Okay.
How do we address this? We address this through systemic, organizational, structural change.
Last week, I was in Washington, D.C., at the invitation of NSERC, to learn about the SEA change initiative, which is based on the Athena SWAN initiative in the U.K., which has been very effective in shifting institutional culture.
This program does not focus on women. It focuses on the culture. It holds leaders, who are often men, accountable, and there are consequences for failure to meet the goals of the program.
The most compelling feature of the Athena SWAN program in the U.K. is that it was proposed to be tied to funding. The Minister of Health in the U.K. mused that maybe she would tie funding to Athena SWAN outcomes. That immediately got all the universities on board, and they started working on cultural change.
We have an opportunity here to bring SEA change to Canada. I implore you to support that work. I applaud and support the work of the Minister of Science and the CRC secretariat in bringing accountability to the CRC program.
Promoting cultural changes doesn't come easy, and there has been some significant push-back, but this is the way that we will see pathways opened and barriers to full access removed for girls and young women in Canada. Please, support the fundamental science review across parties, and the initiatives in that review around equity, diversity, and inclusion, which are core, foundational principles for a better economic future for women and for Canada.