Status of Women Committee on May 7th, 2019

[Danielle Dewitt]

I definitely agree with the round table side of it, because the PowerPoint presentations just aren't working. We have been “death by PowerPoint”ed so many times in our career that it has lost its “ah” of amazement. A round table at which you actually ask questions and get people's feedback is going to be the best way to do it.

[Martine Roy]

I totally agree with the round table. I am going on one today at Longue-Pointe—I think that is it. The LGBTQ community has all kinds of organizations. Here in Montreal, they are asking the help of those organizations and the army to come and to make presentations.

Why not? Why not bring the outside in? It's always been something, in the army, whereby it's the army and the others are civilians. Well, I think now the civilians can come to help the army with those round tables, with presentations and with due collaboration with those organizations. There are some all over Canada.

That could be a good initiative to help out.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Awesome.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much.

Irene, I'll pass the floor over to you for the final question.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

There was some discussion of the reconciliation fund, the investment of $15 million to $25 million.

You talked about training and you talked about a monument, but what does the training look like, in terms of the fund?

Madam Chair, I have a question for you. Do you think we could have a screening of The Fruit Machine?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Yes, absolutely.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

I would love to hear from more of you.

[Michelle Douglas]

For the question regarding the LGBT Purge Fund, a $15-million to $25-million fund established as a measure emerging from the class action lawsuit launched by victims of the LGBT purge in Canada, it is estimated that some 9,000 people were subject to systemic discrimination between the mid-fifties and the mid-nineties. This is 9,000 Canadians touched by this form of discrimination. Currently we are talking about fewer than 1,000 who are probably still living.

The fund will among other things look at ways to work with the public service of Canada, the RCMP and the military to hire a subject matter expert, to try to go in and to amplify some of the current training that is already on the ground for the purpose of making sure that there is meaning behind the words of inclusion and diversity; that these are not notions or concepts, but making them real.

We're just getting started. We received our first payment of $15 million from the Government of Canada from this lawsuit only in March 2019, so we are an embryonic organization. We are working hard, working fast for quick implementation.

The good thing is that we are getting good levels and high levels of support, something we haven't always been used to. It's nice to have some money and to be able to bring training in a new and refreshed way to these organizations.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you.

Just to answer that question, Irene, that is how I met some of these wonderful panellists; I met Michelle Douglas through The Fruit Machine. We hosted it last year. I'm not sure what we'll be able to do in the next few days, but I can tell you, we can bring it to London.

Once again, I would really like to thank Danielle Dewitt, Michelle Douglas and Martine Roy for your compelling testimony at today's meeting,

We are going to suspend for a few minutes to clear out, because we have a business portion.

[Proceedings continue in camera]