Status of Women Committee on Feb. 7th, 2007

[Sonja Greckol]

We have a very small amount of funding, through Status of Women, that was obtained just before the program changes occurred. We would be ineligible under the current program guidelines.

We spent about two and a half years going back and forth with our program officer to come up with a project that would be acceptable. That represents hours and hours of unpaid work to get to the place where we could do advocacy work for some small amount of money. In fact, we've hired a young student to do this work for us. We would go back to a very ad hoc kind of operation.

[Belinda Stronach, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you.

[Stéphanie Lalande]

I can tell you that four out of 17 regions in Quebec have had their applications suspended. Right now, the applications are at Status of Women Canada, and everything has been suspended following the changes in criteria. Already, these are four regions out of 17, and the applications of the network in general do not meet the criteria right now. We are not here to judge the way these criteria will be administered, but to ask you to make sure that we can continue to receive funding, because our work does impact our communities.

Thank you.

[Belinda Stronach, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Ms. Harper, you have a minute.

[Lucille Harper]

In Nova Scotia currently, women's centres have been working with women on income assistance to improve social assistance policy. A huge piece of work has been done, and a lot of that work has been bringing women from 11 communities around the province to the table to talk about their experiences on social assistance and to make recommendations to government.

We are now at the point where we want to engage with government in developing a poverty reduction strategy with the Nova Scotia government. We will not be able to do that. In discussions with our program officer about what we could do next, she has said that work has to come to an end because we will not be able to do it, since it will not be fundable.

Despite the fact that we are this close, have made such good headway, and our conversations and relationship with the Nova Scotia government are very strong, we just won't have the funding to maintain that really important network of women who are living in poverty. We can't do that. There's no other source to do that.

[Belinda Stronach, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Ms. Stronach, you have half a minute to make any comments, if you want.

[Belinda Stronach, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

No, I wanted the individuals to respond to my question so that I have an understanding of what future programs are potentially off the table.

Let me ask this. How much consultation was done with your organizations on how the impact of the change would affect them.

[Lucille Harper]

None.

[Belinda Stronach, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Thank you, panel.

You each have a minute to give your closing remarks, after which we will adjourn and bring in another panel.

Ms. Greckol.

[Sonja Greckol]

This government has demonstrated that it can make policy shifts. It has made policy shifts in its approaches to Quebec, to the environment, and to income trusts. So far, though, it seems to have stayed consistently ideological in its position on national day care, on charter challenge funding, on pay equity, and so on. I would ask it to look at the proposals, the recommendations that were made by Lucille Harper. They're recommendations that we would also support.

Perhaps the policy shifts that can't get made in relation to women's issues reflect the marginalization of women. Of the elected representatives in this country, 21% are women, less than 1% of elected officials are racialized women, and less than 1% are women with disabilities. That's the marginalization that we put on the table most clearly.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Ms. Harper.

[Lucille Harper]

I don't even know if I will take a whole minute.

I think when the United Nations committee on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women congratulates us for 100% fulfilling our obligations around women's equality, then we can sit back and have another discussion around where we may want to go next, but we need to take our responsibilities to all women across this country very seriously. I think the programs that have been most hard-hit, whether it's literacy, education and training, court challenges, and so on, are ones that have the most direct impact on women and marginalized groups; and when we're looking at marginalized groups, the most marginalized within marginalized groups are the women within those groups.

So I think our measure needs to be, if we could have one measure, how are we impacting the poorest of poor women in this country? When we have done that to the satisfaction of the United Nations, then we can come back and we can say, okay, now what?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Thank you.

[Stéphanie Lalande]

Thank you.

Quebec entitled its status of women policy “Pour que l'égalité de droit devienne une égalité de fait” [So that equality in law can become equality in fact], because that is where we stand today. In fact, women are not yet equal to men, as the figures I cited earlier prove.

It is still appropriate to pursue our efforts with Status of Women Canada, which has supported us a great deal in the past and helped us obtain further funding to continue our activities. That support is essential and Status of Women Canada must also continue its work within the federal government by denouncing inequality, by conducting research and by applying gender-based analysis, since this is a concept at the very heart of Status of Women Canada.

There is work still to be done, and we are asking you not to abandon us, we in the regions who are working so hard to improve the rights of women.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Thank you very much.

Thank you to the panel for being here to share your experience and your expertise with us. Your input will find its way somewhere in the report.

Madame Neville.

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

I apologize for coming in late.

As a matter of course in this committee, we don't always agree with those who present before us, but we are usually restrained in our comments. I heard, and I don't know whether others heard, a member opposite use the word “bullshit” after a presentation, and I don't think this is the time or the place for this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

I'm sorry, Madame Neville, I didn't hear it, and if whoever said it could please refrain from saying things like that....

Yes, Ms. Smith.

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

I think this is just a silly political ploy, and I don't think it's appropriate at the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. I want all the presenters to know that we very much appreciated your presentations today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Thank you.

The meeting is suspended while we await the next panel.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

If the members could please take their seats, we will reconvene.

I'd like to welcome the witnesses. We have with us Madame Genaille, president of the Métis National Council of Women; Ms. Landolt, from REAL Women of Canada; and Shari Graydon, from the Women's Future Fund.

We haven't received speaking notes, Madame Genaille, if you have them; and Ms. Landolt, do you have any speaking notes?

[Gwendolyn Landolt, National Vice-President, REAL Women of Canada]

I gave you our brief.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Fair enough. It just makes life easier for the translators.