Status of Women Committee on May 5th, 2016

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

I'm going to call the meeting to order.

Welcome to everyone, and particularly to our special guests. We have quite a number of panel members today, including Nancy Cheng and Richard Domingue from the Auditor General's office. As well, from the Department of Employment and Social Development we have Gail Mitchell, who is the director. From the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development we have Nicole Kennedy.

I believe that later today we'll have a couple of witnesses from the Department of Industry and the Department of Natural Resources, and we'll introduce them at that time.

Now, because we have many participants today, we've asked each of them to stick to five minutes for their preliminary comments; then we'll begin our round of questioning.

Let's start with Gail Mitchell.

[Gail Mitchell, Director General, Strategy and Intergovernmental Relations, Strategic and Service Policy Branch, Department of Employment and Social Development]

Thank you very much. I promise that I practised my speech and timed it, and it was just five minutes exactly. But one never knows what happens when you're live.

I would like to thank all the members of the committee for the opportunity to appear today.

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the implementation of gender-based analysis at Employment and Social Development Canada as well as the recent report of the Auditor General on government-wide implementation of gender-based analysis.

To set the stage, the GBA framework has been used by policy-makers at ESDC since 1995 to take into consideration gender issues, with the intention of ensuring that social, economic, and gender differences are identified and that these are addressed throughout the development and implementation of policies and programs.

ESDC is a department that delivers programs that touch Canadians directly throughout their lives. For us, gender-based analysis is an important tool in understanding the impact of our programs on people. It provides a structured approach to assess whether proposed policies and programs will further the overall commitment to achieve fairness and equity for all Canadians, particularly with respect to gender considerations. As a department that delivers programs that touch individuals, ESDC is very much focused on issues related to gender equity.

I would like to outline a little the way ESDC conducts our GBA, give you an example of policy design that specifically responded to gender issues, and indicate how the department will be moving forward on the broad continued implementation of the framework.

ESDC has put in place a gender-based analysis policy, has established a community of practice and a centre of expertise to support the inclusion of adequate GBA+ in the policy development process.

The centre provides tools to conduct the analysis, including a list of key questions and checklists. We provide a training manual on GBA+ and a guide to developing the analysis. The centre organizes GBA+ awareness activities throughout the department. GBA is also considered as part of regular program evaluation and in the research that the department conducts on such issues as the Canadian labour market, skills and training, labour force participation rates across varied populations, and service delivery, just to name a few of the areas of research.

Program and policy areas are accountable for ensuring that GBA+ considerations have been integrated into and are fully addressed within their mandates as part of the development and implementation of their initiatives.

I would like to give you an example of how GBA was used to advance policy development on a specific program.

In 2010 the department was developing an aboriginal skills and employment training strategy. We worked closely with federal colleagues at INAC as well as with the Native Women's Association of Canada in order to focus on ensuring that the strategy could address, among other things, the economic development challenges faced by aboriginal women.

As a result of these engagements, requirements to monitor outcomes for women were integrated into the plan, and specific gender reporting was put in place. This has allowed projects to tailor specific streams to address participation rates of aboriginal women in key fields such as oil and gas, shipbuilding, and mining, fields in which participation rates for aboriginal women are much higher than they are for the general population and stand at 27%.

I think that is a demonstration of how gender-based analysis has factored into policy development.

More recently, GBA+ was used to understand how gender affects the incidence of low income in senior populations. The analysis showed that low-income seniors are disproportionately female, single, and living in large urban areas. Recently, budget 2016 announced increases to the guaranteed income supplement for single seniors. That is aimed specifically at people in low income, obviously, many of whom are women who live alone. The analysis found that more than two-thirds of those who will benefit from this increase are women.

Some barriers to full implementation remain, as we have seen from the report of the Auditor General. In the case of ESDC, tight timelines are often an issue that we grapple with as we're developing and implementing initiatives. However, we remain committed to following the guidelines, and policy-makers in the department continue to learn and develop best practices to fully implement the policy in the context of our programs, our legislation, and our service delivery processes.

On a go-forward basis, as part of our efforts to strengthen our function, last August we presented a plan to our corporate management committee to promote a deeper awareness of the policy, to ensure that roles and responsibilities were clear, to require mandatory GBA+ training for analysts, to update guides and manuals, and to establish a network across the department.

Since that time, we have made progress. The GBA+ network was established and, between October 2015 and March 2016, 23 employees completed the GBA+ training on the SWC website.

To sum up, I think the report of the Auditor General offers us an opportunity to consider how we can strengthen our processes, and it has also given us an opportunity to reconfirm areas in which we're strong in the use of the policy. We look forward to working with Status of Women Canada, the PCO, and Treasury Board to broaden the use of GBA and deepen our understanding of its impact on our programs and policies.

I'd be pleased to answer any questions.

Merci.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Thank you.

That was excellent.

Nicole Kennedy, you may begin, and you have five minutes.

[Nicole Kennedy, Director General, Strategic Policy, Cabinet and Parliamentary Affairs, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

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.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Thank you very much.

We're going to begin our round of questioning with my Liberal friends. We'll begin with Mr. Fraser.

You have seven minutes.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Excellent. Thank you very much.

I'll begin with Ms. Mitchell. I'll focus initially on the Auditor General's report you both raised.

The Auditor General found the department did conduct GBA on at least one occasion after a policy decision had been taken. Is there a certain reason that would have happened? I think it was in respect of the apprentice loan program. Is there any reason that may have been the case?

[Gail Mitchell]

I think it's part of an overall and continuous evaluation of program results and how things are going. We collect a lot of data, and we do a lot of analyses, so we are constantly adjusting and perfecting our programs.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

There's not a typical practice of conducting at a certain stage in the process of policy development, is there?

[Gail Mitchell]

There certainly is an expectation.

The GBA+ framework has a flow chart that talks about when you're doing it, but it also talks about continuous feedback. You need to be attentive to how things play out.

There is an expectation at the beginning of a policy analysis process. You undertake this analysis. I think it's flexible enough to be able to.... As you're in the midst of it, you need to be able to monitor and make adjustments for a variety of reasons. It's not just gender-based issues, but any number of things we're monitoring.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Chair, on the same issue, the Auditor General's report found in this instance it led to an incomplete analysis that failed to recognize a handful of barriers that may exist. When that may be the case, if it's ongoing, would you have since identified the barriers to the apprentice loan program, for example?

[Gail Mitchell]

We would, and we have undertaken additional analyses.

In the context of the apprenticeship loan program, there are many other factors that affect women's participation in apprenticeship, some of which are outside the scope of the financing part of it. The tool to increase funding to people who want to pursue apprenticeships is a limited piece. We have engaged in much more detailed analyses. We have increased funding to women, and we have put a focus on women in apprenticeship through our communications material to draw greater attention to the issue.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Shifting gears to Ms. Kennedy for a moment, the Auditor General noted that GBA is performing and has led to new projects in your department. Could you highlight what a few of those projects may have been?

[Nicole Kennedy]

In terms of the family violence prevention program, there was an identification of the fact that sometimes the focus was not directed often enough to the concerns of men and boys. There was funding directed specifically to programs through grants to organizations to make sure there were.... There was a workshop funded, for example. There were a couple of other events to give men and boys a voice in terms of being victims and perpetrators of violence. We wanted to make sure it was a well-balanced program.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

As well, the Auditor General focused a bit on changes to data collection practices. Was that specific to the initiative around men and boys, or was it a broader practice change?

[Nicole Kennedy]

That came up in relation to the fact that we often, in the early days, didn't have a good way of breaking down data by gender. It became a recommendation that flowed from the evaluation of the family violence program, to make sure we always have gender-disaggregated data. That has been an initiative ongoing since then. We did a great deal of work on that.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Do you find having the gender-disaggregated data has led to positive policy developments?

[Nicole Kennedy]

It absolutely has.

As I mentioned, we are cognizant of the fact that when we look at programs that are stereotypically focused on assisting women with family violence issues, we also need to ensure we're not overlooking men and boys. Through the disaggregated data, we're able to pinpoint where the issues are.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

This question is to both of you.

Is gender-disaggregated data mandated, so that you collect it within your department through policy? I don't believe it is in legislation. Is there any mandatory requirement to collect data on a gender-disaggregated basis?

[Gail Mitchell]

I'd have to check on that.

We do. Much of the data sources we rely on have that built in with Statistics Canada data, the census, and so forth. We're able to make those kinds of extractions, but as a broad statement, I'd have to return to you.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Would you mind providing an answer, perhaps through the clerk? Is that best?

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Through the clerk would be great.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Ms. Kennedy?

[Nicole Kennedy]

The same holds true for us. We generally look at gender-disaggregated data. I'm not sure there's a policy requirement to do it, but we will get back to you on that as well.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

I was surprised in a positive way with your presentations, the tools you each have available, and the mindset that certain folks within your department have taken toward gender-based analysis. In light of the findings of the Auditor General's report, it seems like it's not perfect, and it's never going to be, but are there certain obstacles or items you found to be successful that you could recommend to us? If we were going to recommend to other groups, how can we make use of the tools we have? What would be your best recommendations?

[Gail Mitchell]

I've had the opportunity to be involved with this analytical framework for some time. What I have found to be empowering is pushing it out into the organization. It's a lens, and it's a tool that people use. In the same way we expect people to have basic math skills and writing skills, this is one more analytical tool we should be expecting and we should be training people to be able to do. Once you have that embedded throughout your organization, it becomes second nature. People are asking the questions, and it's part of how they approach an issue.

For me, what that means is that rather than centralizing a group that does it centrally, and takes care of it for everyone else, you transform your organization to have it as part of what.... Your junior analysts come in, they get the training, and it becomes part of how they frame issues. That's been a successful approach.