Status of Women committee  Thank you very much for that important question. I very much support what Ms. Bota said. From my experience, working with rural shelters, there is an extreme lack of affordable housing and second-stage shelter space. It is an incredible challenge. In terms of transportation, COVID-19 has created some unique barriers, which have impacted the ability of women to leave situations, but also to access services, like justice services.

Status of Women committee  There is a significant lack of information and data about rural communities. In particular, there's a real lack of difference between the information on rural, rural remote, and remote. They're not well defined in the data. There's also a lack of understanding about urban communities and rural challenges, because those are quite unique.

Status of Women committee  Thank you very much, Madam Chair. To begin, I agree fully with the other witnesses. Reduced access to services really impacts women's vulnerability, and it impacts women's ability to access those critical health, social and justice services. It also puts additional pressure on organizations that are attempting to fill those gaps without the matched support of funding or capacity development.

Status of Women committee  Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Not to reiterate the great comments from the other panellists, with which I couldn't agree more, but we need to address issues of precarious employment. I think that is critical. COVID-19 has only exacerbated these issues. Thank you.

Status of Women committee  I was just finishing anyway. Those were my last few words. Thank you.

Status of Women committee  Wonderful. Thank you very much. Good morning. My name is Katie Allen, and I am a Ph.D. candidate in rural studies at the University of Guelph. It's my honour to be here with you today. My contributions to this discussion today are informed by my academic studies as well as my experience as a leader in supporting women’s participation in rural society.