Status of Women Committee on March 20th, 2018

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much to the minister and to Gina Wilson for coming today.

The Leader of the Government in the House of Commons announced that Thursday, March 22 will be the final allotted date in the current period, meaning that the votes for supplementary estimates (C) 2017-18 and the interim estimates for 2018-19 were deemed reported to the House yesterday. Although it would be great if we voted, these votes would not mean anything because we're already past the deadline, so today is more about information. The committee should not vote adopt nor report on the votes.

Pursuant to Standing Oder 108(2), we are studying the subject matter of the supplementary estimates under the office of the co-ordinator, Status of Women, and the subject matter of the interim estimates for 2018-19, vote 1 and vote 5 under that same office at Status of Women.

For this reason we are pleased to have the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister of Status of Women. She is joined by Gina Wilson, the deputy minister, and Anik Lapointe, chief financial officer and director.

With that, I would like to turn the floor over to you, Ms. Monsef, for your opening statement. We'll give you exactly 10 minutes. Go ahead.

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Minister of Status of Women]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that we are on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin people. As always, it's a privilege to be with your committee today.

Gina Wilson, my deputy minister and, as you mentioned, our CFO Anik Lapointe have joined me.

I would like to welcome Stephanie to the committee. I'm looking forward to our collaboration. I would also like to thank Martin for all his contributions to gender equality, and all members of this committee for your continued efforts to advance gender equality, in particular, your studies on women's economic security and the study on indigenous women in the justice system. We are looking forward to reviewing and addressing your recommendations to the best extent we can.

As Minister of Status of Women, I'm proud of our accomplishments and the progress we've been able to make over the last four months since I appeared before this committee. A lot has happened. We introduced the first federal gender budget in the recognition that when we invest in women, we grow the economy for everyone. Canada has assumed the G7 presidency and are prioritizing gender equality to make it a theme of the presidency.

We've updated the terms and conditions for women's program funding to give more flexibility to funded organizations and initiatives and to strengthen support for the sustainability of the women's movement. We've launched a successful gender-based violence strategy call for concepts. That's $20 million for projects of up to five years.

On International Women's Day, of course, I announced $858,000 in funding for the Global Compact Network Canada for a project that will engage the private sector to eliminate barriers facing women in the workplace. There has also been, as we know, women rising around the world and in our communities across Canada.

With the #MeToo movement, the Time’s Up movement, and global marches, we've seen a need and a momentum to seize and to build upon. I know that our work, including the investments we are making in women's organizations through the G7, is building on the momentum and moving the work of gender equality forward.

Of course, we've just returned from a successful few days at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York City. We were proud to share the significant steps that Canada has made, but also to learn about the innovative measures that other countries are taking. I offer many thanks to my colleagues across party lines who joined us in New York City. It was quite exceptional to see team Canada in such full force.

Last June, informed by this committee's work, I announced the first ever federal strategy to address and prevent gender-based violence, including investing $100.9 million over five years, with an additional $20.7 million per year, in this. As part of this strategy, Status of Women Canada has been coordinating the whole-of-government approach to the development and sharing of research and data not only to inform actions but also to achieve concrete, measurable, results. The $20 million that was announced in January to address and prevent gender-based violence, particularly for underserved and undersupported gender-based violence survivors, has been an important step.

Over the next year, we intend to build on the momentum created by the activism that has been seen across the country and demonstrate how feminism can be a positive force for social progress and change. As you know, the new budget announced an additional $86 million over five years, starting in 2018-19, to further support the implementation of the gender-based violence strategy in areas such as teen dating violence, on-line child sexual exploitation, and harassment in post-secondary institutions.

To make gender equality a reality, those of us in decision-making positions must listen, learn, and ultimately lead with our words and our actions. This is why the government has also established an agenda internationally to further prioritize gender equality.

In November 2017, I represented Canada at the first-ever G7 gender equality ministerial meeting in Taormina, Italy. The progress there has created momentum to help Canada put equality at the centre of its G7 agenda throughout its presidency year. Earlier this month, you may recall there was an announcement for the Gender Equality Advisory Council for the presidency. Co-chaired by Melinda Gates and Isabelle Hudon, the equality council is essentially mandated to support leaders and ministers to ensure that gender equality and the intersectional gendered lens we apply across government is integrated across all themes, activities, and outcomes of Canada's G7 presidency. I am thrilled to be serving as a liaison between the Gender Equality Advisory Council, the G7 sherpa, and the Prime Minister.

Our government believes in supporting initiatives that will have a long-lasting impact for all women, which is why we’ve changed the way Status of Women Canada does business. We've restored funding eligibility for advocacy activities and introduced measures to ensure the sustainability of the women's movement, including expanding eligibility for recipients such as labour unions, provinces, territories, educational institutions, think tanks, and municipalities; allowing longer-term and higher-value funding opportunities—that’s up to $2 million per year, for up to five years—and by enabling operational and capacity funding to increase sector capacity through skills development and community engagement, just to name some examples.

In 2018-19, the women's program, the envelope that supports women’s organizations, will fund projects that remove persistent barriers to women participating fully in the economic, social, and democratic life of Canada.

Let’s talk about the budget. Budget 2018 cements a whole-of-government approach to gender equality. Not only was GBA+ applied to all of the measures introduced, but the budget also introduced a gender results framework to guide the budget plan, to measure the impact of investments and, frankly, to ensure accountability across the government. We will be introducing new GBA+ legislation to enshrine gender budgeting in the federal government's financial and budgetary processes and to extend the reach of GBA+ to also include tax expenditures, federal transfers, and other government spending. This will be integral to ensuring that, when we make decisions in budgets, we help reduce the potential negative impacts for women, gender-diverse persons, and other groups.

For Status of Women Canada, the new budget means $100 million over five years to support women's organizations—that’s a doubling of investment in these vital organizations—a commitment to introduce legislation to formalize the role of Status of Women Canada, making Status of Women Canada an official department; a mandate for Status of Women Canada to engage in a national conversation on gender equality with young Canadians; and, of course, an engagement strategy for how men and boys can be part of gender equality in Canada. There are also other measures in budget 2018, including a new parental sharing benefit, women entrepreneurship strategies, increasing the number of women in trades, support for indigenous women in the workplace, and a commitment for proactive pay equity legislation, just to name a few.

I’m be happy to talk to you about those today, but most importantly, I look forward to the ongoing collaboration we are all a part of to advance gender equality. I’d be happy to take any questions that our colleagues may have about supplementary estimates (C) and the interim estimates.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Excellent, thank you very much.

Minister Monsef, you were 45 seconds short, so we could have let you keep talking. Thank you very much much.

We're going to go around the table, but I'll just advise you, Minister, that because we have the votes tonight, we have had unanimous consent to keep the meeting going until 5:25.

We're going to start with Emmanuella Lambropoulos for her seven minutes.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you very much, Minister Monsef, for being here with us today to answer questions on the budget.

First of all, I'd like to hear a bit more about how we're going to be engaging men and boys help further gender equality, in order to bring us to a level playing field.

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

We know that men and boys want to be part of the conversation, and that frankly we can't do this work without them. That's why, in the new budget, there was an investment of $1.8 million over two years to begin to develop that conversation across the country, but also to develop that strategy. We know from women's organizations that there's a lot of expertise to be leveraged in the feminist movements. We're going to ensure we do that. We're going to ensure that we are not taking funding away from women's organizations to engage men and boys. As someone who has been part of the feminist movement, and working with grassroots organizations, I have definitely heard loud and clear how important it is to do that. I know parliamentarians like our parliamentary secretary, Terry Duguid, have a lot of ability and capacity to lead this work, and I'm very much looking forward to doing this. If and when we get this right, Canada will be the first to have a strategy of this kind.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Also, obviously, another issue is that not enough women are in leadership positions, and we're not equally represented in high-paying fields. What are the strategies in this budget that will help get more women into leadership positions?

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

Part of it is looking around at corporate boards. When only one in five seats is filled by a woman in a country like Canada, we have a problem, and we're working to address that.

Bill C-25, which is in the Senate right now, adopts a “comply or explain” approach. With that, in the new budget there is an opportunity to incentivize and recognize corporations that are doing well around gender and overall diversity in their corporations.

On International Women's Day I also announced $858,000 in funding for the Global Compact, which is an arm of the UN. They'll be working with some 20 champions in the private sector who are demonstrating this kind of leadership—folks like IKEA, for example. They'll be working on determining a blueprint, essentially, for what the barriers are to ensuring greater diversity in workplaces and how the private sector can be part of this work.

In terms of representation of women in under-represented fields—science, trades, technology, engineering, mathematics—there's funding in the budget to address that. There's up to $6,000 in grants for women studying trades, to be able to pay for equipment, for example. That's one barrier removed, to get them to high-wage fields. We also know that pre-apprenticeship training is important; getting that interest early on will be critical. Then there's $1.6 billion to a women's entrepreneurship strategy. When women are able to determine their destinies and create jobs for others, it's better for everyone.

These are just some of the ways we're working to address some of those contributors to the wage gap.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Lastly, if I have time, I was really happy to represent Canada with the Canadian delegation at the UN last week. One of the side events I attended, which was co-hosted, if not fully hosted, by Canada, was “Violence Knows No Borders”. There are a lot of immigrants in my riding, and not all of them are very aware of their rights as Canadians—eventually, when they get their Canadian citizenship—and even as permanent residents.

I was wondering what we're doing to tackle gender-based violence. I know we've already done quite a bit, but is there anything new in the budget that's going to help with that?

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

That's another excellent question, Emmanuella, and thank you for being there at the UN. Again, having a solid Team Canada approach was really important.

There are a few measures we're taking. We recognize that gender-based violence does not discriminate between cultures. It's a reality across institutions, workplaces, and cultures everywhere. We also recognize that some groups are more vulnerable.

The much discussed citizenship guide, which is in the process of being reformed, is not to just talk about what can't be done but also to inform newcomers to Canada about their rights and also their responsibilities. We're working with stakeholders in the feminist community and, of course, with colleagues in Citizenship and Immigration Canada to ensure that it can be a teaching tool to provide newcomers to Canada and their educators an opportunity to better understand this great country that they've come to.

There is funding, of course—it's about $20 million over five years—to protect vulnerable women and girls. This is about funding to welcome an extra 1,000 refugees. There is money set aside in the gender-based violence strategy. The $20 million that I announced in January focused on under-represented and underserved groups like indigenous organizations and groups but also immigrant women and girls. Ensuring that those organizations have the funding and supports they need to serve these communities is going to be essential, but as you've seen through your work on the economic security of women and girls, it's not just about addressing violence. Economic security is an important way to prevent violence and the cycle of abuse that can hold women and other gender-diverse people back.

That is part of the solution, but we also need to ensure that women are doing well economically, which is why the budget was so important. When we focus on women's economic well-being, we grow the economy for everyone and make them less vulnerable.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you very much.

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

I think my DM would like to add something to this.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

We're at our time, so we'll discontinue with that.

I'm going to move over to Stephanie Kusie for her seven minutes.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Good afternoon, Madam Minister.

It's always a pleasure for me to see you. Thank you for being here today.

Thanks so much for being here.

Regarding the gender-based budget, a recent article in The Toronto Star by Jennifer Wells indicated that Australia had abandoned this gender-based budgeting. Austria had implemented gender-based budgeting and, unfortunately, it was met with ill-defined objectives, a lack of oversight, poor inter-ministerial coordination, and a lack of gender-related data. Further, only half of 12 OECD countries could point to specific examples where the gender budgeting tool had brought about significant changes in policy design and/or outcomes.

Why do you expect the outcomes for Canada to be so much better?

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

That's an excellent question.

Of course, in developing our approach, we've been looking at other countries and finding ways to determine what they do best, and replicating and learning from those challenges. The foundation to effective gender budgeting, as you've mentioned, is good-quality data. That's the biggest limit, and that's an area that we have to continue to build upon, which is why, in addition to committing to legislate GBA+, there has been significant acknowledgement from provinces, territories, women's groups, and our government that we need to invest in good-quality data. We're doing that.

You referred to the OECD, and we've actually been working with the OECD not just to help us do gender budgeting well but also to help us with our GBA+ process as a whole, which is another reason we were able to introduce Canada's first gender budget.

Another thing that's different about Canada—and it's more challenging but it's really important for a country as diverse as Canada—is the fact that our gender budget isn't just a gendered budget. The plus is there too. It's an intersectional gendered lens that is going to make a significant difference. Legislating GBA+ ensures that there is more accountability. There will be public reporting, of course, to Parliament but also to the public as a part of it. Ensuring that Status of Women Canada has the ability to monitor the quality of GBA+ that leads to an effective gender budget is going to be critical to our success.

This is just our first year doing it. We know there will be opportunities to improve it, but I can't overemphasize two things: one, the importance of reliable, valid intersectional gender-disaggregated data; and two, the importance of fostering a culture and a workplace that ensure that every decision that cabinet makes has that intersectional gendered lens applied before we get to the budget-making process that the finance minister and the Prime Minister are part of.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

I'm very glad to hear you're working with the OECD countries to see how the ones that have been in the top six have found success. I am very curious and interested in the specifics of the data analysis you mentioned repeatedly. I was wondering if you could please give me three examples of analytics that will be used in the gender results framework to measure process, such as benchmarking, standard deviation analysis, or multiple regression analysis. What data tools or numbers specifically will show us that this is succeeding, please, Minister?

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

You're talking to a data geek. Yes, absolutely, I would love to.

The government's current and future budgets will be guided by a new gender results framework. It will be divided into six pillars. The first will be around education and skills development. The second is economic participation and prosperity. The third is around leadership and democratic participation. The fourth, which we've been talking about a lot lately, is gender-based violence and access to justice.

The fifth is around poverty reduction, health and well-being, and gender equality around the world. This analysis is robust but it will be enhanced by new investments in data in partnership with Statistics Canada, with community-based research on the ground across the country, and with concrete examples showing what this looks like from the policy to its implementation.

Over the next 10 years, some $40 billion will be invested in the national housing strategy. Women's groups work really hard, as you have in your work on this committee, to ensure that housing and that connection with women is made. At least 25% of that funding will directly support women and their families.

Who is going to be building these houses? Who is going to be benefiting from these good quality jobs over the next 10 years? We know that fewer than five per cent of women are in construction as electricians or carpenters. In recognition of that and to mitigate it, there's new money in the 2018 budget to support women entering these fields so they can benefit from the significant investment. This is exciting for us and just one of the ways where policy tools ultimately lead to better outcomes. If we keep applying this rigour, we're going to make sure that at the end of the day, Canadians feel the impact of better investments in women and girls, and this leads to a stronger economy for everyone.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Thank you, Minister.

I certainly hear the many excellent themes and initiatives. I think Canadians would be comforted if they had more confidence and understanding with regard to the data analysis that will take place and the methods it will include.

You mentioned intersectionality a lot. How do you define that, please, Minister?

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

The results.ca website—it's up already—is an opportunity for Canadians, but updating it will be an ongoing process so Canadians will be aware. Of course, we're also building a knowledge centre for the information and data we're keeping. Through Statistics Canada, much of this knowledge will be available to the public.

Intersectionality is a recognition beyond our gender identities, the recognition of other realities that we identify with and that can affect our day-to-day realities. These include age, race, whether we live in rural or remote communities or urban centres, indigeneity, migratory status, disability and exceptionalities—

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you, Minister.

We're going to move on to Sheila just because the time is short.

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

Sure, we can talk about this later.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Sheila, you've got your seven minutes.

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

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Minister.

It was really good to be with the Canadian delegation at the United Nations last week. We heard some devastating presentations. One that I think particularly affected a lot of us, which we've been hearing testimony about at this committee, is the experience of indigenous women in the justice system and incarceration.

One of the very strong messages we've heard at committee, and it was certainly echoed at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women last week, is the problem of solitary confinement. Here's a statement by the Native Women's Association of Canada that we heard at committee, calling for a complete end to the practice of solitary confinement by any name and for any duration. The associations says:

Segregation is a particularly cruel practice for women with histories of trauma and abuse, another area in which indigenous women are overrepresented.

Along with a lot of other people, I was devastated that the federal government decided to file an appeal the BC Civil Liberties Association's win on ending indefinite solitary confinement.

I'd like to hear you, from your heart, how you feel to have our government spend our tax dollars fighting this really cruel and terrible practice. This is the appeal filing.

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

Thank you for your question, Sheila, and of course it's always good to have you at international and domestic fora representing us so well.

On the issue of the significant overrepresentation of indigenous women in the justice system, I think the percentage is 36%. That's significant given that they make up about 2% of the population.

Your report is going to be incredibly appreciated and will help inform the aspects of the justice system that need to be addressed. Overall, we acknowledge that the system as a whole has failed a lot of people, including black Canadians and indigenous people in Canada, and indigenous women—

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

Minister, I'm sorry, but with respect, it's about the appeal of the solitary confinement ruling. How do you feel about that?

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

I won't comment on ongoing court cases, but you asked me to comment from the heart, and Sheila, I can tell you that one of the reasons I'm here is that I know, as a settler to this country, having been here for 22 years, I have more opportunities and privileges afforded to me than many of the people whose land we're on. That's a wrong that I have an opportunity to right, and it's one that we all do. You've heard the Prime Minister say that there's no relationship more important, and it's a shared commitment by individuals in government and the government as a whole.