That's not the question.
Evidence of meeting #142 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 military.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #142 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 military.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
The question is this. Is that okay? Is it okay to simply say that men and women experience things differently?
As an Individual
I've talked to both men and women from the Canadian Armed Forces who were sexually exploited, and in some cases, it was easier.... It's easier for me to come forward and say, “I experienced sexual harassment in the Canadian Armed Forces,” than it is for one of my male colleagues or one of my male friends who experienced the same thing, because there are different types of social cues, or it would be viewed as being less manly. For instance, why weren't they able to protect themselves? There's that issue, too.
There are a lot of societal issues, and sexual assault and sexual exploitation happen within the social structure.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
In order to assist us with our recommendations, could you let us know when...? You mentioned that you were allowed legal representation in some procedural instances and not in others.
As an Individual
It's not that I'm not allowed them. It's that I have to come up with the resources to pay for them on my own—
Liberal
As an Individual
Yes, and I believe that victims in the Canadian Armed Forces need their own lawyers. If you're going to go, you need to have your own lawyer. You need an advocate. You need someone to protect you when you're going through that system.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Again, thank you, Paula. Thank you so much.
This whole issue of your having to come up with the financial resources to pay for your own lawyer is very, very troubling, and I wonder about the impact on your financial security as a result.
What do you hope will come of the hearing at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal?
As an Individual
I hope that they will correct the damages and the harm that was done to me and they'll lift the discrimination. I hope that will happen. I can't afford legal representation. What I've done is I've tried to do it myself. It's hard. I have a background in human resource management. I had an HR degree and a Bachelor of Commerce before I went in. I have some MBA training.
I took a couple of legal courses before I went that would help me in terms of being able to do this. I don't think that a lot of people would be able to do it on their own because of what's required. I think that system needs to be looked at.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
On behalf of the committee, I'd really like to thank you for coming and sharing your story in detail. It will be very helpful for us as we're moving forward.
We are going to be suspending. You're allowed to have one assistant, and one member from each party is able to be here.
We will have to clear the room and we'll restart in three minutes.
We're going to suspend for three minutes.
[Proceedings continue in camera]