemployment.

But proposals for economic development don't always fit with the priorities of regions. I understand that one of the proposals that has been put forward and that affects your territory is the proposal to ship crude oil through War Lake and into Churchill. I wonder if women in your first nation see that as the kind of prosperity they want.

[Chief Betsy Kennedy]

No, I don't think they would like the shipment of crude oil into our community. We are teaching our children our ways of life in the bush, and they feel that once the women teach it our children will grow up to be stronger and they won't have to depend on social welfare. They will have their jobs.

Also, the women are out there hunting and fishing along with their spouses so it's really a family gathering when they do this and it really benefits the community when we also get the children involved. Even the children right now are proud of what they have. We live in the north and we are isolated and we protect our lands and that's what our children are learning.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Thank you very much, Chief Kennedy.

Professor Lahey, I want to turn to you. I know you've been tracking the effects of cuts to the Status of Women department and I wonder if you could speak to that, including the long-term impacts of these cuts and the restructuring on women in Canada.

[Prof. Kathleen A. Lahey]

Yes, I can briefly comment on that.

The radical cutting of the points of service for women in Canada has had a devastating effect on the ability of community groups to gain access to funding that assists in the development of prosperity-enhancing projects.

In addition, the closing of the policy research fund, which supports forward-looking and fundamental research on the economic status of women and their ability to pursue prosperity, has had very devastating effects because funding organizations like SSHRC, NSERC, and others do not pick up the gender gap that is left in the research. As a result Canada is increasingly operating in the policy realm with inadequate information on exactly how policies are affecting women.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Lahey, I'm wondering if you could also speak about the structural barriers that women in Canada are facing. We talked a bit about child care. I'm wondering if there are others that might come to mind. We have heard about accessible housing being an issue. I'm wondering if you could speak to some of those barriers.

[Prof. Kathleen A. Lahey]

Yes.

To the extent that women in Canada do have access to economic support and resources, it's increasingly being taken up just with survival spending. Women on social assistance really don't have enough money to get child care that helps them get out the door in order to take advantage of things like the working income tax benefit, or other resources that may be available.

The problem with housing is that while the price of real estate is going up and rental is going up, social assistance payments are not keeping track with that. In addition, the social funding envelope, such as the Canada child tax benefit and so on, does not treat women as individuals. Women do not have access, as a matter of right, to a full living source of income should they have to go on their own. Nor does the route of applying for child support and alimony hold out much in the way of a solution. Women are increasingly caught in very tight economic conditions that make it difficult, structurally, for them to get out of the house and do the paid work needed to fill in the gaps left by a shrinking social safety net.

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Ms. Ashton.

Ms. Ambler, you have seven minutes.