Status of Women Committee on July 8th, 2020

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number five of the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women.

To begin, I would like to thank all of the members for being here once again today. I also would like to thank the vice-chairs, subcommittee members and staff for working diligently to prepare for today's meeting.

To ensure an orderly meeting, I would like to outline the rules.

Occupational health and safety staff have requested that we limit our movement in the room and wear masks unless seated. Floor markings indicate the path of travel, which goes counter-clockwise around the table. Individuals should respect physical distancing and remain two metres apart from one another. Seats and microphones have been placed in a manner such that everybody is properly physically distanced. To minimize health risks, we are allowing one staffer today. Other staff members are able to get on via calls.

You will note that no paper documents have been distributed. All documents that you will find or any conversations that you need to have go through [e-mail].

Today we're going to be studying the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on women. We will be accepting briefs from the general public at any time up to July 30. We are asking for them to be two to three pages in length. If people have questions regarding those briefings that they would like to put forward, please contact the clerk at [e-mail].

During the questioning of witnesses, there will be a six-minute first round. Round 1 questioning will be as follows: Conservative, Liberal and Bloc, followed by the NDP. For the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning will be as follows: Conservative Party, five minutes; Liberals, five minutes; Conservative Party, five minutes; Liberal Party, five minutes; Bloc, two and a half minutes; and, New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes.

On this, because we recognize that our time is so sensitive and also that both ministers would like to be at the committee of the whole today, I'm asking that everybody be very aware of their timing. If you are provided six minutes, you will be cut off at six minutes. If you are provided two and a half minutes, you will be cut off at two minutes and 31 seconds—that's for you, Lindsay. I want to make sure that everybody recognizes that time is of the essence right now. Please always respect the time that we are using today so we can get all of the information and all of the questions that we have from all individuals sitting at this table and we can move forward.

I am also honoured to welcome today the Honourable Maryam Monsef, member of Parliament and Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development, as well as the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion. Minister Monsef is accompanied by Guylaine Roy, deputy minister, Women and Gender Equality Canada, and Nancy Gardiner, assistant deputy minister, Women and Gender Equality Canada. Minister Qualtrough is accompanied by Catherine Adam, senior assistant deputy minister, strategic and service policy branch; Andrew Brown, director general, employment insurance policy; and, Philippe Massé, director general, temporary foreign workers program.

I invite the ministers to now make their opening remarks. Your remarks will be for 10 minutes. At that time, I will be cutting you off.

I would like to welcome to the floor the Honourable Maryam Monsef for her 10 minutes.

Welcome, Maryam.

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Hello, colleagues. Boozoo. Aaniin. As-salaam alaikum. I hope you're well. I hope you're safe. I wish the same for your loved ones and for your teams.

Given that this is my first time in front of a committee in our post-COVID world, let me take this opportunity to thank the public service of Canada for all the ways that you've put everything on the line. We are truly blessed to have the world's best public service moving Canada forward during this difficult time. Also, of course, it's wonderful to be here with Minister Qualtrough, who has been moving some significant pieces forward, not the least of which is the CERB program.

Madam Chair, I am very much looking forward to the response that comes from your committee as we navigate the ongoing impacts of the pandemic on the most vulnerable, on women and on the path to recovery. I want to thank you for the work there.

I'll talk about our government's response to COVID. I would like to spend a bit of time talking about the impact on women and the road to recovery, but first let me talk about this book. Those of you from Winnipeg and those of you who have been around the last little while know that Runaway Wives and Rogue Feminists is a book that tells the story of the women's shelter movement in Canada. Maybe I'll start with that.

In 1971, the Liberal government of the day introduced the local initiatives programs and the opportunities for youth program. These programs were to support those who were experiencing particular vulnerabilities during a time of severe economic downturn. The programs encouraged Canadians, particularly women and young people, to find solutions to pressing local challenges and receive a modest amount of funding from the federal government to help turn those ideas and solutions into action.

Among the many ideas that came forward was one put together by young women across the country. They came together in the early seventies and started women's shelters in Canada, the very first women's shelters in Canada. Today, there are some 600 women's shelters in Canada because a group of young women came together to ensure that battered women and their children had a place to go in their hour of need. In 1996, my family and I were able to stay at one of those shelters.

Because of a decision that was made in 1971 and because of investments made in 1971, people today are benefiting from the thoughts, the creativity and the opportunities that have been created. We are going to see young people seize opportunities to propose solutions that we haven't thought of, and the story of the shelter movement in Canada is a really good reminder of the opportunities that can be seized in times of difficulty.

When the pandemic hit, one of our immediate responses was to provide $50 million to organizations that are providing support to those experiencing increased rates of gender-based violence due to the isolation measures in Canada. Today, some one thousand organizations have been able to keep their doors open, have been able to keep their staff paid and have been able to keep their buildings clean and provide a place of refuge for women and children in really dark hours.

We started our efforts by focusing on shelters and sexual assault centres, and then we were able to flow funds in a new way, in a way that we hadn't done before, to organizations that provide gender-based violence supports but do so without having the specific mandate of being a shelter or sexual assault centre. This includes a range of organizations that, for example, are doing work in the Downtown Eastside, organizations that are working in smaller rural communities and, of course, organizations that are providing supports to victims of human trafficking.

There is more to do. There is more to come. We are moving forward with the plan to develop Canada's first national action plan on gender-based violence, and I will have more to say very soon about our efforts to support victims of human trafficking in this country.

From the very beginning, we recognized that those who were most vulnerable would be hardest hit by COVID, and every step we've taken has taken that into account. The intersectional gendered lens that the Government of Canada applies has been applied to all of our efforts. I am happy to talk more about that.

There has also been a recognition that women have been hardest hit by COVID, with jobs lost and their work on the front lines and the care responsibilities they taken on because schools and day cares have been closed and because elders have needed help—as well as the shadow pandemic of gender-based violence. Women have been hardest hit, and if we're going to get out of this “she-cession”, we're going to have to support women in their need to get back to work and to ensure that we remove barriers. Otherwise, we lose the hard-won gains that so many before us have fought for.

Our focus on the vulnerable has led to millions of Canadians being supported.

The thousand organizations that we were able to support with gender-based violence funds have an impact in supporting some three million women and children in this country.

The CERB has benefited over eight million Canadians. The CEWS, or the wage subsidy, has supported close to three million workers. The Canada child benefit top-up has supported 3.7 million families with kids. The GST credit top-up has supported 12 million low- and modest-income individuals and families. The CESB has supported some 600,000 students. The OAS and GIS top-ups have supported 6.7 million elders in our country, and they will be receiving the top-up this week. The CEBA loans have supported 688,000 businesses, and there are additional supports for those businesses being worked out.

Madam Chair, the road to recovery from this unprecedented global pandemic will be hard. We are still in the middle of the pandemic. There's still a lot that we don't know about the virus, including how it spreads. I am proud of the way that Canadians have come together in shared sacrifice to protect the most vulnerable.

I am grateful to everyone who has been on the front lines of this work, particularly the women, who have put everything on the line. Some have had to have some really difficult conversations with their loved ones about why they can't be in the same house with them because they do work on the front lines. I'm talking about front-line workers.

The road to recovery has to include supporting women and the most vulnerable. There is an opportunity here too. The pandemic has revealed strengths in our system: for example, the public service of Canada; for example, our democratic institutions; and, for example, our universal health care system. It has also exposed cracks in our system that make too many vulnerable. We have an opportunity in the path to recovery, in the reimagining of our country and these systems, to rebuild back better. It's going to take every single one of us to work together to make that happen.

I want to thank you again for giving me a space. I want to thank everybody who has worked so hard to make this different way of doing business and doing Parliament possible.

I'll hand it back over to you, Madam Chair. I look forward to the conversation we are to have.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much, Minister Monsef.

I'm now going to move to Minister Qualtrough.

Minister, you have the floor for 10 minutes.

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Good morning, everyone.

I'm pleased to be here with you today to speak about the emergency measures taken within the portfolio of Employment and Social Development Canada, or ESDC, to support Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic. I also want to talk about their impact on the situation of women and on gender equality.

These emergency measures, like all the measures implemented by the Government of Canada, reflect our commitment to equality, fairness, inclusiveness and diversity.

Let me get right into it. Given the speed of the severity by which the pandemic struck our country, we made a decision to act as quickly as possible in order to assist Canadians by issuing financial assistance immediately. We lost no time. We acted swiftly and promptly with the CERB, the student benefit, wage subsidies and other measures. We accepted that our response would not be perfect, but we were committed to being quick and ensuring we could deliver. Canadians were relying on us, and we would be there for them.

We know that the pandemic has disproportionately impacted women, putting them at greater risk of job loss, poverty, food insecurity, loss of housing and domestic violence, and I'd like to provide an overview of some of our measures.

As the pandemic made its way to Canada and began having tremendous impacts on our economy and our daily lives, our government acted quickly to create the Canada emergency response benefit. This benefit was created to help all Canadians who stopped working due to COVID-19.

I'll be honest with you: the CERB was conceived of, designed, approved, funded and legislated within a week. This was a massive new program being delivered to millions of Canadians, and the timelines were quite extraordinary. In this incredible timeline, there was no formal GBA+ study done. I say this because I want to be frank with you, but this in no way meant that we did not consider the needs and impacts on women at every decision point.

There were things that we absolutely knew. By delivering the CERB outside the EI system, we knew that we would be supporting Canadians with precarious work and Canadians who weren't eligible for EI. This meant that the most vulnerable workers, including women and persons with disabilities, would be supported—Canadians who would not have been supported through EI.

We also knew that people would not be able to work for reasons other than job loss, such as sickness or quarantine, elder care and child care. We knew that women would be the most impacted if the income support did not take into consideration these broader realities. We knew that women are generally overrepresented in minimum wage and low-paying occupations, such as educational services and food services, which we anticipated would be the hardest hit by the pandemic, and we knew how important it was to deliver a benefit that addressed the pandemic reality for every worker—women in particular.

This benefit ensures that all eligible workers receive $500 per week. The Canada emergency response benefit, or CERB, supports workers who have lost their jobs or who are unable to work because they are ill, they must self-isolate, or they need to take care of children or dependants as a result of the pandemic.

It also provides financial support to workers who are still employed but making under $1,000 every four weeks. To give you a sense of the scope of the need, more than 8 million workers have been paid more than $53 billion in benefits through the CERB. Fifty-one per cent of CERB recipients are men, 48% are women and 1% identify as gender diverse.

We recently extended the CERB by eight weeks to a maximum of 24 weeks. This is to ensure Canadians continue to get the support they need as the economy reopens. This is particularly important for women, who are facing the reality this summer of not being able to work even if they have a job to go back to, due to a lack of child care or summer camps. We recognize that our best strength for a recovery is getting people back into the labour force. This is why, with the extension of the CERB, we are encouraging workers who are able to return to work to do so, provided it's reasonable based on their individual circumstances. We are very realistic about the barriers being faced by women as they return to work.

Now, to go over to students and youth, we also know and have known from the beginning that this pandemic would have an impact on younger Canadians, and we had to think of innovative and targeted ways to support them. One significant way was helping students and youth through the Canada emergency student benefit. Students who are not receiving the CERB could be eligible to receive $1,250 per month during these important summer months that so many of them count on for financial stability.

As we know, women may account for almost two-thirds of the student population in universities in Canada. As a result, this financial support significantly helps women.

Keeping in line with our GBA+ lens, we decided that students with permanent disabilities and students with dependants would receive an additional $750 per month. This recognizes the additional expenses being incurred by students who are parents and by students with disabilities, as well as the additional barriers to employment being faced by female students, including the already mentioned lack of child care options this summer.

The CERB and the CESB have been providing much-needed support to millions of Canadians and to millions of Canadian women. Let me now highlight two other initiatives that are benefiting women in particular.

First, to help families, as was said, our government provided a one-time enhancement of $300 per child for families receiving the CCB. Starting on July 20, the CCB will be increased once again to keep up with the cost of living.

Second, recognizing the particular vulnerability of our seniors in this pandemic and understanding that 54% of the Canadian population over 65 are women, we are providing a one-time tax-free payment of $300 for seniors who are eligible for old age security, with an additional $200 for seniors who are eligible for the GIS. Eligible seniors, as my colleague said, are receiving this one-time payment this week, and I know that this will be a welcome support for seniors in Canada.

I'll turn now to persons with disabilities. In addition to women facing heightened barriers and challenges during this pandemic, persons with disabilities are also disproportionately impacted.

According to the latest available data, more women than men have disabilities in Canada. The ratio is 2.1 million women to 1.7 million men. Currently, women with disabilities are particularly vulnerable because they very likely work in the hardest hit sectors of the economy. In addition, 60% of them are victims of violence.

We've been working with the disability community since the beginning. In the spirit of “nothing without us” and the Accessible Canada Act, and to support Canadians with disabilities, we established the COVID-19 disability advisory group.

The advisory group has raised key issues that affect Canadians with disabilities in the areas of health care, employment and social services, to name a few. They put an intersectional disability lens on the pandemic. They worked with the Public Health Agency on guidelines to ensure that people with disabilities are protected, listened to, supported and accommodated as necessary during this pandemic. They raised issues about triage and visitor policies with the health minister, who in turn brought these concerns to her provincial and territorial counterparts, which resulted in significant policy changes.

Thanks in part to the advice—

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Minister Qualtrough, could you hold for one minute, please?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Minister Qualtrough, they are having difficulty hearing you at translation, so we're looking at this for just a moment here. I'm stopping your time.

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Nobody has ever accused me of being quiet.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

I understand that, Minister Qualtrough. You and I have the same problem, I think.

We're just checking into this. I've stopped your time, so let's see where we're going.

Minister Qualtrough, we are asking you to speak slowly so they can work through all of this. If you want to pick up from where you were—

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

People have asked me that before, so that's fine. Okay.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Oh gosh, it's the same with me.

If you could just continue, we'll go from there so translation can work through it. Okay? Go ahead.

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Excellent. Okay.

Thanks in part to the group's advice, we recognized that persons with disabilities had to incur some extraordinary costs during the pandemic. On June 5, the Prime Minister announced that, effective June 1, 2020, individuals who hold a disability tax credit certificate would receive a one-time payment of $600.

As you know, our government's effort to pass legislation to support implementation of this payment did not proceed as intended. Parties could not agree on the legislation. Therefore, the process to roll out this benefit has been delayed. However, I emphasize the “delayed” part. We remain committed to finding a solution that delivers this supplement to Canadians with disabilities.

Madam Chair, our government has been working relentlessly to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus and protect Canadians' health and financial security during this pandemic. However, we know there is more work to be done. As we emerge from this crisis, we have an opportunity to design approaches to recovery that promote gender equality and a more inclusive society. That's what our government intends to keep doing.

To help ensure we leave no one behind, we commit absolutely to conducting rigorous GBA+ analysis as we gradually take measures to reopen the economy. My department is proud of its GBA+ centre of expertise, which has evolved over the years and will play a key role in ensuring that GBA+ is incorporated into our programs, policies and initiatives as we move forward.

Thank you. As well, I'd be happy to answer your questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

That's wonderful, and thank you very much, Minister Qualtrough.

As I indicated, time is really of the essence right now. We're one minute behind already.

I'm going to be passing the floor to members. I will be cutting everybody off as soon as their time is done in the first round at six minutes each.

We will be starting with our first CPC member.

Jag Sahota, you have the floor for six.

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Minister Qualtrough, on June 10, during the COVID special committee, I asked why GBA+ was not conducted on the programs that were rolled out by your government. You said: My goodness, Madam Chair. I'll say again how important it was from the very beginning that we took into account the needs of women and girls, and as we move forward into the economic recovery phase, how completely we make women at the core of every decision.

But we know this was not the case. Yesterday we heard from several witnesses that GBA+ was not conducted on the programs that were rolled out, as you just acknowledged, and that women could not have been core to every decision because of the significant gaps in the programs as they relate to women specifically.

If women and girls had been at the core of every decision as you said, how were there so many oversights and gaps relating to maternity leave and EI benefits? We heard yesterday that 50% of women-owned businesses are ineligible for the CEBA. There are obviously massive gaps. What steps is the government taking to ensure that more businesses can access the CEBA? May I have a short response, please.

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Thank you. I stand by my words weeks ago and today that we have considered the needs and interests of women. As we've rolled out things extremely quickly, we've responded, I think, very quickly to any gaps that have been identified. Some are more complicated, admittedly, than others.

As a cabinet we're committed to ensuring that gender-based analysis is taken into consideration. My honest comment in my opening remarks had to deal with the formality of that process, but as I said, we have never.... The needs of women and taking into consideration that unique perspective have been fundamental to how we've responded in this crisis.

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Thank you.

Minister Monsef, I'd like to ask about the disturbing decision of your government to fund PACE, a Vancouver centre that promotes sex work as a choice, while refusing to fund the London Abused Women's Centre, an organization that has been steadfast in assisting women and girls who are being trafficked against their will.

We heard witness testimony yesterday that described these cuts, and the fact that human trafficking is not addressed in any of the COVID-19 economic relief programs, as devastating, a betrayal, and that people in their community are appalled. Women and girls are facing unprecedented rates of violence, and human trafficking has only increased during COVID.

Can you explain to Canadians why you've turned your backs on the community organizations that are integral to helping save lives? Again, a short answer, please.

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

Madam Chair, let me correct the record. The organizations mentioned, including the London Abused Women's Centre, have received funding. There is more funding to come, which the organization and many other excellent organizations will be eligible for. Some thousand organizations have received emergency COVID funding in a very short period of time, in addition to the 500 that were receiving multi-year funding before the pandemic hit.

Madam Chair, I want to also acknowledge that when I started as the Minister for Women, the department had about $20 million to give out in funding to organizations. This year it's close to $120 million.

We believe that those organizations that are on the front lines are the most effective way to advance gender equality. We appreciate their incredible work. We know we have more work to do together.

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Okay. Thank you.

Despite letters from opposition members, follow-ups by our offices and calls from community organizations, the government still has not replaced the funding lost under the measures to address prostitution initiative.

New funding through Public Safety has been announced, but is nowhere near being delivered. In fact, the government is currently cherry-picking organizations to solicit applications for future funding, none of which include the organizations that have been left in the lurch by the cuts to MAPI. The most recent call for proposals was done pretty much behind closed doors.

It seems pretty clear that the silence of the government on this issue speaks volumes. How can your government stand by and claim to be open and transparent while it strikes backroom deals with groups on issues as important as human trafficking?

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

Madam Chair, human trafficking is a heinous crime. We have a $75-million strategy, a hotline and supports for women's organizations. There is work to be done to prevent it, and we recognize that we need to do more as a country to address this. Half of the human trafficking victims are indigenous women and girls. That came out clearly in the MMIWG calls for justice.

There were no cuts; a program sunsetted, and we are moving into a new program. In addition, there was no cherry-picking. We worked with provinces, territories and organizations on the ground to come up with a list of organizations. Those organizations received funding directly deposited into their bank accounts. A thousand organizations receiving funding directly into their bank accounts has never happened before. We did that because we appreciate their work.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much, Minister Monsef.

The member's time has expired. We're now going to move over to Salma Zahid.

Salma, the floor is yours for six minutes.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister Qualtrough and Minister Monsef, for all the work you are doing on behalf of all Canadians, as we all try to navigate these unprecedented times.

My first question is for Minister Qualtrough. Thank you for all you have done during this pandemic.

Throughout the COVID pandemic, I've been hearing from many of my constituents with disabilities who live on limited fixed incomes that they are facing increased costs but haven't qualified for programs, such as the CERB. They were pleased when we announced the one-time, non-taxable payment of $600 to those eligible for the disability tax credit, but they are confused about why the opposition did not allow Parliament to debate this bill and what the status of this program is now.

I know that women with disabilities, in particular, need this support. Can you please help us understand just what happened and how we are going to get this support to those who need it, especially the women who are living with disabilities?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

I thank you for your really important question.

People with disabilities have faced and are facing extraordinary expenses specific to COVID and additional barriers to getting the support and services they need. We wanted to ensure that we provided a supplement as opposed to an employment income replacement, as we did with seniors, that would ensure that these extraordinary expenses were the focus of this assistance.

We knew there was a gap in terms of.... We were able to provide...children with disabilities through CCB, seniors, students, low-income Canadians with disabilities through the GST, but there were significant cohorts.

What this pandemic has revealed is a gap in our system and a weakness in our policy and programs. We can't easily identify a group of Canadians with disabilities to connect with directly. The best group we had was disability tax credit claimants, but we needed legislation to allow the DTC data to be shared with my department in order to deliver this benefit. That's what the legislation would have done, unlock that data to allow us to deliver this supplement.

As I said in my opening remarks, I'm not in any way going to let this go. We are going to find a way to deliver this. I'm baffled, given the all-party support we had for the Accessible Canada Act, that we couldn't get all-party support, even when we took the disability piece out and tried to put it forth on its own, but I am no less committed. In fact, we are more resolved to deliver this, and we're going to find a way, hopefully, through legislation. That's the most inclusive and accessible way. If not, we're working on other options.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

My next question is for Minister Monsef.

As a member of Parliament for Scarborough Centre, I represent one of the most diverse ridings in Canada. I know many newcomer and visible minority women who already found it difficult to find work in their field, even before this pandemic hit us. They often ended up in precarious and low-income jobs. This has only worsened during the COVID-19 situation.

In the COVID support programs your department is managing, have you ensured that a GBA+ lens was applied to those programs so that the unique challenges being faced by diversity-seeking women are recognized and addressed?

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

One reality that COVID has highlighted is that in our economy, the care work that's done is disproportionately borne on the shoulders of racialized women and newcomer women, women whose work is essential to our survival, yet whose work is not compensated according to the incredible amount of labour that we ask of them. The precarity of their situations means that personal support workers, for example, have to have two or three jobs to try to manage, to make ends meet.

We can do better in Canada. The work that my department has been doing over the past few years, as well as our government as a whole, is to recognize that there are groups of Canadians across the country who are underserved and under-represented. Not only is that unfair, but unless we maximize the potential of those who have been on the margins of our societies and economies for too long, Canada won't reach its full potential.

We did begin to take into account and measure things. For example, 20% of our funds support women in rural communities. Also, a portion of our funds supports indigenous women and those organizations that are supporting them. We are doing more to dig deeper and figure out what percentage is supporting black women's organizations, indigenous women's organizations and racialized women's organizations, but we have so much more work to do.

Perhaps one positive outcome of COVID has been a recognition across the country that, unless the data that we collect as a nation in different orders of government is disaggregated by gender, race and other identity factors, we're not going to be able to count every single person and measure our impact.