Well, 16 sites down--
Evidence of meeting #7 for Status of Women in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was clément.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #7 for Status of Women in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was clément.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:10 p.m.
Coordinator, Head of Agency, Office of the Coordinator, Status of Women Canada
Offices, sorry.
March 29th, 2010 / 4:10 p.m.
Coordinator, Head of Agency, Office of the Coordinator, Status of Women Canada
No, the programs were not lost. What we're talking about are points of service. So all of these points of service would be asked to provide the same service. They were all delivering the same program. They were then centralized.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Okay, with this drop of 75% in employees, they were asked to carry the same services and nothing was lost?
4:10 p.m.
Coordinator, Head of Agency, Office of the Coordinator, Status of Women Canada
It's not a 75% reduction of employees. It would be 16--
4:10 p.m.
Coordinator, Head of Agency, Office of the Coordinator, Status of Women Canada
Yes. So when you close a site, you reinforce another site to be able to deliver the services of that region.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
And you will be able to tell us how many people were in fact shifted. Is that...?
4:15 p.m.
Coordinator, Head of Agency, Office of the Coordinator, Status of Women Canada
I can certainly provide the committee with how the staffing--
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
I'm going to intervene here.
Because we heard that neither Madam Clément or Madam Anand were there before that, it would be interesting, because I think it's a very valid and pertinent question, if we could perhaps get something sent from the office, Madam Clément, that tells us how, with the loss of three-quarters of the sites, one is able to provide programs, which is what I think Ms. Duncan is asking. So if you can provide us with this information, we can then distribute it so that everyone can see it. It's pretty difficult for you to answer it not having been there.
4:15 p.m.
Coordinator, Head of Agency, Office of the Coordinator, Status of Women Canada
No, but I do know that some of the measures...because of course I looked at that when I arrived, to try to understand the dynamics of the offices and that.
I think the other important point to remember is that the use of the website was not adequate at the time. A person could not go on the website and find all of the information to apply to Status of Women Canada. So the creation of the website and the investment in putting all that information on the web, in fact, has made the program more accessible to those who are not in those larger centres where you would have regional offices.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Alice Wong Conservative Richmond, BC
Thank you for coming.
I'd like to have Sylvie to steer the first minute first.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Limoilou, QC
This will take only a minute. I will then give my time to Ms. Wong.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
It's up to you. You have five minutes. You can divide it whichever way you like.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Limoilou, QC
I apologize for being late. I just came from Trois-Rivières, where I met with women from the women – citizens, in action project. They were giving a progress report midway through the project. Status of Women Canada supported the project. I was pleasantly surprised to see just how much it has helped women on the ground. They are underprivileged women who come from extreme poverty and who were given the tools they need to better their situations.
I would like to hear about Status of Women Canada's relationship with community agencies on the ground. Are things going well? How many women have received help?
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Madam Boucher, that is not actually within the scope of this discussion. The discussion today relates specifically to Madam Clément: her ability to do the job and the requirements that she has to do the job properly. So relating programs and how they detail really doesn't fit in here. That could be done at another time.
Currently it is about Madam Clément. She is the scope of this question again at the moment.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Alice Wong Conservative Richmond, BC
Again, I'd like to clarify the record. There are no cuts, but rather reconstructing. That was the reply to the question.
If our question is out of order, all the other questions should have been out of order. But rather than reconstructing, cuts--
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Ms. Wong, excuse me, that was a little bit of a shooting match you just threw at the chair here.
I have not allowed anything outside of the scope. I am sitting with the book open right here on every single piece of what is the scope of this meeting today, and it was not out of order.
So, please, unless you wish to challenge the chair, do not say you think the question was out of order.
If you have a question, please ask it.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
No, Madam Wong, I am speaking now.
Please continue to question Madam Clément.
Thank you.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
It's not up to you to tell other members what they should and should not ask. If they're out of order, the chair will tell them.