Evidence of meeting #14 for Status of Women in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was mandate.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Clare Beckton  Coordinator, Office of the Coordinator, Status of Women Canada

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi

Order, please.

Committee members, we have with us Minister Verner. I was just speaking to the minister, and I think I spoke to most of you. The minister has prepared notes that we all have had an opportunity to look at. I wonder if the minster would give a brief opening remark.

The committee members would like to engage in a conversation. If we don't get that opportunity of engagement, then we will have disappointed members.

With that, Minister, you would like to make some opening remarks? We have read the speech. If you could keep it brief, we will have an opportunity to have a meaningful discussion with you, and that would be appreciated.

Welcome, Minister, and thank you for being with us.

The floor is yours, Madame Minister.

10:05 a.m.

Louis-Saint-Laurent Québec

Conservative

Josée Verner ConservativeMinister of Canadian Heritage

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

If you don't mind, I will make my opening statement, as planned. I will then be available to take questions from members of the Committee.

Madam Chair, Committee members, I am pleased to be here to outline the Government of Canada's commitment to women's full participation in Canadian society and Status of Women Canada's recent accomplishments. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Chair on her re-election, and congratulate Ms. Davidson and Ms. Mathyssen on their election as Vice-Chairs.

I am accompanied by Clare Beckton, the Coordinator of Status of Women Canada, whom you have already met twice. I understand the Committee has begun its study on gender budgeting. This is an area of great interest as we prepare for the 2008 United Nations Commission on the Status of Women deliberations, on the theme “Financing of Gender Equality”.

In the Speech from the Throne, our government's current five priorities were outlined: strengthening Canada's sovereignty and place in the world; strengthening the federation and democratic institutions; providing effective economic leadership for a prosperous future; tackling crime and strengthening the security of Canadians; and, improving the environment and health of Canadians.

Status of Women Canada's work is aligned with these priorities, focussing on the broader barriers facing women, by working in several policy areas related to women's economic security and violence against women. Status of Women Canada's two key instruments for action—its strategic policy and partnership function, and its funding mechanisms—are interrelated and inform each other.

This positions the organization well to address the barriers to women's full participation in society—barriers that often go even deeper for visible minority, immigrant, senior and Aboriginal women.

As a demonstration of our firm commitment to the success of Status of Women Canada, Budget 2007 provided $10 million in funding to the agency, bringing the total budget to $29.9 million, a record for Status of Women Canada. The women's program of Status of Women Canada now houses both the women's community fund and the new women's partnership fund.

In October, I announced $8 million in funding for 60 projects across the country through the Women's Community Fund from the first call for proposals, issued last June. These projects will positively impact over 260,000 women and girls by addressing barriers, educating them about violence prevention, helping them increase their financial literacy, and encouraging cooperative peer support networks.

In November, I announced a second call for proposals for the Women's Community Fund. That call closed on December 21, 2007. I am pleased to report that 342 applications were received—a significant increase from the first call for proposals. The focus is on projects that promote women's economic security and prosperity, health and safety, and those aimed at ending all forms of discrimination and violence against women. All projects must support the advancement of all women in Canada and serve to foster partnerships to meet women's needs.

At the end of last year, I announced the first initiative under the new Women's Partnership Fund, with my provincial counterpart in Quebec, Mme Christine St-Pierre, and the École nationale d'administration publique.

Through funding over three years of $1.05 million from the Government of Canada, and $600,000 from the Government of Quebec, the Groupe Femmes, Politique et Démocratie will provide leadership training for women who mentor other Quebec women seeking to participate in the democratic process.

A strong country means a country in which women can participate, make a contribution and realize their dreams.

Violence against women and girls is a major concern to Canadians. It is, therefore, a key priority for Status of Women Canada to reduce violence directed towards women. In particular, Aboriginal women in the North experience higher rates of violence and unemployment, lower-quality living conditions, and less access to health care, social services and other supports. Renewed attention to Canada's North will promote economic and social development, including better living conditions, directly benefiting the women who live there.

Status of Women Canada's ongoing partnership with the Native Women's Association of Canada is improving the lives of aboriginal women through the Sisters in Spirit campaign, addressing racialized, sexualized violence against aboriginal women.

At the first National Aboriginal Women's Summit, which took place in June 2007 in Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Canada announced funding of almost $56 million over five years for family violence prevention programs and on-reserve services.

The Government's commitment to re-introduce legislation to repeal section 67 of the Canadian Human Rights Act is good news for Aboriginal women living on-reserve—providing them with access to the same rights as other Canadian women. This is an issue on which Status of Women Canada has been very engaged, providing evidence of the impact of Section 67 on women.

Trafficking in persons remains a serious and growing concern for women and girls, both in Canada and beyond our borders, which the Committee knows well from its work in this area. I am pleased that it is your intention to continue this work.

Budget 2007 allocated $6 million to combat the serious, growing issue of child exploitation and trafficking. As the Vancouver 2010 Olympics approach, our Government is taking action to combat the trafficking of young women and girls.

The RCMP leads a team of federal partners and other officials, including Status of Women Canada, which enhances knowledge, skills and enforcement of laws on trafficking and the services required by victims of this deplorable practice.

My ministerial colleagues will have the opportunity to discuss this further at their next appearance before the Standing Committee.

Economic security remains a challenge for many Canadian women. Accordingly, another top priority for Status of Women Canada is advancing women's economic security and prosperity.

I'm pleased to be working with the forum of federal-provincial-territorial ministers responsible for the Status of Women to promote women's self-sufficiency, safety, and security and to improve the situation of aboriginal women in Canada.

The growth in women's workforce participation, including older workers, will drive economic growth and long-term productivity for the next several decades and beyond, from which all Canadians will benefit.

While women's labour force participation has increased, there is still much work to do. The Department of Finance conducted a gender-based analysis with a focus on tax measures in both Budget 2006 and Budget 2007, and will do so going forward. This is essential if women are to participate fully in the economic life of the country.

Achieving concrete results requires the ability to monitor and measure progress, based on policy and program objectives linked to accountability and measurable outcomes. As a result, Status of Women Canada is working with central agencies and key departments to integrate gender reporting into government accountability mechanisms, and create a set of indicators to measure the situation of women over time.

10:10 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi

Minister, perhaps you could wrap up, because your time is up.

10:10 a.m.

Conservative

Josée Verner Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC

In conclusion, clearly the Government of Canada is taking action to improve the lives of women and men on many different fronts.

Madam Chair, committee members, our future as a country is closely tied to the safety, security, and prosperity of women and their families.

These values are my priorities as our government works diligently for the advancement of all women.

Thank you.

10:15 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi

Thank you very much, Madam Minister.

I would like to see if we can get five-minute rounds so that everybody can get a turn. We'll start the first round with Madam Minna for five minutes.

10:15 a.m.

Liberal

Maria Minna Liberal Beaches—East York, ON

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Minister, thank you for appearing before us today.

I want to start off by saying that my understanding through my involvement for all these years is that the Status of Women Canada was established and exists for the purpose of improving women's equality. Given that your government has removed the word “equality” from its mandate, what are you doing personally to make sure that equality is put back into the mandate so that we can refocus this department?

10:15 a.m.

Conservative

Josée Verner Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC

Thank you for your question.

Equality of opportunity is a basic value of this government. I am pleased to inform members that the mandate of the women's program of Status of Women Canada has been updated. The mandate of the women's program is now to advance the equality of women across Canada through the improvement of their economy and social--

10:15 a.m.

Liberal

Maria Minna Liberal Beaches—East York, ON

I'm sorry to interrupt, Madam Chair.

I apologize, but I want to be specific, Madam Minister. You're reading, and you're saying it's been updated. Are you saying that you've now changed the policy and you've put the word “equality” back in the mandate? That's what I understood you to say.

10:15 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi

Is it?

10:15 a.m.

Conservative

Josée Verner Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC

Exactly.

10:15 a.m.

Liberal

Maria Minna Liberal Beaches—East York, ON

So the word “equality” is now back in the mandate of Status of Women Canada. So if I read the mandate of the Status of Women Canada, it says that equality is its primary focus in the women's programs.

10:15 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi

Madam Minister, there is a staff member at the back shaking her head, so perhaps you want to confer.

Does the question make sense? She's asking if the mandate has been amended to include the word “equality”.

10:15 a.m.

Conservative

Josée Verner Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC

Madam Chair, what I have been trying to do for the last little while is answer my colleague's question. What I am saying is that Status of Women Canada's Women's Program has in fact been updated. The mandate of the Women's Program is now as follows: to advance the equality of women across Canada through the improvement of their economic and social conditions and their participation in democratic life.

10:15 a.m.

Liberal

Maria Minna Liberal Beaches—East York, ON

I'm sorry, I'm still not too clear because the minister I think is talking about the funding. The mandate of the whole department has not changed.

Let me ask you another question, then, just to tie to that, because I need to be sure. If the mandate of the department has been restored to include equality of women, does that means the advocacy part has also been restored, that is, that organizations that do research are now able to use that research and the funding to advocate on behalf of women to achieve equality in different areas? Am I hearing you say that?

10:15 a.m.

Conservative

Josée Verner Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC

I am saying that last December, I updated the mandate of the Women's Program at Status of Women Canada. As you know, we allocated additional funding in our last budget. That will allow us to do a number of things, as our second call for proposals clearly demonstrates, including providing assistance to a larger number of women's groups in Canada, given that our goal is to ensure that more organizations receive government assistance aimed at enhancing gender equality all across the country.

10:15 a.m.

Liberal

Maria Minna Liberal Beaches—East York, ON

I'm sorry, Madam Minister, I'm finding it difficult here, and I need to get a more specific answer from you. I need to know two things.

One is, has the actual mandate changed? I'm not talking about the projects and the programs, where there are projects on the ground and women come for service and those individual women are assisted; I'm talking about women's condition in general. Has the mandate changed, and is the equality provision back?

Furthermore, does the research that is done by any organization...? You're talking about the women's program--I understand that--but can that money then also be used to advocate on behalf of women? Is advocacy allowed or not?

10:20 a.m.

Conservative

Josée Verner Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC

My answer is still the same. The mandate was updated to reflect our concern and our commitment to enhance gender equality across the country and, of course, projects that allow us to achieve concrete results, indicators…

10:20 a.m.

Liberal

Maria Minna Liberal Beaches—East York, ON

Madam, I understand. I think the minister--

10:20 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi

Your time's up. Sorry, Ms. Minna.

Madame Deschamps, pour cinq minutes.

10:20 a.m.

Bloc

Johanne Deschamps Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC

Minister, to begin with, I want to thank you for your time this morning. I want to raise a question that is of great concern to me with respect to the $5-million cut made to Status of Women Canada's administrative spending. This has had the effect of decreasing the staff complement at Status of Women Canada, which has gone from 131 to 70. I am wondering whether the fact that SWC has fewer staff could have an impact on Canada's obligations and commitments to the international community. Is it possible that Canada might not be able to meet the goals he has set?

I am a little concerned because, recently, I read a brief presented to Status of Women Canada that refers to an entirely new organization that has been put in place at the United Nations and which is working on the Gender Gap Index. According to that study, the situation has deteriorated in the last two years. The Index shows growing inequality between men and women in Canada. What is even more striking is that, in 2006, Canada ranked 14th in that regard. In 2007, it dropped to 18th place. So, I am concerned to see that we have fewer staff and fewer resources at Status of Women Canada, even as the government is making commitments and pledging to meet its commitments to the United Nations in terms of reducing inequality. We have also pledged, as part of our mandate, to carry out a gender analysis.

How does Status of Women Canada expect to be able to support the government in meeting that commitment?

10:20 a.m.

Conservative

Josée Verner Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC

Thank you for your question. I would just like to point out, first of all, that there were no budget cuts; rather, there has been a new allocation of funding for Status of Women Canada's programming. As I explained in my introductory remarks, this has meant that we received more project applications on the second call for proposals that was launched in the fall. It is a sign that staff were able to provide the assistance that groups needed in order to apply for funding to carry out their different projects.

In terms of our international commitments—and Ms. Beckton will be able to add to my comments—four policy analysts have been seconded from the Policy Branch to provide support at international women's forums at the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the Commonwealth and APEC, to ensure better integration of international and domestic policy.

Ms. Beckton may want to add something more.

10:25 a.m.

Bloc

Johanne Deschamps Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC

When did that happen?

10:25 a.m.

Clare Beckton Coordinator, Office of the Coordinator, Status of Women Canada

In recent months, we have reorganized our policy group in order to better integrate international and domestic activities.

10:25 a.m.

Bloc

Johanne Deschamps Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC

In that case, could you tell me why we are seeing the kind of results we have today as regards the World Economic Forum's Gender Gap Index, as it is called. That index shows that inequality between men and women is on the rise in Canada.

10:25 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi

Wrap up.