Status of Women Committee on March 7th, 2017

[Janelle Hinds]

Awesome.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

The session this afternoon is entitled “women in politics” and “women in non-traditional work”, but I guess as a female politician, I never thought that being a politician was a non-traditional role for women. Perhaps it's because a number of women I knew were serving as politicians.

I know that the definition of non-traditional work has changed over the last number of decades. Whereas it once may have included physicians and lawyers, and perhaps even leaders in corporations, it now includes those in construction, mining, and engineering, and I'll add ranchers to the list, as you mentioned.

I guess my question would be for you, Jayden, because toward the end of your comments you spoke about Skills Canada. You didn't really get a chance to speak too much about it. I would like to give you the opportunity to talk a little bit about that and how it's there to empower women in non-traditional roles.

[Jayden Wlasichuk]

Absolutely. I'm very excited to talk about that.

In my experience with Skills Canada, I actually only participated in my final year of high school. I sort of got roped into it at the end. I just said okay and did it. I had a great experience with it.

I'd had the opportunity in previous years to watch some of my friends participate in such things as job skills demonstration and workplace safety. There were also things like welding and electrical installations. It was at the national competition, which I was very privileged to get to compete in, that I had the opportunity to witness a young female stand up in first place, winning gold in an area where she was the only female competitor. I believe she was another grade 12 student. She had been working all of high school. I believe it was autobody painting. She had been painting cars for three days while we were there, and she ended up winning gold.

I watched another young woman step up onto that podium. She felt the odds were against her. As the only female in that category, she defied the odds. It wasn't the only sector in which females won.

In my experience, I did public speaking while I was there. That was a pretty female-dominated section. We had one male competitor out of 10, I believe. There were a few other sections that tended to lean more toward female competitors, but I had the opportunity to see females competing in electrical, in autobody painting, in refrigeration repairs, in air conditioner repairs. I didn't even know that those were things that post-secondary students, even high school students, would be able to compete in.

I got to watch and witness the empowerment of young women because their schools were able to sponsor them, send them, and have them compete, learn, and grow. The young women were able to be pushed toward their passions regardless of where they were leading them.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Excellent.

Now we'll go to Ms. Malcolmson for a question.

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

I really appreciate the panel's imagination and sharing of experiences. I'm really glad you're here. You're reminding me of one of my favourite quotes from the late, great Rosemary Brown. The previous panel reminded me of this as well. She said that we must open doors, and we must see to it that they remain open so that others may pass through.

You have a whole circle of members of Parliament here. The previous panel flagged how privileged we are. Give us some hints on how we can use that privilege to remove the barriers for this next wave of leadership. Tell me one thing that we could do to make it easier for you to pass through.

Let's start at the end with you, Audrey.

[Audrey Paquet]

Leading by example is important. That also means creating laws and policies that are rooted in the reservoir of knowledge that our universities have built, particularly in philosophy and social science, taking into account knowledge from a wider range of sources.

The contribution of philosophy and social science to our knowledge base is just as important as that of the environment or the economy. Social science encompasses many disciplines such as sociology and political science. Efforts have to be made to take all of that knowledge into account.

It is also crucial to listen to what certain groups and individuals have to say. Attention must be paid to those who reflect the population, not just those who serve our interests.

[Stéphanie Pitre]

I learned a lot at university. I have been privileged to have the opportunity to advance as far as I have in my studies. Feminism has taught me that, even though a woman may manage to pursue her studies and achieve higher education, she should not think other women would have just as easy of a time. It is also important for a woman not to push her oppression onto other women. If I had needed to ask immigrant Filipino women to look after my children so that I could do my studies, I would be transferring my oppression to other women. I really believe it's important to take those things into account.

In addition, men have to be part of the solution. Not only should they help women take their rightful place, but they should also make room for women, so that everyone can access positions of power and leadership. Those with the privileges need to understand that others can have privileges as well. Relinquishing their privileges does not necessarily lead to oppression.

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

You mentioned pay equity also.

[Stéphanie Pitre]

Yes.

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Thank you.

Ms. Pauzé, you have the floor.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

What I take away from your presentations is your strong social conscience with respect to differences in class, wealth, and so on. I find that quite compelling.

You talked about promoting gender equality. I can't recall which one of you brought it up. I also noted that one of the three of you cited the percentage of women in Quebec's National Assembly.

I'm going to pick up on the question I asked earlier. Without quotas, how can we promote gender equality? It may seem as though I am dwelling on this, but I asked the young women who were here before you the same question. I get the sense that a generational difference is at play. It is important to note that my generation fought for gender equality measures. You are my daughters' age. They don't see that as necessary, and a young woman told me the same thing earlier.

Is there a generational difference? Am I going to have to let this issue go?

[Stéphanie Pitre]

I agree with what my colleague said earlier. I would, however, add that, in order to have more women in positions of power, we need to see more women occupying those positions. Imposing gender equality through a fifty-fifty split could prove detrimental initially. Women could be perceived as taking men's place. Conversely, it would show women younger than I am that they have a place.

We may find ourselves in the space between two generations, where things are challenging. Women might think that they did not work for their place, but that it was given to them because governments were required by law to have more women within their ranks.

Gender equality is important because it allows women to be better represented. We have to work on the foundation. Men have always had the privilege of taking their place here. I think there is room for men and women. Right now, I don't feel that the male majority represents me because I am not a man.

[Audrey Paquet]

That's what I mean when I talk about changing the spirit of the law and leading by example. Not only should we impose a quota for women, but we should also have a quota for members of visible minorities. That would be possible if we changed the voting method. I have an opinion on that. I am in favour of a mixed member proportional system because it could fix many of the problems stemming from the under-representation of regions, women, and minorities.

Thank you.

[Janelle Hinds]

If I could just add to that, as a woman in the STEM field, I think one thing that isn't addressed is that they talk about maybe getting young women into STEM. There's something called the “pipeline”. It's very leaky. I've been in the workforce for only a year, and I've already considered leaving it sometimes. Many women have told me they want to leave.

While we're addressing the younger side, I feel that we also need to make sure that instead of talking about quotas, we're talking about making sure that women stay in the STEM fields. Considering the sexism they face, a lot of them want to leave. That's why we have to make sure they understand what to do when they face sexual harassment in the workforce.

Also, for businesses, just as the government gives $2 an hour as an incentive for companies to hire youth, it could do something similar for apprenticeships, so that if a company took on a female, for example, there would be an incentive for the leader to actually train her.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Are there any final comments? Any question on the Liberal side? We only have two minutes.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I'd just like to remark that you're all phenomenal. I want to thank you all for coming here and spending the time in preparing to speak to us. We are going to listen very carefully to your words, and we're very much looking forward to seeing you this evening at the gala. The all-party women's caucus is having a reception beforehand from six until seven. For my colleagues, parliamentarians, and also for all the Daughters of the Vote, we're very much looking forward to that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

I would echo her comments. You are excellent witnesses and it's some of the best testimony we've heard.

Ms. Nassif has a comment.

[Eva Nassif, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

I encourage all of you to enter politics and to run in the next municipal or provincial election. You have everything it takes.

If you were to enter the political arena, what objectives would you set to make the system equally accessible to all so that everyone was considered equal?

You can each have a minute to respond.

[Audrey Paquet]

I think political change can also happen outside political parties strictly speaking. There are a host of places where people can become socially active. Movements have emerged and people can get involved. It is also possible to take up various causes. That way, people don't have to toe a party line or principles they don't necessarily agree with. It's very hard for young women to join political parties governed by very strict guidelines that aren't right for them.

[Eva Nassif, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

So, we let it go.

In the meantime, should we not persevere and push forward passionately, with everything we have?

[Audrey Paquet]

We should persevere, but—

[Eva Nassif, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

We should not wait until we achieve equal footing with men. As far as my generation goes, there was no paved road that made things easy for us. It took hard work, perseverance, and passion to break down the barriers. At least that was my experience. I urge you to keep your involvement going, even though we have not yet achieved equality.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

That was great. What a good question.

Thank you very much.

You are excellent witnesses and we look forward to hearing more from you.

Just to give you some feedback from today, I heard from many of the MPs who were at the various sessions that these were the best witnesses of any we've heard to date. So thank you very much. We'll see you at the gala.

The meeting is adjourned.