Evidence of meeting #49 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 women.
A video is available from Parliament.
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Pam Damoff
Thank you very much to all three of you for some of the most powerful testimony we've heard on this committee.
I'm going to turn it over to Ms. Ludwig.
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
Karen Ludwig Liberal New Brunswick Southwest, NB
Thank you all for your testimony and thank you for being here. I think the three of you, and the other women who are here in the room, are a true example of empowerment.
We heard from witnesses earlier today about economic security. One of the witnesses made a distinction between “women empowerment” and “women justice”. Could you, I wonder, comment on that? Certainly what I am hearing from all three of you is more about justice than individual empowerment.
Also, if you have a chance, if you're able to share this with us, who were your mentors who helped you get here with confidence today?
Thank you.
11:25 a.m.
As an Individual
I think the two complement each other really well. Indigenous women whom we particularly spoke to all identify with the view that we need justice for our women, but at the same time that seeking justice for our women helps empower us and our daughters and our sisters. I think these go hand in hand.
Examples of things that we collectively can do, with the support of government action, are creating more comprehensive policies and creating a survivor bill of rights. These are things that can not only bring justice, but also help empower our women as well to gain autonomy and to gain justice in the process, and then to have the availability to choose the life they desire and pursue those paths.
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
11:30 a.m.
As an Individual
I think my mom was a really beautiful influence on me. I'm the first in my family to go to university as I mentioned. It was just knowing someone was there cheering me on and saying, “You can do it. There are going to be hard days, but keep persisting.” No matter what my dream was it was really empowering for me.
11:30 a.m.
As an Individual
One of the biggest mentors I had was my mom. When I first applied for Daughters of the Vote, I was saying, “No, wait. I don't want to go any more.” But then she kept pushing me. She was saying, “This is your way to go somewhere where you want to go.”
Regarding the other question, do you think you could slightly paraphrase it again?
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
Karen Ludwig Liberal New Brunswick Southwest, NB
One of the earlier witnesses today talked about the economic security of women and that if we only focus on empowerment we can sometimes individualize cases. But if we focus on the justice for women we're talking about raising all women up. Would you be able to speak to that?
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Pam Damoff
Don't feel you have to answer the question. Alana did a great job answering.
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
11:30 a.m.
As an Individual
Yes, Madam Chair.
With respect to your first question, I think what's really important is that when we talk about empowerment we often talk about women. I think something that often gets neglected in the conversation, especially at the political level, is the intersectionality of women. All three of us sitting here on this panel are of indigenous descent. I think when we talk about the intersectionality of women we need to talk about how these issues impact women on different levels: indigenous women, women of colour, LGBTQ, and two-spirit women. All these different elements that pertain to women come together and diverge. When we talk about trying to instill empowerment in women, those efforts have different effects for those different levels of intersectionality. That's one thing that's really important. When we talk about individualizing cases, we can't lump people together but we also can't individualize cases. I think it's a very complicated issue, which is why I think this committee is very important.
With respect to mentorship, I'm really fortunate to have had women in politics who have mentored me over the past few years. One of my biggest mentors has been my MLA in Alberta, Mrs. Leela Sharon Aheer. She has been one of the most amazing people who has been behind this campaign from the get-go, and I'm so grateful for her support. Another person for whom I'm really thankful to have had a relationship is the Honourable Michelle Rempel, who has probably been one of the most incredible crusaders for feminism in politics. She's also been a supporter of this campaign. I'm very fortunate to have had the influence of these women. I was hesitant to even send my initial letter to the Minister of Education in Alberta about my concerns regarding sex education. I thought, if they can do it, why can't I?
I hope that answers your question.
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
Glen Motz Conservative Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB
Thank you.
Again, thank you, ladies, for being here.
As a bit of a background, I spent the majority of my previous career to this dealing with exactly what you've talked about. In law enforcement for 35 years, I dealt with many young ladies who had the fear that you live with far too often. I partnered with a number of teachers in a high school and together we taught the sexual rights and responsibility through the CALM class, as it was called at the time. That was before you were born. What I find really disturbing is that the trend hasn't improved. You still face the challenges that you face. The justice system is an uphill battle. In the policing community we feel that same uphill battle that we're struggling with.
The Honourable Rona Ambrose introduced a private member's bill that we hope will get some traction to at least start the justice system revamp, as you said, Natasha. I would like to get your thoughts on what you feel that would do and what other things specifically you think might help the justice system revamp.
11:35 a.m.
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Pam Damoff
Before the answer, could you maybe say what's in the private member's bill? They may not be familiar with what's in it.
11:35 a.m.
As an Individual
I can speak to it.
The JUST Act is essentially aiming to improve training for judges who oversee sexual assault cases.
11:35 a.m.
As an Individual
This is something I brought to Alberta's Minister of Justice, Kathleen Ganley. She was rather dismissive of what I brought forward, but I think it's because it's at the federal level that we need this legislation.
I'm actually going to meet with Ms. Ambrose this afternoon about this legislation. I think it's a very important first step. As I mentioned, women who go on to pursue sexual assault charges often are treated as if they're the ones on trial. I think it has to do with how we sexualize women.
I could go into a whole rant on that, but I think there's another element involving the justice system that starts at the policing level.
As I said, there's a report by The Globe and Mail, and if you haven't read it, I strongly encourage you to do it. It's called “Unfounded”. It says that on average, one in five cases of sexual assault is dismissed as baseless, or they're called “unfounded” cases, meaning that they don't have the evidence, whether it be physical or circumstantial evidence, to support their going forward with charges. Much of the time, we find that the police who are overseeing these cases aren't willing to cooperate fully, and they doubt the victim from the get go. We need provisions at that level, I think, to start off with, so as to make sure that cases even get to a courtroom.
One reason we don't see cases going as far as prosecution is that the justice system is expensive, and people don't see it as worthwhile and worth the taxpayer dollars to prosecute a rapist. This goes again back to the sexualization of women.
What people forget is that sexual assault is expensive. It costs our economy $2 billion a year. That's in medical costs, in costs for medications for sexually transmitted infections, unplanned pregnancies, counselling services, trauma, missed work, missed school. We need to look at the big picture and work to ensure that justice is an element of our ensuring the health and success of women and all people, but especially women who are victimized by sexual violence.
I'm sorry for the long-winded answer.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative