Evidence of meeting #20 for Status of Women in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was project.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Director, Strategic Partnerships and Operations, Women's Program and Regional Operations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
They provide in-kind contributions and some time to the project.
Conservative
Stella Ambler Conservative Mississauga South, ON
Okay. So this is new for the federal government, for Status of Women, a new project...?
Director, Strategic Partnerships and Operations, Women's Program and Regional Operations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
Well, we've funded the FCM before for projects that had the same ultimate goal of getting young women involved or even of going into schools to tell young women about the interests of being involved in the political world. It's not the first time we have had that kind of project.
Director General, Women's Program and Regional Operations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
Actually, in Quebec we funded a group called Femmes, Politique et Démocratie, which has been providing non-partisan training for women who are interested in politics, whether that's at the municipal or other levels. So we do have, on an ongoing basis, a number of projects that touch upon that subject matter, with different recipes.
Conservative
Stella Ambler Conservative Mississauga South, ON
Right, different ways of doing it. I'd be interested in knowing more. If your interim report is something that you can share with us, that would be welcomed. I'd appreciate that.
I'm not sure how much time....
Conservative
NDP
The Chair NDP Irene Mathyssen
Okay. Thank you very much.
We'll move to Madam Freeman for five minutes, please.
NDP
Mylène Freeman NDP Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC
That's great. Thank you, Madam Chair.
We can continue from where we were. Just to clarify, that funding you're talking about, the funding that's available, is just for the women's program...?
Director General, Women's Program and Regional Operations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
That's right.
NDP
Mylène Freeman NDP Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC
So on the numbers we're talking about when we're talking about $10 million, it's also just for the women's program...?
Director General, Women's Program and Regional Operations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
That is grants and contributions money that is available for groups.
NDP
Mylène Freeman NDP Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC
But now with the $19 million, we're talking about what used to be regional offices and what used to be partnership funds, etc.
Director General, Women's Program and Regional Operations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
No, those would be operating funds. Our budgets are separate. Operating funds pay for our salary and our overhead. Grants and contributions goes in its entirety to groups and organizations. When I was referring to that $10 million, which was $12 million, $11 million, $10 million, etc., that was specifically grants and contributions, the totality of which goes out to organizations outside Status of Women.
NDP
Mylène Freeman NDP Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC
Right. I'm glad it is increasing there. But what I'm saying is that I fear that it has been given a larger number of things to fund. Meanwhile, the scope has been limited. For instance, it's still the case that initiatives not eligible include domestic advocacy activities and lobbying of federal, provincial, and municipal governments. Is that right?
Director General, Women's Program and Regional Operations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
That's correct.
NDP
Mylène Freeman NDP Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC
In effect, in this $19 million we're now also talking about the community and partnerships funds, or what used to be, and the mandate is limited. That concerns me a little bit. As my colleague Madam Boutin-Sweet was saying, there are a lot of organizations fighting for women's rights that no longer get funding. The funding may be going up for what's going out, but it's limited. There are a wider variety of things to fund with essentially less money.
Director General, Women's Program and Regional Operations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
What you are describing is basically what the terms and conditions of our programs are, and terms and conditions evolve over time. We are here to implement them, not choose them. Yes, they have evolved over time. The program's been around for a long time, so there have been multiple iterations. It's always a matter of what the focus is decided to be at the time of the terms and conditions renewal, and that's what we implement.
NDP
Mylène Freeman NDP Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC
Of course.
I'm curious as to what the definition of advocacy is. How do you decide what an advocacy program is?
Director General, Women's Program and Regional Operations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
The groups are very clear themselves about what they consider to be the advocacy they do. In the two years I've been with the program, I haven't had an issue with definitions of advocacy.
NDP
Mylène Freeman NDP Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC
I'm confused, though. If you were to take advocacy out of your mandate, would that help? Is it just a word? Does it include awareness campaigns?
Director General, Women's Program and Regional Operations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
What we fund are projects that are directly going to benefit women or are directly going to be removing barriers to women's participation. The activities connected to that are what we fund.
NDP
Mylène Freeman NDP Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC
Another thing I was concerned about is that a project goes up to 36 months. So if you fund an organization's project for 36 months, there is no option to renew.
Director General, Women's Program and Regional Operations Directorate, Status of Women Canada
That's right. We're project-based; we're not group-based. It's not a situation of core funding. Core funding has mostly disappeared from all levels of government across Canada in the last 15 or so years. We're all functioning on a project basis, and that is one of the consequences. When the project is over, we can't refund the exact same project, hence the importance we've been placing on creating community action plans and on engaging partners in the community to create that sustainability once we're gone.
NDP
Mylène Freeman NDP Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC
That can be too bad, though, because I know of some projects that do work but that cannot be refunded, and now they can't continue them because there is not really any.... Do you follow up on that? Do you try to find other resources for them? Are there other resources for them?