Status of Women Committee on April 21st, 2016

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Thank you.

I'm sharing my time with Mr. Fraser.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Excellent. Thank you very much.

I'm going to build on some of the campus-based questions you heard earlier from my colleague, Ms. Vecchio.

It wasn't only the under-reporting that I found very shocking, but also the percentage of drug-based and alcohol-based sexually violent incidents that took place. I think it was somewhere in the range of 60% where the victims were women aged 18 to 24.

It seems that between under-reporting and this drug-based and alcohol-based sexual violence, there is data to say there are problems that uniquely impact the campus crowd, so to speak. Is there any programming or are there any models done for that age group that would prevent violence against women in the 18 to 24 age group?

[Lori MacDonald]

There are crime prevention programs for that age group. Let me see if I can find an example here. They don't really focus on the way you framed it, in terms of being a victim of that, although there are victim programs that are run by other agencies and departments and so on, the Department of Justice being an example that could speak to that.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Sure.

[Lori MacDonald]

There are, though, crime prevention programs, whether that's a gang program or a youth program, that deal with issues that are aimed at violence against women. It would depend on the target group you're actually looking at. It could obviously impact people going to colleges and universities, but not, per se, the way you've described it, in terms of a program that targets assisting women on campus, as an example, that we would have out of the public safety department.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Do the programs focus primarily on people who could become victims or are they also focused on, for example, young men and boys who could become perpetrators?

[Lori MacDonald]

Absolutely both, yes.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Still on the campus theme, from the RCMP's perspective, you mentioned that you work closely with campus police or sometimes universities. Are there any sorts of best practices that exist when you do it? Or is it just that a local detachment's goodwill dictates what takes place?

[Supt Shirley Cuillierrier]

It's about local detachments having that relationship with the university and with campus police. I think that relationship can extend further. In terms of working in the community, police officers get to know the students.

I really bring it back to the relationship in terms of the trust and the respect among the university, the people attending the university, and the police in the community. That's a key.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Do you think the development of best practices for that kind of RCMP-campus relationship would even be helpful?

[Supt Shirley Cuillierrier]

My position is that anything that prevents women from being victimized is helpful. Absolutely, yes.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Okay.

I think I have about 30 seconds. I'll be very quick. You mentioned a couple of risk factors. One was being a member of an indigenous community. I think you mentioned drug addiction as well. Are there any other overarching risk factors that have been identified that make someone more likely to be a victim of violence against young women and girls?

[Angela Connidis]

Being among the vulnerable people is one factor, but the general risk factors would be your family, your absenteeism from school, your level of poverty, and your social supports. Those are the kinds of risk factors you would see.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Thank you.

We'll go Ms. Harder for five minutes.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you.

My colleague and I just went onto BullyText in order to check it out. It looks like a pretty neat program. One of the things we noticed, though, is that it says it's no longer available as of April 30, 2016. Can you comment on why we're shutting that down if it has been successful?

[Supt Shirley Cuillierrier]

That's in my notes, and that's one piece that I need to follow up on. I'm stepping out of my realm of understanding, but there's a technological reason.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Okay.

[Supt Shirley Cuillierrier]

I can certainly provide it to you. I thought we would be able to use it for infinity, but it appears not. I don't know if it's a question of.... I don't know if we're paying for it.

All I know is that when it was demonstrated to me I found it very valuable, and then to hear from the communities that it's something good.... I think it's something that we need to explore further.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you.

Shirley, again you might be the best one to respond to this, but I'll let the three of you decide. Can you talk a bit about the association between drug use and crime?

[Supt Shirley Cuillierrier]

There's a high correlation.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Is that true even for soft drugs like marijuana? Or is marijuana a safe drug and you don't necessarily see that correlation there?

[Supt Shirley Cuillierrier]

In terms of police investigations, we make observations. Is that kind of information necessarily collected as part of our investigation? No, but we can actually indicate whether the complainant, a suspect, or someone who has been victimized is impaired either by drugs or by alcohol. That's about it in terms of an investigation.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Would you be able to comment specifically with regard to violence committed against women and the association with drug use?

[Supt Shirley Cuillierrier]

I'm sorry. What was the question again?