Thank you, Madam Chair.
On behalf of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, thank you for the invitation to speak today and to support the committee's study on gender-based analysis.
I am delighted to give you an overview of INAC's current policy, gender-based analysis practices, and results related to the 2015 Auditor General's report.
Before this overview, I would like to say that INAC has made a commitment, as part of a government-wide approach, to make significant and measurable progress on the implementation of gender-based analysis in all federal departments.
In 1999 INAC introduced its gender-based analysis policy framework. We took a very centralized approach to it initially in developing the policy, working with such other government departments as Justice Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, Status of Women Canada, and Global Affairs.
We also, given the mandate of our department, liaised extensively with the Assembly of First Nations women's secretariat, and the Native Women's Association of Canada as we developed our initial policy.
Our policy framework at INAC actually requires that gender-based analysis be integrated into all of the department's work, which includes the development and implementation of policies, programs, communication plans, regulations, legislation, memoranda to cabinet, and Treasury Board submissions. It goes beyond, though, and extends into consultations and negotiations, including those for self-government, land claims, and treaty land entitlement. Also, it extends into our research, dispute resolution, and litigation work.
In terms of practice, the department has developed tools to support a sustainable gender-based analysis capacity, which includes online training available to all staff, which we actually developed with Status of Women several years back. We have very departmental-specific guides and tools that are available on our Internet sites. We also have a very well-established network of gender-based analysis sector representatives. At this point in time we have 37 gender-based analysis representatives, GBARs, across the department.
Within INAC, every initiative that goes forward to cabinet must have a gender-based analysis completed. The gender-based analysis assessment is approved at the assistant deputy minister level. The deputy minister has full accountability to ensure that gender-based analysis is completed on all initiatives, and it doesn't actually proceed to our departmental policy committee before the GBA is completed to the satisfaction of the deputy minister.
Since 1999 we've built up a lot of capacity and expertise, and we've repositioned our approach somewhat, moving away from a purely centralized model to one that is much more mainstream. We've actually driven accountability for GBA down into the sectors and programs to make sure that it's happening at the very beginning of policy development. This is really to ensure that gender-based analysis is part of everything we do in the department.
In terms of the Auditor General's report, the gender-based analysis policy and implementation practices have been assessed recently at INAC. We were one of the four departments, as you know. We are also one of the few departments to have actually evaluated our GBA policy, in 2002 and again in 2008.
We wanted to share with you some of the insights from GBA, in particular on the family violence prevention program, which was highlighted in the report of the Auditor General. As a result of a gender-based analysis, we actually shifted the program focus to a certain extent, recognizing that we were not hearing enough about the issues that men and boys face as victims and perpetrators of violence. We ensured that some funding was directed to ensuring that they had a voice.
Even more recently, as we've set out to do a pre-engagement on the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, we have made sure, through our GBA analysis again, that there is a way for the voices of men and boys to be heard as well, because it's very important in terms of GBA not to over-focus but to make sure that you're being equitable in your approach.
As Gail Mitchell noted, there are some challenges, which were highlighted in the Auditor General's report, concerning implementing GBA in departments. One of them, as most of us know, is the very fast timelines and fast pace we're under, trying to get things through. That said, there is significant attention given to GBA at INAC. It actually is mandatory: an MC doesn't go forward unless a GBA is completed.
In closing, I just want to say that we look forward to further collaboration with all the partners on GBA, and we're certainly here to share our experiences and to learn from others as we advance on this important file.
Merci.