Status of Women Committee on Dec. 3rd, 2009

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

So you have more money. Are these transfers from other departments?

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

No. It was announced, I think in 2007, that the significant increase of money was allocated specifically to Status of Women, and it stays there.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

How much is it? I'm sorry, the total additional amount was $40 million, is that what you are saying?

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

It was 2007—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

We're over the time, so I'll ask the minister to answer that question as quickly as she possibly can.

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

If I may, there is an increase in the funding and it's at its highest level now for Status of Women Canada. It's a 42% increase in the amount of money available to the grassroots organizations.

To touch a little on some of the comments you made in suggesting that I'm not here to unify... As a 20-year advocate for ending violence against women and standing up for women's issues, I was appalled at the insults and the personal attacks that were taken on me at the beginning of the week, at a time when we should be remembering loss of life and victims, so--

[An hon. member]

[Inaudible--Editor]

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Yes, I will have to cut other people's question time.

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

I have treated all of you around this table with the greatest amount of respect, and I have not attacked any of you on a personal individual basis.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

Go ahead, Ms. Boucher.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Good morning, Madam Minister. On the subject of violence against women, we have to break the silence, we have to break the vicious cycle where abuse is not only physical: it is verbal and it is psychological. Breaking the silence means women standing up and saying loud and strong how much they have been abused. Breaking the silence means giving victims of every kind a voice without making it political.

I have always worked with respect for my colleagues, men and women alike. I saw today a political face that I did not like. We should not be dehumanized just because we are women and think differently. I think that today, there is still too much violence against women and we are not going to fight it by attacking one another. It is safe to say that I do not share the ideas of everyone here around the table, but I at least have respect for what these people are doing.

I have two daughters, and I hope that they will watch television today and see how disillusioned I was by this partisanship, because we cannot politicize the deaths of women, we cannot politicize violence.

From that point, Madam Minister, what has been done since you took office to reduce violence against women?

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Thank you, Sylvie. I appreciate your comments.

On a whole-of-government approach, we've done significant things with the Tackling Violent Crime Act. We've put in place support for significant investments and policing because we recognize how important this is. We are supporting Sisters in Spirit. In talking about the agency-specific, I am quite proud of the work that we and our officials have done in this capacity.

There is such a significant increase and focus on the violence against women. I remember the pillars that were put in front of me when I came in. It was talking about women's security. And I insisted that this pillar be changed to say “ending violence against women”. Coming from the background that I had, knowing that the Prime Minister had put me in this position, I knew we needed to address this. And I know all of us in this room recognize that we have to do this and we have to do it together.

But the projects, I think, are the best way for me to describe some of the things we've done. For domestic violence, when you're talking about, let's say, second-stage housing, one of the projects that I really have a great appreciation for is something that's similar to what's being done in Europe. There's a senior woman who's been living on her own for a number of years, but she can no longer afford to keep the house. And she deserves to be able to stay in her home as long as she can. So what they are doing is this. Women who have come far along in this difficult process are actually moving in with these senior women. When women who've come from domestic violence situations are ready to turn that corner, when they're not in that volatile state anymore, their families are moving in with these women and creating a new opportunity for the family who has experienced that violence to be able to start anew and actually have that figure in their lives who can show them there is another way a family can exist. That's one of the projects we're supporting at Status of Women.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Minister, I'm sorry, you have now allowed this question session to go one and a half minutes over time. I will ask you, if you possibly can, to please answer as crisply as possible so that other people can have a chance to finish this round.

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Sure.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

Monsieur Pomerleau.

[Roger Pomerleau, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Ms. Guergis, thank you for being with is today. I am not a permanent member of the committee. This is the first time I have sat on this committee, and I find the atmosphere a bit strange.

My question is a bit more personal than the ones that have been asked to this point and is directed at a person who attends Cabinet meetings and is able to apply pressure.

You say, and rightly so, probably, that you want to reduce poverty among women. Poverty is probably the most insidious form of violence against women. It is the reason why we do comparative analyses to determine whether women fare as well as men. Poverty is a major phenomenon.

Even though Canada currently scores high marks internationally, in a context where everyone is getting poorer, that simply means we in this country are getting poorer at a slightly slower pace. Our situation is not as serious, but it is no better. The proof is that the number of poor children is growing. If that number is growing, it means that mothers are poor.

One of the easiest and most effective ways to reduce poverty is to invest in social housing. Right now, billions of dollars are lying dormant at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

My question does not take aim at the Conservatives only, because it was the same thing under the Liberals. These billions of dollars have been there for a very long time. What type of pressure are you able to apply, you who claim to want to reduce poverty among women and provide them with better housing, so that some money is spent creating a real and meaningful program?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Minister, you have one minute to answer that, please.

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

That's a very good question.

As much as I want to highlight that we've made progress, please know that I know there is much more work to do. That's why I take great pride in the work I do at the agency.

One of the projects we're doing there, for my part, is Building Futures, which I started to touch on. These women have sometimes come from drug addictions and very violent situations. They go through an interview process to ensure that they're ready to turn that corner to come into this program in Edmonton. There are hundreds of women who come into this. They actually have housing on-site so they can bring their kids, or if they're single, they can live alone. They take their education at the same facility and they all work together. They have to provide day care so that they can take their course.

This is one of the things we're doing at the agency. These are the kinds of things in which, for my part, at Status of Women, we're trying to transfer that knowledge across the country and find those in each province who--including in Quebec--would want to know how they built this facility. Because the construction industry actually played a key role in terms of millions of dollars put in to build this facility, around $7 million. They also built the apartment complex that goes with it. We know that we can provide them these education opportunities, but if they don't have a place to stay, they can't finish the program.

So these are the kinds of things we're trying to do for the most vulnerable women at the agency.

[Roger Pomerleau, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

Irene Mathyssen.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to pick up on what Monsieur Pomerleau was talking about.

Violence again women--violence against anyone, I think--can only be ended with concerted effort. It's a huge problem. We know that violence is perpetuated by poverty, the lack of affordable housing, the lack of universal child care, the absence of pay equity, and the inability of women to access employment insurance because they work part time. It all contributes to violence. One of the remedies, I think, has to come from government when it looks or creates policy. Of course, we're right back to GBA.

On page 15 of the departmental performance report it says, “In 2007-2008 a new requirement was introduced that federal organizations should ensure that their submissions to the Treasury Board are GBA compliant.” What if they're not? Are there repercussions? Are there penalties? Is there an incentive for a department to comply if the government hasn't mandated GBA? According to the Auditor General, it's not mandated.

How do we attack poverty and violence and really address it without the levers?

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Gender-based analysis is an important tool, but it is, of course, only one of many tools that can be used.

With respect to your comments about the 2007 Treasury Board decision that our government made, and the directive that was issued, it very clearly states that in order to receive the funds, the Treasury Board submission must provide evidence that gender-based analysis has been done.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

But the Auditor General couldn't find that evidence.

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

The Auditor General didn't have an opportunity to look at cabinet documents. So while she has done an exceptional job in highlighting where we need to make improvements... That's why we have the action plan in place that we do, which I encourage you to go through. I actually assume, Irene, that you probably have taken a long, hard look at it.

I'm not sure if you had an opportunity to speak with officials about each specific section of that action plan that was developed by Treasury Board, by PCO, and by our Status officials. I would encourage you to do that. So you can see where those significant steps are in place, because we accepted her recommendations and we are moving to implement them.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

I hope that is the case, Minister, because there are millions of women depending on us.