Evidence of meeting #140 for Health in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was queer.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:10 p.m.
Administrator, Conseil québécois LGBT
Over 50%. Yes, there are a lot of us. We're like...a lot of us.
There are a lot of straight trans people as well, so just because you're trans.... We have sexualities as well, so there are straight trans people, as well as gay and bi trans people.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bill Casey
We're learning. Thanks very much. I appreciate that.
Now we go to Ms. Walker.
4:10 p.m.
Rachel Loewen Walker Executive Director, OUTSaskatoon
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and members of the standing committee for having us here today. My name is Ms. Rachel Loewen Walker, I'm a cis queer woman and I've been the executive director of OUTSaskatoon for the last five years.
OUT is a queer, trans and two-spirit community centre that's been operating for 28 years on Treaty 6 territory in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Before I continue, I'd like to introduce the chair of OUTSaskatoon's board of directors, Martha Smith.
4:10 p.m.
Martha Smith-Norris Board Chair, OUTSaskatoon
Thank you for inviting us to be here today.
To expand on Rachel's description of OUTSaskatoon, I'm proud to share that with a staff of 12, our services include a daytime and evening drop-in centre, free counselling, more than 10 evening and daytime support groups, two educators who provide diversity training to schools and businesses across the province, and more than 35 community events per year.
As well, we operate a weekly sexual health testing clinic and a monthly PrEP clinic in partnership with an organization called Saskatoon Sexual Health. In 2017, we opened Pride Home, a long-term group home for LGBTQ2 youth aged 16 to 21.
Before Rachel continues, I want to share one story about the value of community centres in improving the health and well-being of LGBTQ2 people.
When my gay daughter JQ first came out, she was only 12 years old. As she was struggling—and I mean struggling—to become herself and looking for a sense of community, we discovered this wonderful organization called OUTSaskatoon. In particular, my daughter loved attending Rainbow Coffee every week, a queer youth support group that provides leadership workshops, sexual health education, and arts and cultural activities for teens aged 15 to 19. As JQ explains now, seven years later, her experience at OUTSaskatoon helped make her the confident, healthy, socially engaged person that she is today. Not only that, but now JQ is part of our mentorship program for Pride Home and is passing along the support she received to a new generation of youth.
4:15 p.m.
Executive Director, OUTSaskatoon
Thank you, Martha.
In preparing for today, we read through the transcripts of the meetings that came before, and listening today, we are impressed with the breadth and rigour of all who have appeared before this committee. In light of this, we won't repeat evidence that's already been given. Instead, we're going to focus primarily on the fundamental value of queer, trans and two-spirit community centres or service agencies as access points to both a supportive and safe community, and a larger continuum of health care.
We have four recommendations, as indicated in our submitted brief.
First is the creation of a dedicated federal funding portfolio for LGBTQ2 community centres and networks. Like other provinces, Saskatchewan has been experiencing great legal and political victories in recent years thanks to engaged community organizations and individuals. That said, the experiences of queer people in Saskatchewan and throughout the Prairies are unique, but are often under-represented in national research and programs. Not only that, but the political climate in Saskatchewan creates roadblocks to our community, including minimal provincial supports and no provincial strategy, whether in education, health care or social services.
The lion's share of the support for LGBTQ2 people in all of these areas comes from the few—actually only four—community-based centres spread out across the three prairie provinces. Surprisingly, OUTSaskatoon is one of the largest LGBTQ2 community centres in the country, a fact that is directly the result of our efforts to serve a geographically and culturally vast community through an outwardly facing, one-stop shop. That is something that I know other witnesses have expressed a need for in this study.
Community centres provide the social connections for people who are isolated. They provide education for those who hold on to divisive beliefs. They provide the counselling and health care needed to improve mental health outcomes, which means reducing anxiety, depression and loneliness. We see these benefits taking place every day.
As an example, last year we watched an individual move from coming in for counselling for depression to applying to be a volunteer and now volunteering in our drop-in centre, providing peer support to others going through the same thing.
We've also seen huge steps forward in the last year to increase partnerships between queer centres, including two national gatherings of centre leaders, one taking placing in Saskatoon and one in Ottawa just a few months ago.
Through these gatherings we've created a network called Enchanté Canada, whose mandate is to build and maintain a thriving network of two-spirit, gender, and sexually diverse community groups, and that hopes to support the development of many more centres than exist today—and especially, I want to stress, in more rural and remote areas where such services are all but absent. As well, the 2Spirits in Motion Foundation has formed to create a safe and supportive environment for two-spirit peoples across the country.
These networks both demonstrate the pivotal role that community centres have in the spectrum of health. Their value cannot in decreasing reliance on primary health care cannot be overstressed.
The $20 million included within the new federal budget for capacity building and the community-level work of Canadian LGBTQ2 service agencies will support the life-saving work that is already taking place. We recommend that these funds be distributed by the Department of Women and Gender Equality in order to better integrate social, mental and physical health while prioritizing gender, sexual and cultural diversity within future initiatives across the country.
Alongside the alarming statistics about our communities, as have been widely studied and canvassed in this study, queer, trans and two-spirit people also represent rich and diverse cultural groups. We are innovative in our methods of care. We are progressive in our labour practices, programming and policy development. There is much for other sectors to learn from the queer community, particularly in relation to meaningful engagement with principles of intersectionality, decolonization, anti-racism, feminism and disability rights as many LGBTQ2 organizations work hard to incorporate these into their daily work.
At OUTSaskatoon, we have spent years building reciprocal relationships with indigenous communities, and this has made our work and our centre better.
To this end, our second recommendation is for a commitment to meaningful reconciliation and decolonization, including the central positioning of two-spirit people in organizations within this work.
4:20 p.m.
Board Chair, OUTSaskatoon
Our third recommendation is for the inclusion of LGBTQ2 needs and voices within federal and provincial housing strategies, particularly for youths and older adults. Pride Home holds a special place in my heart, and so moving to the topic of housing, I only want to amplify what has been said by other witnesses.
At OUTSaskatoon, we've conducted community-based research into housing for seniors and for youths, and both areas need attention. Our findings in Saskatoon show that 40% of queer youth have experienced homelessness or face barriers to housing, and this is greatest for two-spirit and indigenous queer youth. We created Pride Home because we found that some youths had nowhere to go after Rainbow Coffee, due to being rejected by their families and due to the homophobia and transphobia in other shelters.
One of Pride Home's greatest strengths is that it does not adhere to a gender binary, and as well, we're able to provide wraparound supports throughout Saskatoon's existing community programming. The problem is that despite this model aligning directly with Housing First recommendations for youth homelessness, we've struggled to access sustainable funding for Pride Home, as both federal and provincial dollars earmarked for housing and homelessness are for capital projects and not staffing or operations. We can apply to get $1 million to build a brand new home, but we cannot apply for the $100,000 a year that it takes to support those youths living in the home.
We don't need more research into youth homelessness nor the barriers that LGBTQ2 seniors face. The evidence is vast, as Egale and Dr. Abramovich have already testified. We need investments and we need action.
For the queer community, housing strategies must include non-gendered and inclusive housing at the same time that they include education for existing housing agencies, shelters and residential care facilities, so that our communities can safely access all services.
We recommend that designated funds within Canada's homelessness strategy “Reaching Home”, and any future housing strategies, address these gaps in service.
4:20 p.m.
Executive Director, OUTSaskatoon
Our last recommendation is for the development of a national strategy for comprehensive health care for trans and gender-diverse people. Already you've heard powerful testimony on this front. The only addition we will make is that while in some of the larger cities in Canada, people can access trans-specific health care services, in Saskatchewan and especially in rural areas, there are often only a handful of doctors in the whole province who will do this work well.
What this means is that trans people are nowhere near receiving the services they need. A national strategy could draw on existing best and promising practices for many of the models you've already heard about in this committee, and then work with under-serviced areas to create regionally tailored strategies through mentorship or partner models. This would enable Canada to be a leader in trans and gender-diverse health in all regions, not just our big cities.
To close, I want to stress that community-based centres are effective strategies for improving health outcomes on all fronts. Integrated models such as these move us beyond viewing our community through a deficit framework and instead towards building the health and well-being of LGBTQ2 people of all ages, all backgrounds and all abilities.
Thank you.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bill Casey
Thanks very much. You have certainly brought a lot of information to our committee.
Rachel, when you introduced yourself, you said you were a cisgender gay woman.
Is that correct?
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bill Casey
Now we're going to start our questions. You'll probably need some English translation.
We're going to start with the very distinguished Mr. Ayoub.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
Ramez Ayoub Liberal Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First, I want to thank everyone for being here and for your presentations. We're still learning about the LGBTQ+ community and the community sometimes referred to by all the letters of the alphabet.
On a more serious note, I have a background in the municipal sector. I was the mayor of a city for which I'm currently the member of Parliament. My constituency is located in the Montreal suburbs, which have a very discreet LGBT community. As a member of Parliament, I wanted to know the needs of this community. I realized that the community has extensive needs and that these needs are mostly being met in downtown Montreal.
The issue that affects me the most is the search for identity of the young people going through this process. They have many questions during adolescence, but the answers aren't always within their reach and they aren't supported in the process. The young people are often sent to Montreal when they're rejected by their parents and families, and possibly by society. The housing issue has already been mentioned. The young people also have trouble finding housing very quickly.
What are some ways to address the community's issues outside the major cities? Some services are available in the major cities, but how can the situation be addressed outside the cities?
Who wants to respond? Go ahead, Mr. Xavier.
4:25 p.m.
Administrator, Conseil québécois LGBT
For the Conseil québécois LGBT, the inter-regional aspect is very important. Most people in Quebec don't live in Montreal. We must deal with the regional realities. There are also prejudices against the regions. Even though there are generally fewer services in rural and remote areas, these people shouldn't be denied access to services.
Last year, the Conseil held a successful inter-regional forum of LGBTQ+ organizations. I would urge you to work with the various organizations that organize this type of inter-regional forum. We invited all kinds of players, stakeholders and community representatives, because not every region has an organization dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community. It depends on the regions. Sometimes, volunteers take care of the community.
In the discussions, some possible solutions came to light. However, the forum was also mainly an opportunity for people from Montreal and from outside Montreal to pool resources. These types of inter-regional forums should be funded. The forums provide resources and tools to workers in different regions, and the workers can then support young people.
In this type of forum, it's very important to invite young people to speak for themselves. We're a little less young, and we don't necessarily know their points of view.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
Ramez Ayoub Liberal Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
—I have only seven minutes, and I want to hear from the other witnesses.
Madam Walker, I would like your input, if I may.
4:25 p.m.
Executive Director, OUTSaskatoon
Sure.
One of the things about Saskatchewan is that because it's so big and cities are relatively far apart, you don't need a huge centre or a huge staff. You need a place to gather and people who are going to support you when you walk in the door. You need people to talk to who know what you're going through. There are lots of smaller networks of people doing work within the queer, trans, and two-spirit community spread out across the province. What OUTSaskatoon does is that we regularly send big parcels of resources and information to whoever asks for it. We travel a lot, sometimes eight hours north to do education in many different northern communities. We're usually invited to schools. In doing so, we're also working to empower the teachers in those regions so they have resources so they can actually start running a GSA in a school, for example. Often, GSAs are one of the first points in communities that otherwise don't have access or don't have a community centre. Those are ways to both build capacity and to provide support from places where we maybe do have more resources.
4:30 p.m.
Executive Director, Community-Based Research Centre
We know that as their home communities become safer and more accepting, fewer queer people are migrating to urban centres. It's much more common for LGBT2Q people to live in the suburbs and maybe spend the rest of their lives there, or to live in other smaller places in the country.
We can't expect there to be a clinic that specializes in queer health in every small community in our country, but what we can work on is some of the structural change that needs to happen around education and training for health care providers. Maybe we won't have a specialized queer clinic in your suburban community, but at least we can have a few doctors or health care providers who understand the needs of queer people.
There are very specific health needs for queer people. That can be trained. That can be done through education programs in universities or colleges, and I think there's a federal government role to play in leadership around that.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
Ramez Ayoub Liberal Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
I have one last question.
We talked about the missing statistics. Now that the long-form census is back, would you like it to contain more specific questions so that additional data can be collected? We used to be in the dark about a great deal of information, but what's the current situation with the census?
Mr. Girard, you seem to want to answer this question.
4:30 p.m.
Researcher, Sociologist, Centre de recherche de Montréal sur les inégalités sociales et les discriminations
Yes, that sounds like a good idea. However, I don't have a specific question to suggest at this time.
I'll let my colleagues say whether they have any questions to suggest.
4:30 p.m.
Administrator, Conseil québécois LGBT
It would be important to include transgender people in the census since they've never been included. If we don't have this information, we can't decide where to send the money.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal