Evidence of meeting #135 for Status of Women in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was experience.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
Excellent. Thank you very much.
Corina, I'm going to pass the floor over to you for two minutes.
11:55 a.m.
Corina Picui As an Individual
On March 26, 2017, I was sexually assaulted in a university lecture hall. After it happened, I was very confused and overwhelmed, and I wasn't sure if it happened because I'm racialized, queer or a woman. What my research afterward did show is that marginalized peoples are far more likely to experience forms of sexual violence and gendered abuse. It's important to keep in mind that the communities facing sexual abuse and sexual violence are the very same communities that have historically and systematically been excluded from the political process.
I think it's pretty clear that the consequences are devastating. At least 16 indigenous women were forcibly sterilized in Saskatchewan as recently as 2017. Similar reports have been echoed in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario. Thousands upon thousands of missing and murdered indigenous women have experienced forms of sexual abuse and physical abuse, and their names still ring in the families that are missing them. I want to make it clear that it isn't a cultural genocide, as the Canadian government might call it—this is a genocide, period.
Other forms of sexual abuse exist within other marginalized communities. Queer women and bisexual women are nine times more likely to face sexual abuse, even when every other factor is accounted for, such as poverty, housing and location. I think it's really important to keep in mind that these communities aren't being represented in the political process, because of this legacy of historical exclusion. The fact is that only 26% of people in Parliament are women. That's a devastating number, because gendered violence, as an issue, won't be represented in the same way.
I am here today to ask everyone to ensure that people affected by the policies and the realities of Canada today are at the table to speak about these issues. It's important to have indigenous women there. It's important to have women of colour, disabled women, queer women and every other kind of women at the table when you talk about forms of violence and sexual violence, because the way in which they experience this trauma and the way in which they are affected by it are very different for every woman.
Noon
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
Thank you very much.
We're now going to start on our rounds of questioning.
Eva, you have the floor for four minutes.
Noon
Liberal
Eva Nassif Liberal Vimy, QC
I would like to start by thanking each and every one of you for being there and for having the courage to speak at our committee.
My question is for all of you. The four of you spoke about violence on campus, the same topic almost. One of you talked about a personal experience of being sexually abused. I would like to hear from the others. What would you do if you were sexually abused? The other part of the question is this: Would you become actively involved in politics, and what would be your number one priority?
Ms. Veilleux, you have the floor.
Noon
As an Individual
Thank you.
This question doesn't necessarily pertain to one of the topics that I covered. However, it fits in well with those topics and is very relevant.
I don't yet know whether I want to get involved in politics, but I certainly always encourage people to report, discuss and spread the word about sexual abuse. That's the most important thing, whether we're talking about the victim or the perpetrator.
Noon
Liberal
Eva Nassif Liberal Vimy, QC
Have you personally experienced or witnessed sexual harassment or abuse on campus?
Noon
As an Individual
I spoke to the appropriate authorities about it. At the Université de Montréal, we have a student association, and I want to thank the association. It has done a good job of establishing reporting procedures. There have been a number of cases at the Université de Montréal. Reports have been made concerning professors, and in some cases, the professors' employment has been at stake.
Noon
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
Just as a reminder, if you don't feel comfortable going in depth on these matters, please don't feel that you need to. You can keep it at a very high level if you wish.
Noon
Liberal
Noon
As an Individual
Some cases are currently being negotiated, if I may say so. Those aren't the right words. Anyway, it's a long process.
Noon
Liberal
Eva Nassif Liberal Vimy, QC
Okay.
Claire, could you tell us about your personal experience? If you were to be abused, what would you do?
Noon
As an Individual
I definitely have had inappropriate comments directed towards me. It's a shame that this is still happening.
Noon
As an Individual
It's not necessarily at the university, but at work events.
I am extremely fortunate to have a very strong network of politically engaged women around me. I am a student at Dalhousie University. At this moment, I would like to thank Julia, Sabrina, Christine and Brianna, as well as the Progressive Conservative MLAs in Dartmouth, the female MLAs, for being that strong network for me and always reminding me of the respect I deserve as a young woman in politics.
When these situations happen, I believe it is very important to speak to it. If we keep avoiding the fact that it happened, if we stop speaking, we're just feeding the problem. By speaking out, whether it's to a co-worker, a friend, an employer, or anyone who might be able to help us with this situation, we are directly addressing the problem. That needs to be important. We need to remind young women that there should be no shame in coming forward.
12:05 p.m.
As an Individual
[Inaudible—Editor] I think this is a very inappropriate question to ask any young lady. This shows you exactly why we have to speak to survivors and have that kind of conversation with them, because these kinds of conversations in the House of Commons are certainly incredibly insensitive and very inappropriate.
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
Thank you.
Kellie, we'll turn the floor over to you for four minutes.
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
Kellie Leitch Conservative Simcoe—Grey, ON
Thank you.
Thank you very much, all of you, for your presentations. They were greatly appreciated.
I want to ask you, Charlotte, along the lines of the academic issue you raised—I will tell you that these approaches occur not just in academia—if maybe you have some ideas of things the federal government could do. I have one recommendation for you. As much as it might seem indirect, every university in this country receives funding through granting councils—CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC and otherwise. We can put parameters around that as a federal government, and we can say to universities that if certain criteria are not met—often with regard to innovation or maybe commercialization—around issues of how they treat students, we can definitely have an impact on their funding.
I would encourage you and your colleagues to focus on that, because it is a very effective and powerful tool that a provost would listen to. But if you have thoughts, we'd like to hear them.
12:05 p.m.
As an Individual
I actually think that's great. One thing I would advocate for—I'm in the humanities, so I think a lot about SSHRC—is that granting councils should not be allowed to give funds to professors found to have been in these relationships, once bans are implemented, because there's a real problem of consequences. There ought to be consequences. That's why I think the federal government should be involved in calling for each university to implement in its gendered and sexual violence policy a total ban of teacher-student intimate relationships. I think granting councils are a great way to impose consequences on that.
At the end of the day, it is something that is so prevalent in so many professions. Just to speak to my own experience, I also want to say that Students for Consent Culture Canada will be putting out a full report on this later in the year. I really encourage you all to read it. They do incredible work.
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
Kellie Leitch Conservative Simcoe—Grey, ON
Claire, I'd like to ask you a question as well. It's based on what you were talking about in terms of the language and how we conduct ourselves. Obviously, I think the majority of parliamentarians, and the majority of professionals, try to adhere to a certain code of conduct. We absolutely have people who do not meet that bar. What are your thoughts or ideas with regard to what regulations—being different from public policy—that have some teeth to them should be implemented to make sure that individuals know there is some bite behind the ideas? We've seen lots of talk about this issue, in fact for decades, but there doesn't seem to be any uptake. People seem to continue along the same path of this inappropriate behaviour.
12:05 p.m.
As an Individual
I find that a really interesting question, because it seems that women speaking up about the language used toward women in politics is not enough. For a man to have to step forward and say, “Hey, you can't talk to her that way” is kind of surprising. A woman saying, “No, that's enough” should be enough. We teach our children now, but.... Obviously, I'm not stereotyping politicians on Parliament Hill. This does not apply to everyone. There are a few bad apples in the bunch. But it's shocking that they don't stop after being informed that it is inappropriate. As a young woman in politics, I think it's very disappointing.
We were originally told that we would have three minutes for our speech, so I had to cut mine down some. In my original address, I spoke to that a little bit. What will it take for this language to shift? I believe there needs to be more support behind any victim of inappropriate language coming forward, whether it be a man or a woman. In this case, we're talking about women and how they are too afraid to come forward. Women are afraid to come forward because they worry about the repercussions on their jobs. They worry about being alienated amongst their peers. We need to create a culture where that won't happen, where women are supported, where their first thought after being sexually harassed isn't “What's going to happen to my job?" but “How should I go about this? How should I report this? Who do I need to speak to? How does this need to be addressed?” They shouldn't be worried about their jobs.
12:10 p.m.
Conservative