Status of Women Committee on Nov. 18th, 2014

[Wai Young, Conservative, Vancouver South, BC]

Hi, and thank you so much to all of you for your presentations. They were certainly very diverse and very insightful.

Jill Earthy, I want to start with you. Jill, I was at the forum in Vancouver as well recently, so I just want to say hello. That was a very worthwhile event, as you said, and it would be great if it were repeated at various places across Canada.

Given that you're located in Vancouver and given the push for our government to expand our trade ties—because our economic growth is abroad and certainly in the Pacific Rim, as we all know—I wanted to ask you what is being done in that area to capitalize on our diversity in this country and to link us with the various opportunities there are, not just in the Asia-Pacific but also with the signing of the free trade agreement with Korea, the free trade agreement between Canada and Europe, etc.

[Jill Earthy]

That is a great question. It's nice to see you again.

I have to say that's not an area of expertise for me. It's certainly something though, through my role at Futurpreneur Canada, that we're very aware of and we certainly help to direct entrepreneurs to the resources they need. There are some initiatives within B.C. taking place, led by our provincial government, Small Business BC, and Export Development Canada, and there are a number of workshops. We do see all of those activities happening in order to educate entrepreneurs on how they can access those opportunities and grow their businesses to support economic growth.

I'm not sure if that fully answers your question, but it is certainly something that's on our radar and there are a lot of amazing opportunities. My role really is to be a guide to make sure we're aware of what resources are available and to be able to direct entrepreneurs appropriately.

Also, just building on events like.... I know that some of those pieces did come up within the B.C. Economic Forum recently within the women's entrepreneurship track, particularly on how we help women access those larger opportunities. So I know that's a piece we'll be continuing to follow up on to support more women entrepreneurs in those endeavours.

That would be another recommendation to this committee as well, a way to continue to support activities such as the B.C. Economic Forum, and to make sure we are sharing the outcomes and the recommendations and solutions from that.

Thank you.

[Wai Young, Conservative, Vancouver South, BC]

Prior to becoming a member of Parliament, I ran my own consulting firm for about 20 years and was very fortunate in doing that. But a lot of that was networks and contacts and knowing people, etc., and having a very solid foundation in the work that I did because then people heard your name and knew what you did and contacted you sometimes.

What happens to people who are not in that situation? I look at my daughter, who is 17 and wants to be and is an artist. She is an excellent artist but she's chosen a very difficult path. We all know that's not a career path where she is possibly going to have very steady work or make lots of money.

What are you doing or what can be done for women who are choosing alternate modes of careers?

[Jill Earthy]

That's another great question.

I know what we try to do, again as a guide, is to share opportunities with entrepreneurs, particularly young women.

We also have found that hosting small, more informal gatherings.... For example, yesterday morning we hosted a small breakfast in our office for 20 young entrepreneurs. Most of them were women because I think there is something about that smaller group environment where they can connect and build relationships so it's quite appealing to them.

I think it's about offering different types of networking opportunities and also directing them to large events, but also giving them the skills and the confidence to connect and network with people.

The other piece is also reaching out to individuals they admire. I do a lot of that coaching and mentoring, particularly with women it seems, where they know what they need and what they want, but they don't know how to ask for it. So it is really guiding them to do that, whether that's then reaching out to an individual to sit down and have a coffee and to build that relationship, or whether it's going to an event, a meeting, or that sort of thing.

That is a great question because that happens a lot.

[Wai Young, Conservative, Vancouver South, BC]

I'd like to then turn my question to Ms. Fariba Pacheleh.

I want to thank you so much for your leadership in the area of women in science and technology. I know that's an area in which we need to do more work.

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Ms. Young, could we have just a very short question and a very short answer, please?

[Wai Young, Conservative, Vancouver South, BC]

You talked about a range of things we could be doing to encourage more women in science and technology. What could we be doing for young women in science and technology?

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Thank you.

Go ahead very briefly.

[Fariba Pacheleh]

At the SCWIST, we have different pillars that cover the whole spectrum of a woman's life. We start with mentorship for young girls, actually starting from the age of five or six until the end of high school. I think it's a very important time and age, when they actually decide if they want to go into STEM or not. We are competing with all of those Hollywood movies and movie stars. Encouraging girls to go into science, technology, engineering or math is important work, which we're doing. We have an outreach program that does that and I would encourage us to continue that throughout the whole country.

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Thank you very much, Ms. Pacheleh and Ms. Young.

Mrs. Sellah, you have the floor. You have five minutes.

[Djaouida Sellah, NDP, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you all for your testimony.

In the course of this study, we have met many women who are entrepreneurs and who have achieved success. But, unfortunately, they are exceptions.

As the witness from British Columbia said, we are preaching to the choir. But there are a lot of women who are not entrepreneurs, who do not even have jobs. My impression is that, by providing subsidies, the government would push some organizations to work more according to its own priorities than according to the priorities of women.

Ms. Nalayeh spoke about immigrant women having access to workshops. There is also the question of access to housing. When it comes to getting women out of poverty, we see nothing concrete. It remains an open issue.

Ms. Chouinard, thank you for being here. Can you tell me what the federal government could do for organizations like yours as they try to meet women's basic needs first?

[Danièle Chouinard]

I would like to go back to that recent study.

At the end of the study, there were some recommendations. They showed that, if there were broader coalitions, if forums could be established with adequate funding, if funding was continuous and on-going, it would be an improvement. We talk about individuals being in a precarious situation, but we can also talk about independent community organizations being in a precarious situation as well.

A precarious funding situation means never knowing whether grants are going to be renewed. That puts all the women who may work in those environments in a precarious situation too. It means that it is currently very difficult for community organizations to be able to undertake long-term projects. Yet there is a crying need for recognition and sustainability. We must be given the means to take independent community action in educating people, and that means going out to find the people and the women where they are.

For some time, I have been listening to what is being said. If I may, I would like to talk about a cooperative in Peru. Some Peruvian women are growing coffee in a small community, with encouragement from us. So we have that exchange with those women and, to an extent, with some women in the vicinity. Why does that project work? The women grow the coffee and the community is the richer for the cooperative.

The children live there. Families are looked after because there is integration. The idea is that everyone has a role and recognition in that micro-society. My dream is for that micro-society to spread around the planet with the recognition that, when it comes to basic needs, those needs can be met. You cannot tell someone to get out of her kitchen and become an entrepreneur when the kitchen has rats in it. Let us also not forget that one woman in four in Canada is a victim of sexual violence.

The entire question of social factors that foster health, peace and tranquillity or those that provoke domestic violence, everything we have been talking about from the outset, falls on the shoulders of community organizations, most of whose employees are women. Most of them are underpaid and overqualified, if you can imagine a state of affairs like that. People must know that they can have a job to do. This is about more than being ready and willing to do it, it is also about having the means to do it.

[Djaouida Sellah, NDP, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you.

Do I have any time left, Madam Chair?

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

I am sorry, but your time is up.

Thank you very much for that question and answer.

Mrs. Ambler, the floor is yours. You have five minutes.

[Stella Ambler, Conservative, Mississauga South, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to all of our wonderful witnesses today. The testimony has been fascinating with regard to this study. I think we're all learning a lot and getting some very good ideas about what can be done to encourage women and their prosperity.

I'd like to ask Ms. Nalayeh.... But first of all, let me say that I was a little bit surprised when you said you were looking for a mentor because I would think that you would be a mentor, and that you've already been through that stage. It's certainly always good to have a mentor no matter how successful you are. It's also kind of neat that you recognize that. I would also encourage you to be a mentor to even younger women because you obviously have a lot to offer.

My question for you is about networking, which is kind of related to mentorship. We've heard from previous witnesses of the importance of networking. One of them in particular talked about cultural nuances in networking, and that sometimes immigrant women have an even greater challenge networking because the cultural norms are perhaps different than what they're used to.

Have you ever come across that or would you agree that this is even more of a challenge for immigrant women?

[Hodan Nalayeh]

Yes, I agree completely with that statement. I believe that mentorship.... In my view, the media and television arts programs, I mean, talk about a very heavily male-dominated industry, number one. To even think there's anybody who looks like me who's a woman is very rare, and even a visible minority is very rare. How do we give access to women to reach these types of people? How can they network with those people?

Again, if you're not bringing to the table the people who need the resources, how can they benefit?

[Stella Ambler, Conservative, Mississauga South, ON]

How would you suggest we tackle that problem?

[Hodan Nalayeh]

One thing I would highly recommend is integrating. Integration's a two-way street, like diversity. Take the programs to the people who actually need them. Maybe we can hold an entrepreneur night in one of these low-income neighbourhoods, so that women can learn how they may expand their clothing store business, or be taught how to invest.

If the services are not benefiting the people, we need to take the services to the people. I think that's not happening a lot in Canadian society. The services are basically being talked about, discussed, but never taken to the actual people who need them.

[Stella Ambler, Conservative, Mississauga South, ON]

That's a very good point. Thank you.

I have a question for Jill Earthy. We also heard from a previous witness—in fact she was an academic director at the Rotman School of Management—about the importance of confidence, and that sometimes women don't have the same levels of confidence. I see you both nodding your heads.

Perhaps you could speak to that issue, with regard to women in particular.

We also heard that public speaking is an important skill. Do you think that for your entrepreneurs it's important for them to have confidence and to have the skill of public speaking?

[Jill Earthy]

Absolutely, yes and yes.

I think confidence is a key piece in all aspects of our lives. There is a lot of research available that states women are lacking in confidence. We certainly see that within the entrepreneurship world, as I briefly mentioned before, with women not accessing higher amounts of capital because they tend to be risk-averse, so there's a confidence piece that plays into that, which is maybe deterring their growth opportunities.

We see confidence play a role every day. We see women not putting their hands up to participate in board opportunities, or career progression opportunities. Absolutely, I think confidence is a core piece.

The public speaking piece is also incredibly important. I know today, speaking before all of you, I'm incredibly nervous—I will admit that—and I do a lot of public speaking. It takes practice, and I think there's a lot of work we can do, a lot of support we can offer to help young women in particular to develop those skills. If you have the confidence, then I think the public speaking comes from that.

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Crockatt, the floor is yours. You have five minutes.

[Joan Crockatt, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Thank you very much.

I want to pick up on the last point. Actually, mentorship has been a theme today. We also heard at this committee that 88% of entrepreneurs with mentors survive in business, compared with a 50% failure rate without mentors, so it's great to hear several of you today talk about mentorship.

I want to go to Hodan Nalayeh because you did mention training and round tables. Sometimes it's getting the information out to women. I was wondering if you're aware that we've appointed, for the first time in Canada, a financial literacy leader, whose name is Jane Rooney. She holds financial literacy workshops. In fact, I'm going to do a few. I've had one in my riding. I'm going to do some more. Specifically, I'm going to do one with immigrant women.

One thing I'm wondering is if you were ever aware that we had those kinds of things, if you think that might have been valuable for you, or if you think immigrant women need something like that.

[Hodan Nalayeh]

I definitely think they do need it. As I said, what type of immigrant women are you reaching? A lot of times there are different classes of people. Some people may be highly educated who seek out these resources and who have the tools. But if you are going to a lower-income neighbourhood where the women don't have the traditional outreach, where it's television.... People talk right now about how hard it is to make it in the arts, but how hard is it not to give a voice in media to communities that really need it?

I encourage your daughter, Ms. Young, to continue in the arts because it's young people from diverse communities who give voice to the people who don't have a voice. Perhaps the outreach you guys are doing for immigrant women is not to the communities that really need these services. I find that—I'll be very frank with you—reflects a lack of knowing how that community receives information.

[Joan Crockatt, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

I could go on there, but I want to go back to our B.C. women, and thank you so much for getting up so early today for this particular session.

We talked about some of the skills that women might need, and I think we've heard about mentorship, but I'm wondering if we can just drill down a little bit more and perhaps we can, as you said so brilliantly, make sure we're not just revisiting old things but building ahead on them. Can either of you talk about saving money? How important do you think saving money is for women to learn, whether they're entrepreneurs or not? That, along with public speaking and the marketing that Hodan talked about, do women actually get an early start in any of those things? Should we be doing more things? Perhaps both of you can address that, one at a time.

Jill, do you want to start and then we'll go...?

[Jill Earthy]

Sure. Thank you.

I think the financial literacy workshops that you're doing are so important. I think that is a key skill that is needed across the country, particularly the work we do with young people through Futurpreneur Canada. I'll tell you that we work with 18 to 39-year-olds. We do a character-based loan program, and we do look at credit scores and we are quite flexible. One of the key things that we see, and we have those early conversations with young people about credit, is that there tends to be a lack of knowledge, understanding, and in some cases, even confidence around what that means, and the impact that it has.

So the short answer is, absolutely, saving money is critical. We really do try to teach those skills when we interact with young people around the importance of saving money and the importance of establishing credit, the long-term ramifications of that, and the benefits, too, if you do it right. I think the financial literacy and saving money piece is very important.