Absolutely.
I do share this concern. Being here in Newfoundland, I had the opportunity at a skills conference this weekend to meet students not only from Memorial University but from a lot of the satellite campuses that this institution has. They go as far up into the island as Gander. Some local college campuses located in Labrador have no rape crisis centres. There are no hotlines. There are no opportunities for students to speak to anyone about their experiences on campus, never mind the limited resources even on this campus.
That's not to say Memorial is necessarily an example in that respect, because there aren't very many resources. In fact, there is only one trained counsellor on this campus to deal with the issue of sexual violence, and the counsellor is often unavailable to meet the demands.
I think that this disparity in access is very problematic. It means that students are going to have to make very harsh decisions about whether they continue their studies based on the availability of certain resources, particularly when they are survivors of issues around sexual and gender-based violence. This disparity exists from coast to coast. That's why it's excellent to see that some provinces are making moves toward challenging the issue of rape culture.
It's great that Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia are looking at legislation. However, that's why we're also here, to make these recommendations to the federal government. This disparity is not working for students. Just because I went to university in Manitoba and perhaps decided to do graduate studies in Alberta should not mean that I have disproportionate access to the types of resources that can help ensure my student experience is as safe and inclusive as possible.
That's definitely why we're talking about legislation at the federal level that would mandate all institutions across Canada to ensure adequate access to resources on sexual and gender-based violence.