Status of Women Committee on March 20th, 2018

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

With respect, it's just very hard to square that with the government's appealing some really progressive decisions of our courts, so I'll leave that with you.

We also heard at convention of, I know that you have met with some of these amazing women from the east coast, Persons Against Non-state Torture, who have been fighting for 20 years to get non-state torture named a distinct form of gender-based violence. Non-state torture is when someone is tortured but it's not done by a police officer or in a prisoner-of-war situation. The parliamentary secretary and I saw a wonderfully told but terrible movie on prostitution: young girls being lead into prostitution. Anyway, there were just terrible family circumstances, and we know that there's a parliamentary committee studying human trafficking right now.

Are you going to include non-state torture as a distinct form of gender-based violence in the strategy work you're doing? You would be fulfilling some of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations. You'd be working with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights if you were to do so.

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

I don't have an answer to your question, but I have met with organizations that are doing this work across the country, and they've helped inform the gender-based violence strategy. Their recommendations for ensuring that their organizations can support these individuals who are finally able to seek the help they need have been instrumental for us, and we'll continue to support them.

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

I'm glad to hear you talking about operational funding for women's organizations.

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

I thought you would be.

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

I'm still not clear on whether it's funding that will help these organizations keep the lights on and keep their operations staff. Can you give us a couple of sentences of assurance on that?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

We're changing the way we do business. Consistently, across the country, I have heard the same thing from organizations in both rural and urban communities. They say that as much as they appreciate the dollars, the way we fund them could be done better with a simpler process, with longer-term funding, and in terms of the reasons we fund them. We're in the process of turning that ship around by ensuring that instead of one- or two-year funding, they receive up to five years of funding, so they have predictability. Operational funding, as you know from that recent GBV call for proposals in January, was included as being eligible.

We're also working with provinces and territories. We had our FPT meeting in Toronto for the first time since I took this role. We'll be meeting again in Yukon in the fall. We talked about co-funding these organizations so we can make better use of the dollars and better target our investments to ultimately support them in taking care of, and advocating for, the people who count on them. We are looking at doing things differently, but we're also working with other entities that fund these organizations, such as provinces, territories, unions, and so on.

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

My time is short, so I would love it if you were willing to file with the committee a little bit more of an explanation about how the operational funding side is going to work, because it has been hard for us to track.

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Sure.

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

I know that you and the finance minister are proud of the gender budget. As you know, I still have some big pieces that are missing. In order to expand on this, Chair, if I could move my motion, I would like the committee to invite the finance minister, Bill Morneau, to come to the committee to explain the effects of the budget on women and girls.

I have a motion that was distributed. It reads:

That the Committee invite the Minister of Finance, the Honourable Bill Morneau, at the earliest opportunity to explain the effect of Budget 2018 on women and girls; and that this meeting be televised.

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

That's an excellent idea, for what it's worth.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Is there any discussion on this motion?

I see no debate. All those in favour of inviting Mr. Morneau to the status of women committee in camera.

(Motion agreed to)

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

It was voted down last year, so good, this is progress.

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

I know I'm not on this committee, but just to clarify, is he going to be in camera or televised?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

It would be televised.

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

Thank you, Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

You're more than welcome.

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

He wanted to come to the UN, so he wasn't able to—

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

You had only 12 seconds left, and the motion has been cleared, so we're going to get back onto business.

Marc Serré, you have your seven minutes.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Madam Minister.

I will share my speaking time with my colleague Mr. Fraser.

Madam Minister, thank you very much for your comments and your enthusiasm at the United Nations General Assembly. I also had the opportunity to attend a number of meetings, and it's obvious that Canada's message as a world leader was very well received.

So, before I ask my first question, I will give Ms. Wilson the opportunity to tell us what she wanted to say earlier.

Ms. Wilson, we're listening.

[Gina Wilson, Deputy Minister, Office of the Deputy Minister, Office of the Co-ordinator, Status of Women]

The only thing I wanted to add is that there is a brief section of the

gender-based violence strategy that's dedicated to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which is actually there to fund settlement operations, particularly for those women who are experiencing violence.

That's all I wanted to add.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you.

The theme at the United Nations was empowering women and girls in rural areas. We know that in Canada—for me in my riding and for many of our ridings across the country—rural services for women and girls are very important. I wanted to get your perspective on what budget 2018 has done to really focus on rural women and girls. A lot will be learned from the UN at the same time.

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Thank you, Marc. It was so great to have you and Terry there as a demonstration of how men are already part of the conversation to advance gender equality.

Yes, we were at the UN with a lot of pride about the progress made in Canada to put gender equality at the heart of what we do, including in our budget, but we also went there with some humility. I will get to that later because we know that other countries have a lot to teach us in our work.

Rural women and girls' reality is also important to me as an MP. I represent a mixed rural and urban riding. Before the UN meetings, I heard in Peterborough—Kawartha about women having issues with transportation in rural communities, and lack of access to rural broadband. These are key key concerns not just for their security and safety but also as an economic barrier.

Curve Lake First Nation is in my riding too. I also heard that the realities for indigenous women and girls in rural and remote communities are distinct from those of settlers, which needs to be kept in mind. I also heard that there is an opportunity to promote women entrepreneurs through access to capital for those who are in agriculture. It's so important to tell the stories of great women in rural communities who are holding them together and also building a better Canada as they have for decades.

What does that mean in our work as a government? The investment in infrastructure, $186 billion, is nothing to laugh at. There is money for transportation for smaller communities. Two billion dollars has been set aside thanks to advocacy by rural members. Five hundred million dollars has been set aside for rural broadband. This is going to be an important economic driver for all Canadians, not just those in rural communities. For access to farm credit, there is more money now available through budget 2018 for those women who are interested in pursuing work in agriculture, and, of course, $1.65 billion for the women entrepreneurship strategy.

For Status of Women Canada, we know that organizations in rural communities often play multiple roles. They are not just a rape crisis centre. They are also doing immigration settlement work. They are also doing youth support. They are also providing employment advice. They need more attention. We heard that loud and clear.

Since 2015, 97 projects have been funded related to rural women and girls for a total of $29.5 million. That means 60% of the $48 million we have already spent on women's organizations is directly related to rural women.

However, our work isn't done. We have a lot of work left to do. I sincerely hope that one of the outcomes as a follow-up to our joint trip to the United Nations is that we ask ourselves the following question: “Okay, we all went and heard everything that has been done, but how are we going to do differently so that the issue of rural women and girls' empowerment stays at the forefront of this committee's work?” Of course, as we continue to apply that intersectional agenda lens to our policies, we must continue to elevate that moving forward.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you so much for your commitment. I will pass it on to Mr. Fraser for the last two minutes.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Thank you very much, Minister, for being here with us today.

I would like to touch on a few themes you started to raise, and perhaps allow you to elaborate a little more on them.

First, one of the barriers to economic success we've heard a great deal about during our study on the subject at this committee has been, as you referenced, a lack of access to capital for women entrepreneurs. It was astonishing to me how difficult it was for women in business to get the seed funding they needed to get businesses off the ground, to scale up, and to thrive.

I'm curious about what plans we have in place to ensure that women have better and equal access to financing so they can contribute to the economy to the same degree men can and experience all the benefits that come with it.

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Access to money through EDC and BDC and regional development agencies will allow women entrepreneurs to start up businesses and to grow them. Also, through the new trade agreements we're signing, there are new investments in the budget to help them find access to greater markets. We know they need to come together as an entrepreneurial community, so we have set aside money for a conference on that.

There is also a recognition that boot camps, mentorships, and all these other opportunities are critical to their success so that we can ensure that they continue to create jobs. A lower tax for them starting this year, and a further 1% reduction next year to 9%, will help ensure that women entrepreneurs will not only continue to contribute to the economy in Canada, but also serve the international community with their goods and services.