Evidence of meeting #200 for Finance in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was madagascar.
A video is available from Parliament.
As an Individual
Sure. Thank you very much for that question. I was reading the budget, and there has been some progress made, in terms of allotting funding to women's programs. I know that $160 million was allotted. That's a great start. Those things are just that—they're starts.
Liberal
Francesco Sorbara Liberal Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON
I'm going to stop you there. I'm going to move on to the next witness.
Annie, can you answer, please?
As an Individual
I would say not quite. Equality is not what we need; equity is.
As an Individual
I believe we've made a great start and are at a point of turning a page, but I believe more needs to be done.
Liberal
Francesco Sorbara Liberal Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON
We on the finance committee have done a series of budgets since we were elected. For the first time ever we have gender analysis built into our budgeting process. For the first time ever we have legislation on pay equity. We have, then, made historical strides. I have two young daughters at home, and when I look at the four of you, I can't help think about my daughters.
That's it.
Conservative
Blake Richards Conservative Banff—Airdrie, AB
Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you all for being here. I appreciate the eloquence with which you all spoke very passionately about issues that are obviously very much matters of conviction for you.
The same goes for the previous panel. I didn't get a chance to talk to you directly.
Ms. Dhaliwal, I'd like to touch on your comments about mental health. Most if not all of us probably know somebody who has been affected by mental health issues—depression and other things. I'm certainly no exception. I was struck by your story.
You mentioned specifically that you felt more funding needed to be dedicated to mental health. Beyond funding, can you tell us what it is that you think needs to be specifically addressed, maybe even what that funding should be used for? What do we need to do to better meet the needs of people who are struggling with mental health challenges? What I hear often is that services aren't there when you need them the most.
Can you elaborate a bit on what actual, concrete, tangible things you think we need to correct there?
As an Individual
Of course. First of all, I believe that the Mental Health Parity Act you talked about would ensure consistency across the board from province to province and that an adequate amount of funding be put into mental health.
Beyond that, I believe that what that funding should be put into is more short-term mental health facilities that focus on stabilization. I believe one was just opened for adolescent youth in Surrey, British Columbia, but there needs to be one focused on young adults and adults who are experiencing an acute mental health crisis and don't require long-term care but do require emergency care.
I also believe there needs to be more support and information for navigating the system provided to minority populations. Especially in the South Asian community, mental illness is such a large issue and holds such a great stigma. I believe more resources need to be put aside for educating minority populations who may not have as much knowledge about the subject.
NDP
Pierre-Luc Dusseault NDP Sherbrooke, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'll try to keep things short by asking my three questions at the same time.
First of all, I want to thank everyone for their presentations and their proposals to our committee.
My first question is for Ms. Dini. In your experience, you received excellent hospital services. That's what you said. You were given medication at the hospital and a prescription so that you could continue to take the medication. The medication was covered when you were in the hospital, but was no longer covered when you left. Is that what happened? Has this prevented you from healing properly?
Ms. Szafran, would you support the proposal to require federal crown corporations to have gender-balanced boards of directors, as is the case for crown corporations in Quebec? Would it be a good way to ensure that more women hold positions of power?
Ms. Yeo, first of all, thank you for your presentation.
Do you think that young interns deserve wages? Is this proposal also supported by employers, unions or members of civil society? There will still be internship opportunities, even if they must be paid internships.
These are my three questions.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Okay. Thank you.
We'll start with Ms. Dini and we'll go through the three questions. While we're doing that, is there anyone over here who has an additional question, and then we'll wrap up? You can think about who wants on.
Ms. Dini.
As an Individual
You're correct that in the hospital all medication is covered, which is really helpful because I had an extended hospital stay. But the second you leave, everything is out-of-pocket.
I live in Ontario, which means that for those under the age of 25, you get covered for whatever prescription costs you have. However, that was just discontinued if you have private insurance. So we have a real problem. I go to university. Since my parents do not have private insurance, I cannot opt out of the insurance that my university provides, and my OHIP+ will not cover the medication that I need, because it is not part of what they deem necessary under their budget, nor will my private insurance, because it's not within their purview. That means I foot the bill. As someone who is going through rehabilitation for a stroke, that means I have to go to rehabilitation, cut down on my course load and not work. I do not have the funds outside of credit cards to pay for this, nor do my parents. It is a real issue in the sense that we need to provide a mechanism so that people won't have to go into debt to the tune of hundreds of dollars a month to pay for something that's life-sustaining, to keep them out of pain and to keep them going.
NDP
Pierre-Luc Dusseault NDP Sherbrooke, QC
My question concerned the boards of directors of federal crown corporations. Would it be appropriate to pass legislation to require crown corporations to have gender-balanced boards of directors? Quebec has legislation to ensure that Quebec crown corporations have gender-balanced boards of directors.
As an Individual
Thank you for the question. I will answer in English.
I do think it is important that women are on boards of administration and have their voices heard. Further to that, though, is that the voice of those women woman actually be heard. That is my further question. Women might be represented on a board of administration, but they might not have a role that allows them to speak or which makes them feel comfortable to speak, and they may or may not be discredited by other colleagues. Yes, lots of strides have been made to make women present. Not all women are represented, also, in terms of vulnerable sectors and so forth. Further to that, it's more about if women are able to present their views and are able to be heard and respected at the table. That's ultimately what it is. It's not just about filling a quota. It's about feeling intelligent and being able to actually present that. Thank you.
Liberal
As an Individual
In response to your question, it would be ideal if we could put pressure on these employers to ensure that they pay a fair wage for their interns. Unfortunately, in this system they're so pressured already to make as much profit as they can that it comes at the expense of us interns, so that we receive no wage and little to no benefits or services.
I feel like there needs to be legislation in place that makes sure that we're protected, or that the government provides subsidies for these employers so that we receive that fair wage.
Liberal
Michael McLeod Liberal Northwest Territories, NT
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll be quick.
I appreciate the presentations; they were very interesting. We could probably talk all day on every issue raised here.
I'm very interested in the presentation by Ms. Yeo on internships and work without pay. I think private industry and government both have a role and should be listening closely to this, because we have employment standards and acts that relate to this in different jurisdictions. They vary, and are sometimes very blurry.
As an MP for the Northwest Territories, I have a lot of small communities in my riding, and I hear a lot about this, because we don't have universities in the north, so everybody has to travel to the south to go to school. They also have to go through the culture shock that usually comes with moving to a large city from a small community, specially a small indigenous community, but it's necessary to go through this process to gain experience. Everybody's doing actual work. If they weren't doing it, the employer would probably have to pay somebody to do it. I think we see some discrimination against students from low-income families who can't get the support, and I certainly see it in our indigenous student population.
I think you touched on this a little already, but now that you're on television and everybody's watching, it's an opportunity for you tell us what recommendation you would make for us to follow through on to see if we can make a difference on this subject, because I think it's very important.
As an Individual
Yes, employers don't want to pay their interns; they don't see us as equals in the workforce. We're seen as just learning and not having that much skill to contribute, so we're not entitled to the same wage as everyone else. This is just another way for them to exploit us and take advantage of the fact that we're young and inexperienced. We do contribute an equal amount to the workforce, and to make sure that we have equal pay there needs to be legislation to protect us.
Often when you say that you do it for course credit, then you fall under the policy of the university, but that still leaves you in the loop of other policies that can't protect you against other things.
Without the wage, so many students are at a disadvantage. Either programs need to be in place that subsidize internships so all of them are paid, or legislation that protects those initial employment opportunities for us.