Yes, absolutely.
Reproductive services in the full spectrum of what we call reproductive justice are very similar to what I was talking about in terms of economic justice. We can't look at improving access for economic development for Canadian women and girls without ensuring that their reproductive health is included in this—and by that I mean even in big cities such as Toronto.
The Toronto Teen Survey was conducted in partnership with Planned Parenthood of Toronto and noted just last year that about 80% of teens in Toronto aren't even accessing sexual health services. Some of the key reasons they noted were that the services were culturally irrelevant and not peer-based, and also that they didn't speak to the realities teens were facing, particularly for aboriginal youth and youth of colour. So that's one example of how, even in a big city where you would think that there would be a lot of services, economic development, and choices, youth are not accessing those services, and that's absolutely because of the lack of peer outreach or engagement with them.
I can also speak to multiple realities that happen in rural, remote, and northern areas in Canada. Even though, for example, the legal right to abortion exists in Canada, it does not mean that it's accessible. It also does not mean that it's a reality for many Canadian women to access it even if they wanted to; if you live in a northern, rural, or remote community, you have to jump through several hoops to access what the law says is your legal right, but in reality you can't even get that right respected or actualized in your own community.
For example, communities in, let's say, northern Ontario or northern Alberta—or even on Prince Edward Island, where there are no abortion clinics available, even though it's a legally protected right—if you have to apply for a northern travel grant to travel south, if you have to front some of the money yourself, if you are a student, for example, outside of the province you're living in and you have to face reciprocal billing for provincial health care.... Those are just piecemeal some of the realities that Canadian women and girls face in regard to their full reproductive health control and access.
I also cited some of the realities in areas where so-called economic development is happening in northern communities where there is mining and gas and oil, but simultaneously there is sexual violence and extremely high rates of sexually transmitted infections, with minimal services available.