Status of Women committee  I would agree with everything that Pamela said. It goes back to this idea of how, in order to prevent violence and to respond to violence appropriately, we need all systems understanding the dynamics of violence and abuse. I think there has been some progress made in terms of the school curriculum.

Status of Women committee  I think housing policies are a really important thing. In some cases, I think it is important to speed up planning processes. I will just speak about Interval House of Ottawa. We are currently exploring the possibility of building a 10-unit second-stage housing development. To be competitive enough in the application process, we need to be far enough along in the actual pre-development phase to have boots on the ground or shovel in the ground and be ready to go.

Status of Women committee  Yes, I think it's like a mixed model of housing, where you have some market rent units, some below-market rent and some deeply affordable rent all in the same building. I think those are great models, but probably beyond the scale of what we could manage as a smaller organization.

Status of Women committee  I haven't seen the results of the programs that are available right now. These things take time. I do know that some of the projects I am aware of that are labelled “affordable housing” are definitely not affordable for the people we are serving. I do think that there's a lot of promise in the relatively new pot of funding that's been announced to support shelter spaces and second-stage housing.

Status of Women committee  Yes, thank you. I think it's important, when we approach housing policy, that we consider the housing needs of all, so it's not a one-size-fits-all solution. We definitely see a need for low-barrier, supportive housing. We see the need in our cities. I can speak mostly to Ottawa.

Status of Women committee  Absolutely. There are many barriers, but as I mentioned in my first comments, lack of deeply affordable housing and lack of a livable income are two of the main barriers that we see. Anyone can experience violence, but for folks who have access to resources and who have high-paying jobs, there are more options available to them and maybe an easier pathway to leaving abuse in some regard.

Status of Women committee  Thank you for that question. I'll start with accessibility. Shelters are grassroots movements. They started 30 to 40 years ago. Often it was groups of women who came together in communities and found houses that were older and affordable, and that often were not chosen with accessibility in mind.

Status of Women committee  If we're looking for a solution this week or next week, I think the only viable solution, really, is more funding for temporary spaces—hotel rooms, motel rooms, and converting motels, not into long-term housing but at least in a way in which emergency services could be supported.

Status of Women committee  Interval House of Ottawa is a crisis shelter. We provide crisis shelter for people experiencing violence. At the moment, we do not have alternative interim or second-stage housing available in our city. There is really nothing like that. What is happening is that women are staying with us sometimes for up to a year.

Status of Women committee  Yes.

Status of Women committee  Honestly speaking, “quickly” means five or 10 years ago. In terms of the number of women we turned away, between April 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021, we turned away 500 women and their families who were seeking emergency shelter with us. The numbers are—

Status of Women committee  Many of them had to stay in their abusive situations until a space could be available. Some were placed in temporary places, like motels within the city of Ottawa. Some of them may have been lucky enough to find space in another shelter locally or outside of the city. The options are very limited and none of them are ideal.

Status of Women committee  Thank you. Ending violence against women and gender-based violence requires communication and collaboration among governments, ministries, the justice system, businesses, social services, and survivors. It requires that every policy in government, and across sectors, is considered from an intersectional feminist lens.