Status of Women Committee on March 19th, 2013

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

Good morning. Welcome to the 64th meeting of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), we are studying expenditure plans for Status of Women Canada in 2012-2013 and the main estimates for 2013-2014.

Today, we welcome the Minister for Status of Women, the Hon. Rona Ambrose. Thank you very much for accepting the committee's invitation. We also welcome Ms. Suzanne Clément, Coordinator and Head of Agency, Status of Women Canada and Ms. Joanne Tremblay, Acting Director, Corporate Services.

Welcome to you all.

Without further delay, Ms. Ambrose, I give you the floor. You have 10 minutes. After that, we will move to questions. You may begin.

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister for Status of Women]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the committee for inviting me to be here today to discuss the main estimates and supplementary estimates (C) for Status of Women. I would like to thank all of you right off the bat for the great work you do on behalf of women and on this committee.

I'm joined by Suzanne Clément, our coordinator and the head of agency at Status of Women Canada, and Johanne Tremblay, our chief financial officer.

Our government is committed to bettering the lives of women and girls in communities across Canada.

Since 2007, I am happy to report to the committee, our government has now funded more than 600 new projects from coast to coast that support women and girls through the women's program at Status of Women Canada. Today, I know it would be important for you to know that almost half of this funding has focused specifically on ending violence against women and girls.

We've increased funding now to the women's program to its highest level ever. As you have seen in the main estimates, we are maintaining this level of funding.

I'm also happy to inform the committee that in the next fiscal year, Status of Women Canada will continue to focus on three priority areas that I know are also important to this committee: ending violence against women and girls, increasing women's economic security and prosperity, and encouraging women's leadership and democratic participation.

We have made a serious and strong commitment to ending violence against women and girls. We're taking action to protect the most vulnerable women in Canadian society: women in immigrant communities, women who are living in poverty, and aboriginal women and girls.

Over the last year, Status of Women has issued a number of calls for proposals that address this serious issue. These targeted calls have allowed us at Status of Women to focus on emerging and urgent issues and to expand our reach across the country and build relationships with new organizations, and at times we've been able to take a national approach to some of these issues. For example, our government is currently supporting 21 projects across Canada that are working to end violence against women on university and college campuses. These projects are addressing a wide range of issues, such as sexual assault and sexual harassment, and they are innovative because they're led by students themselves.

I'd also like to inform the committee of our most recent calls. We asked communities to work together to address violence against women and girls in four key areas: preventing and reducing violence against women and girls in high-risk neighbourhoods; preventing and reducing violence against women and girls in the name of so-called "honour"; preventing and reducing the trafficking of women and girls through community-based planning, to support our national action plan to combat human trafficking—there are 16 departments involved in that plan, and Status of Women is one that's supporting it—and engaging men and boys in ending violence against women and girls.

It's no coincidence that Canada's theme this year for International Women's Week 2013 was entitled “Working Together: Engaging Men to End Violence against Women”; that reflects one of our key areas. We believe that violence against women is an issue for all Canadians to address, women and men and girls and boys alike. We must all be part of the solution.

This is an innovative approach, and it has not only led to a call for proposals, but has already led to some really exciting and interesting projects. Nationally, we have supported the work of Canada's White Ribbon Campaign, which focuses on educating men and boys and raises public awareness to end violence against women and girls. We have also partnered with the Ending Violence Association of British Columbia and their innovative "Be More than a Bystander" campaign, which involves high-profile male sports figures educating young boys that violence against women and girls is not acceptable.

In addition, our government recently launched the End Violence Against Women and Girls resource website, which has information related to this specific topic. I would urge you to take a look at it and to share the website with as many people as you can. It's at women.gc.ca/violence.

We are committed to ending violence against women, not only at home but abroad. Two weeks ago, I led the Canadian delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, at which we focused our discussion on ending violence against women and girls, with many other countries. I co-hosted panels, with the United States specifically and also with Canadian non-governmental organizations, on violence committed in the name of so-called "honour", and as well on engaging men and boys in violence prevention.

I was pleased to be joined as well by Manitoba's minister responsible for the status of women, and by many other provincial ministers, at the panel on engaging men and boys in violence prevention. During the panel, we highlighted the Government of Manitoba's and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' own “Be More than a Bystander” campaign. Using EVA BC's innovative model, which I mentioned earlier, the Government of Manitoba and the Blue Bombers are now also working together to engage men and boys to prevent violence against women and girls.

The second panel, on violence committed in the name of so-called "honour", was also very productive and well attended. It included international experts from Great Britain and the United States and Canada's own Aruna Papp, with whom many of you are familiar, who was part of our own Canadian delegation.

Of course, our government has made our position clear on the topic of violence committed in the name of so-called "honour" by clearly condemning the practice in our new citizenship guide, but also by being the first government to provide funding specifically for immigrant women's organizations across the country while they tackle this very complex issue.

At the UN we also endorsed the COMMIT initiative put forward by UN Women asking governments everywhere to be part of global efforts aimed at ending violence against women and girls.

Our government recognizes that women's safety goes hand in hand with their economic prosperity.

In fact, economic insecurity prevents women from leaving abusive relationships, unsafe neighbourhoods, and substandard housing. It also prevents women and girls from developing their skills, furthering their education, and advancing their careers. At Status of Women Canada this means advancing women in leadership roles in all sectors of our society and increasing their economic security. Last year we issued calls for proposals across the country for projects that encourage girls' leadership and work to increase the economic prosperity of women in rural and remote communities.

In addition, through our economic action plan 2012, we are creating an advisory council of leaders from the public and private sectors to promote the participation of women on corporate boards. As McKinsey and Company, Credit Suisse, Catalyst, and others have made clear, businesses with more women on their boards are more profitable and routinely outperform those with fewer women. The council will help us increase the number of highly qualified women directors. In so doing, we will raise the profile of Canadian women's corporate excellence and leadership.

Such women leaders can also serve as role models and mentors, inspiring young women to set their sights on acquiring the education and skills they need for future success and prosperity. It's clear that increasing opportunities for women to serve on corporate boards makes good business sense for Canadian women and for Canada's economy.

So as we move forward Madam Chair, our government remains committed to ending violence against women, increasing their economic prosperity, and encouraging their leadership.

This year, as you've probably noted, $29.6 million is being allocated to Status of Women Canada through the main estimates. The majority of this funding allocation will be for grants and contributions under the women's program. Supplementary estimates (C) reflect a transfer of $83,333 from the Department of Justice to help fund a project by the Centre d'expertise en agression sexuelle Marie-Vincent that will serve victims of sexual abuse. This funding will enable us to add to our growing list of promising initiatives that help create positive, concrete change for women and girls in every region of our country.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you very much for your attention and for giving me the opportunity to share with you some of the great work that Status of Women Canada is doing.

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

Thank you.

We now begin the first round of questions.

Ms. Truppe, you have seven minutes.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister, Suzanne and Johanne, for coming today. I know you're very busy especially with two portfolios.

Minister, you mentioned in your remarks your trip to the UN for the 57th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. I'm honoured to say that I was also in attendance, as were members from each of the three parties.

You also mentioned in your opening remarks that the theme for International Women's Week this year was violence against women. Ending all forms of violence against women is an issue that you have personally championed as the Minister for Status of Women.

Could you provide the committee with an update on efforts to combat violence against women and girls?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

Sure. If I could, I'll focus on the issue around engaging men and boys, because that was one of the areas we focused on when we were at the UN.

The first time we went to the UN to hold a round table on this issue, there was some interest, but to be honest, not a lot. A year later, we saw Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the UN, create a special committee of male leaders from all over the world to take a stand on ending violence against women and girls. I think engaging men and boys is not only timely, it's essential, so I was really pleased to see the work that was being done not only here in Canada but of course all over the world.

We do believe very strongly—I think all of us do on this committee, and in the House—that this is an issue for all of us. The reality is that men are the perpetrators of violence against women and girls, but the majority of them are good, and they want to help. I think the reality is that a lot of men don't quite know how to participate. Finding ways to involve them in the conversation is really important, because they are mentors, they are fathers, husbands, brothers. They have influence. They're 50% of the population. We need as many allies as we can get on this issue.

The women's movement has led this issue for decades, and that's the way it will continue to be, but we do need men to take a more active role. We need men to step up and speak out on these issues. If they see something, or if they know of something, we need it so that they aren't afraid to speak out. I think that resonated very well with the work being done at the UN, and seeing some of the projects coming forward to Status of Women are really important.

I do want to make the point also that with these kinds of projects, it's important that women's organizations remain involved. What we don't want to have happen is to lose all the great work that women's organizations have done on this issue. They're the ones who have advocated and provided great research, and are doing the front-line service provision.

So the way that we have structured the call for proposals is that men's groups, if they are men's groups, or organizations like the Y, for instance, that may want to work on projects, have to involve women's organizations. I think that's important, because it creates that dialogue that we really need to have happen.

I would say there's a lot of work being done. I mentioned EVA in British Columbia. The flagship project that EVA BC is doing with the BC Lions is called “Be More Than a Bystander”. It has iconic football role models or athletes going into schools, making hundreds of visits into schools, to talk to girls and boys, but specifically targeting the boys about ending violence against women. It's an innovative idea. These are men that the boys look up to. They listen to what they say when they come into the classroom.

That has spurred another program in Manitoba, with the Manitoba government and the Blue Bombers.

The idea is to open up the conversation and look for innovative ideas.

In Brantford, Ontario, the Nova Vita women's shelter has a male-led project to engage male and female students in at-risk schools in promoting awareness of domestic violence against women and girls.

There's also one in London, Ontario, that we're supporting, an initiative called “Changing Ways”. It engages youth aged 12 to 15 and their parents to end gender-based violence and bullying.

There's also a great one in New Brunswick that the YWCA is working on with young girls and boys.

The idea is to look at this from a more holistic point of view, to ensure that boys at a young age know that they also have a responsibility and obligation, and to talk about healthy relationships. I think this is a very important aspect, and an essential aspect, of the conversation to end violence against women and girls moving forward.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Great. Thank you, Minister.

I agree that men should be speaking up as well. As you know, I'm a good supporter of the “Be More Than a Bystander” program. I think that's a great initiative.

We know that aboriginal women and girls are the Canadians most at risk of violence, and that the Government of Canada developed a five-year national strategy aimed at enhancing the response of law enforcement and the justice system to cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls, and supporting culturally appropriate victim services.

But these are not the only issues faced by aboriginal women. Access to services and leadership opportunities for women and girls living in these remote communities is limited, and programming more difficult to access.

I've heard you speak passionately about the need for an extension of matrimonial property rights for first nations women living on reserve. Could you speak to the need for programming that addresses the needs of these at-risk and rural populations, as well as the importance of addressing issues of matrimonial property rights, as part of our efforts to end violence against aboriginal women and girls?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

Sure. I know that this committee did—

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

You have just one minute, sorry.

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

The committee obviously did a great study when you did the work on ending violence against aboriginal women and girls, but we all know and recognize that aboriginal women and girls are the Canadians most at risk of violence. The statistics are very clear. So, as you said, there is a lot of work being done, whether it's through the national strategy and the RCMP missing persons unit that's been established or the over 40 projects across the country that are culturally sensitive, working with aboriginal women's groups and other groups that are working on these issues.

I think those projects in particular are really important, because they're projects that are on the ground. They address the issues of aboriginal women at risk in rural and remote communities, and they're grassroots initiatives that touch the lives of aboriginal women and girls, so they're also preventative, which I think is very important.

I'll just name one, because I'm familiar with it. It's in Edmonton. It's with the Creating Hope Society and it's working with aboriginal women and girls to provide them with the resources necessary to support victims of violence in the aboriginal community. There are a number of these being funded across the country—there are almost 40 through Justice Canada—but this in particular is funded through Status of Women, and we have a number of projects as well.

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

Ms. Ambrose, I am sorry, but I am going to have to interrupt you because the time allocated to Ms. Truppe is up.

The floor now goes to Ms. Day.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Ms. Ambrose, welcome to this committee. We hope to see you again at our committee very soon and as often as possible.

Madam Minister, the United Nations is one thing, but last night, at a meeting of the NDP women's caucus, we had with us Michèle Audette, the President of the Native Women's Association of Canada. She did not see things as you do, in that she was saying that, before getting men and boys involved, it is necessary to provide basic, essential services, including a shortage of 10,000 homes in first nations communities.

Here are my questions for you.

The Main Estimates 2013-2014 show a transfer from Justice Canada to Status of Women Canada. It is intended to strengthen the development of knowledge for aboriginal service and resource deliverers so that they can better deal with the problems of sexual violence against women in their communities. The funding of projects designed to improve the lives of women and girls is very important.

Given the seriousness of the problem of sexual violence against first nations women, is Status of Women Canada recommending a national inquiry on missing or murdered aboriginal women?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

I think there were quite a few different questions in there. Did you want me to speak about the transfer from Justice Canada in particular, or address the issue of murdered or missing aboriginal women?

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

I was talking about the transfer from the Department of Justice to Status of Women Canada.

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

Sure, I'd be happy to.

We work with a number of different departments. If a project, for instance, doesn't fit within our mandate, we work with that group to try to get funding for it through another department. We work very closely in particular with Aboriginal Affairs on projects related to aboriginal women and girls, and with Justice Canada on issues related to violence against women and girls through their Victims Fund.

So, for instance, in this project they transferred money to us. They thought it made more sense for us to manage this project, so they transferred some funds to us. This is consistent with the Government of Canada's objective through our blue ribbon panel to streamline the way that we effectively manage our programming. It made more sense for Status of Women to deliver this project. This project is...you're probably familiar with it, the Centre d'expertise Marie-Vincent. It was approved in March of last year as a 36-month project that is basically around the development of knowledge for aboriginal service deliverers on the issue of sexually assaulted girls. The project is going to develop expertise of service delivery professionals in aboriginal communities in Quebec to better serve aboriginal girls who have been victims of sexual abuse.

Status of Women's contribution itself for the project is $380,000, but Justice's contribution is $250,000, so that means $83,333 per year. That's where the transfer comes in. The total combined amount for the project itself over the three years is just a little over $630,000, but we know this is an excellent organization and an excellent project, so we're very happy to fund it, and very happy that Justice Canada is also contributing to the project.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Currently, the committee is working on a study on sexual harassment in the federal workplace. Do you believe that Status of Women Canada should play a frontline role in helping departments to prevent sexual harassment?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

Absolutely. I speak out on it. Our department supports other departments when it comes to gender-based analysis, and that's part of dealing with these kinds of issues. When the issue arose about sexual harassment in the RCMP, one of the first calls we made—Suzanne Clément can speak more to that—was to the commissioner of the RCMP to offer our services and our expertise on doing a gender audit.

I applaud the committee for doing the work you are doing because this isn't just an issue that affects one organization or agency within the federal government. It's an issue that affects women all across the country, whether that is public or private sector.

But we are there with our expertise and we are more than happy to offer it. We did do that with the RCMP in particular, and we will do that with any department that asks for it.

I don't know if Suzanne wants to make any further comment about that.

[Suzanne Clément, Coordinator and Head of Agency, Office of the Coordinator, Status of Women Canada]

As the minister mentioned, we have worked with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. We pointed out to their representatives the tools available to conduct a comparative analysis within their organization for various processes, including the recruitment and promotion of women.

In terms of the public service as a whole, we are working closely with the Treasury Board Secretariat, which is responsible for harassment policies in the public service. So we are able to provide them with advice and assistance.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

The budget will be tabled soon. Can we expect it to include gender analysis?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

In terms of the way gender analysis is done, of course we provide expertise, but it is, as you know, the responsibility of each department to do gender analysis. From what I see, that is being done. I see in cabinet documents that gender analysis is done. The analysis is provided to ministers when programs do come through. And we encourage and work with all the departments to ensure they are doing it in a rigorous way. We also help with training those within each department who are responsible for fulfilling that obligation.

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

You have one minute left, Ms. Day

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Thank you.

Can we expect to see you again soon, after the budget has been tabled, so that we can look at what is available in the 2013-2014 budget for Status of Women Canada?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

I look forward to an invitation. I thank you for that.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Recently, the Government of Canada approved a UN Women's initiative asking governments around the world to be part of the global efforts to end violence against women and girls. This is a noble endeavour, if we are ready to play a real role.

The UN is asking all countries to put in place an action plan to fight violence against women by 2015.

Is Canada committed to having such an action plan in place?

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

Very quickly....

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

I'm sorry, do I have time to answer?