Status of Women Committee on Dec. 3rd, 2018

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

One of the things I have heard from women who have been victims of violence is that they had to come to a place where they were going to take ownership of their own healing and moving forward. That's not to say that the perpetrator gets to go free. Not at all. He is responsible for his actions as well, and he has to take responsibility for them and pay any penalty that comes with them.

But one of the things women have often shared with me is that until they came to that place where they were able to invest in their own healing and believe in themselves, in their value, their worth, their dignity, and the fact that they were strong and able to move forward, until they came to that point, they continuously returned to a poor situation and put themselves in that vulnerable place.

Do you find this in your work on the ground at all?

[Rebecca Kudloo]

Yes. I think we still have a long way to go in educating some women about their rights. A lot of them don't know sometimes what their basic human rights are.

Samantha, did you want to add a comment?

[Samantha Michaels]

Yes.

Definitely. I'll pick up on what Rebecca is noting around prevention, education and awareness. I completely agree with everything you're saying, but I think we also have to come back to the basic fact that we have to ensure there are still places for these women to go and that no one can heal or be safe in a toxic environment. We need to recognize that violent acts come from an environment of violence, so we need to remove that person until maybe the supports can all come together holistically.

I agree that prevention, education and awareness are definitely things we strive to increase.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Right. The question is whether, if these women are not provided with the opportunity to go.... Clearly, they found the strength to leave a negative situation, and that is a tremendous act of bravery and courage, but if they're not given an alternative, many of these women will return.

How do we better empower them to start a new life?

[Samantha Michaels]

I think the issue is that they are forced to return. We see a lot of women flee south. Women do come to the south for opportunity, whether it's education, employment, a change of lifestyle, or whatever it is, but we also see that women are being pushed out of the community. We call it migration, but I see it as an ongoing episode of forced relocation because there are no services, programs, and resources in the community, so people are left without a choice in some cases and have to flee south, or they are following their children, or whatever it is.

We're seeing it disproportionately affect women in all of the major urban centres.

[Rebecca Kudloo]

Also, when they come down, sometimes they run into other problems because they are vulnerable when they come down. Other people take advantage of them, so that's a problem. They don't have support when they come down.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Ms. Chowdhury, do you want to weigh in?

[Sharmila Chowdhury]

I was listening to you, and I think you said, how do we empower women to make these choices? Is that what your question was?

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

How do we empower them to start a new life?

[Sharmila Chowdhury]

I was sitting here listening to that, and I thought we need the resources. It's not even just programs and supports. If we're going to talk about this, I always like to dream big. Let's make more housing. Let's have more housing options available. The practical things need to be in place for them to be empowered to make those choices.

There's the internal work of getting empowered, of feeling worth and feeling confident, but then there are the external conditions that need to be there for them to say, “I'm going to work towards that.”

I think that's the hardest, the lack of resources or lack of services, the practical realities that allow them to really move.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Can you comment on whether or not you have senior women who come into your centre, and if so, what are the unique needs among that demographic?

[Sharmila Chowdhury]

Yes, we have our grandmas.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Can you talk a bit about the unique needs of that demographic?

[Sharmila Chowdhury]

All of a sudden, I'm going through every single client I've ever worked with. That's what you saw me doing there. But also just knowing....

I could speak to what I think some of the issues are. It's kind of for everyone, but the senior women are being uprooted from their communities and coming here, and not having services in their language, things like that. There are barriers. There are different barriers and a feeling of more isolation, and where they're going to go from here if they left their whole communities and families.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much.

We'll now move over to Sheila Malcolmson. You have the floor for seven minutes.

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

Just in case there's any misinterpretation, I'm sure my Conservative colleague didn't mean that it's women's attitude problems that are resulting in one woman being killed every six days in Canada. It's violence that is killing them.

The very sad thing we're learning through this study is that when women ask for help, they often get turned away. The problems in the north are especially deep. As you said, unless you're wealthy enough to be able to buy a plane ticket out, then you stay home with violence, or you leave all your supports in the community and then you're vulnerable and may fall into violence or exploitation in other ways. It's a terrible problem.

One of the very first witnesses we heard was Status of Women Canada. The experts and the staff said the same stuff that you just gave us from Pauktuutit. About 70% of the 53 Inuit communities have no access to shelters. That's well known inside government. It hasn't changed in the three years that this feminist government has been in, this first-nations-and-indigenous-committed government.

Why would you say that hasn't changed yet?

[Rebecca Kudloo]

I don't have the answer.

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

It's kind of heartbreaking. This felt like our moment, and yet it hasn't changed for women.

[Rebecca Kudloo]

If I could add, with regard to the lack of shelters.... In my 35 years of being involved in this area, I know of 30 women and their kids who have been murdered in their homes.

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Thirty? Wow.

[Rebecca Kudloo]

That's why we were saying that Inuit are distinct and have distinct needs. It's really hard up north trying to get resources, because of the high costs of building anything. One thing I have been bringing up is that, when women are being abused, especially if they have kids, they are going out into -30°C or -40°C to get away.

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

This is yet another reason not to leave. The women who do, and who ask for help, are particularly in danger and their kids are under threat.

Through this study, we're trying to get support from the federal government so that it's consistent across the country. Can you give us an idea of a recommendation that if you read it in our final report, you would say, “Yes, they got it. Things will be different if the government says yes.”

[Rebecca Kudloo]

We are still asking for more shelters, but we are also asking for healing programs that are suitable to our people, like the one I mentioned, which is community-based and in our language.

[Samantha Michaels]

I think it's a lot, too, about the consultation with the different regions, because it's not a one-size-fits-all approach. We're not suggesting that what works in Hamilton, Ontario, for instance, will necessarily work in Rigolet in Nunatsiavut. They do have a safe.... That maybe wasn't a good example. Nonetheless, I think that it has to be designed in consultation with Inuit women for Inuit communities, taking into account the realities of the north.

Further to what someone had asked about men and boys, we often hear that men and boys are really struggling. There need to be the holistic supports that Rebecca keeps mentioning, which are so important.

Again, it's also about understanding that families operate differently—and they want to operate differently in some contexts—and that it can't just be this one-size-fits-all shelter. We need to figure out the best alternatives that will keep women safe and their children safe in their communities, without having to force them to flee to other communities or to the south, if that's not their choice. A lot of times, quite frankly, it's not.

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Thank you so much to the witnesses. We're going to use a lot of your advice in our report.

Chair, if I may, while I have the floor—