Evidence of meeting #5 for Status of Women in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was pandemic.

A video is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

11:10 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio

Thank you very much, Minister Monsef. The time has expired.

We'll now move to Andréanne Larouche, for six minutes, please.

11:10 a.m.

Bloc

Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I also want to thank Ms. Monsef and Ms. Qualtrough for joining us today.

However, I regret that I was unable to hear some of Ms. Qualtrough's comments when they were translated by the interpreters. In a committee studying an issue as important as the status of women, I wish that the technology had enabled us to hear everything that she was saying.

That said, I'll ask Ms. Qualtrough my first question.

Ms. Qualtrough, it would be extremely counterproductive to apply fiscal restraint at the expense of pay equity. Some people are concerned about what will happen next. I want to know the challenges involved in implementing the Pay Equity Act and how you intend to address them. What still needs to be done? What makes this significant, especially if we're talking about a second wave? We've really seen the importance of improving the economic empowerment of women to help them get through a crisis such as the one that we've just experienced.

11:15 a.m.

Liberal

Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC

Thank you for the question.

For our government, pay equity is one of the most significant challenges. The absolute necessity to continue working on this issue is, in a way, a legacy of the pandemic. If women continue to receive lower wages, we'll never achieve equity. This is part of equity. It isn't the only part, but it's fundamental.

This isn't my file. I apologize for not being able to be more specific. However, perhaps Minister Monsef could describe the situation and give you more details on the issue. That said, as a lawyer, I find that human rights are fundamental. I'm working on this issue with my colleague, Minister Tassi.

11:15 a.m.

Bloc

Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC

Thank you, Ms. Qualtrough.

Ms. Monsef, can you talk to us about pay equity?

11:15 a.m.

Liberal

Maryam Monsef Liberal Peterborough—Kawartha, ON

Thank you for the question, Ms. Larouche.

As I just mentioned to MP Zahid, our economy, particularly the care work that's been done, unpaid care work, underpaid care work at best, has been done by women and women of diverse backgrounds. Pay equity is certainly a priority for us. We have put forward pay equity legislation. The work around addressing the gender wage gaps also includes ensuring that gender-based violence is addressed. If this most prevalent human rights violation is not addressed, women will not reach their full potential. If women are not supported, those who choose to go into fields that are often male-dominated, but also pay better, we're not going to reach pay equity, but I also agree that we need to work as a country to ensure that women get paid equally for work of equal value in the fields they choose to be in.

COVID has heightened just how important women's work is, how important care work in particular is, and how we all need to do better to compensate those who are doing this work. The pandemic pay that our government put forward to support provinces and territories is an example of just how much we believe that this needs to happen, for the sake of it being the right thing to do, but also, if we don't pay people fair wages, they're not likely to stay in those fields where we need them, and that's going to create a whole other set of challenges, as we have seen throughout COVID.

11:15 a.m.

Bloc

Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC

You made a very useful connection by saying that not only do we need to increase women's wages, but we also need to encourage women to enter into sectors involving non-traditional occupations. Since we're talking about non-traditional occupations, I want to point out that we're in politics, which can be considered a male-dominated world. There's evidence that women are still finding it difficult to enter into this world.

I want you to tell us about the national action plan on gender-based violence and how this violence affects the integration of women into certain sectors. Is there a time frame?

The current crisis gives us some ways to develop this action plan. I have an article in front of me that describes a situation that I deplore. Lenore Zann, a member of Parliament from Nova Scotia, was the victim of misogynistic threats, simply for wanting to defend the gun registry. She spoke out on this issue, and she was the victim of misogynistic comments.

How can these types of comments cause harm and perhaps discourage young girls who see this issue from entering into politics?

11:15 a.m.

Liberal

Maryam Monsef Liberal Peterborough—Kawartha, ON

Without a doubt, this is a male-dominated sector. Without a doubt, it is harder for women, racialized women, young women and women with disabilities and exceptionalities to get into politics, to get their name on a ballot, and then to win and stay once they get here.

Representation matters. Minister Qualtrough talked about the considerations that were taken into account in very short order in the development of, say, the CERB. The fact that we have people around the cabinet table who had been homeless, the fact that we had people who had lived in poverty and different backgrounds, allowed us to make those calculations very quickly. Representation matters.

When little girls and boys and gender-diverse people see us women around these tables, they begin to see themselves in those fields as well.

Every time there has been movement forward for equality for women's rights, there has been push-back. There was push-back when we got the right to vote. There was push-back when we entered the workforce, and there's certainly push-back now that we are in politics. Just look at any one of our Twitter feeds to see just how harsh and how toxic that push-back is. Certainly, we play a role in supporting one another to show that women can work together and do politics differently. Certainly, our allies, particularly male colleagues, play a role.

11:20 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio

Thank you very much, Minister Monsef.

11:20 a.m.

Liberal

Maryam Monsef Liberal Peterborough—Kawartha, ON

There's so much more to say.

11:20 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio

Thank you so much. I gave you a few extra seconds there for translation.

We're going to move our time over to Lindsay Mathyssen for six minutes.

11:20 a.m.

NDP

Lindsay Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON

Thank you.

Thank you to both ministers for appearing today.

My first question is for Minister Monsef.

Throughout COVID, and you acknowledged it too, there's been a rise in domestic violence. We also know and heard yesterday that there's chronic underfunding of shelters. In 2019 Women's Shelters Canada published a report on how they are constantly doing more with less. Specifically now, with COVID, they cannot rely on fundraisers, and that money has evaporated.

Yesterday we heard again from those organizations that the short-term, project-based funding model simply is not getting the job done, and it hasn't for many, many years.

Do you have intentions, in terms of your government, to provide reliable, predictable core funding that allows organizations to deal with a potential second wave or any future crises or emergencies? Will your government commit to converting the capacity-building fund grants to permanent core funding, allowing those women's organizations to break down the systemic barriers that they face?

11:20 a.m.

Liberal

Maryam Monsef Liberal Peterborough—Kawartha, ON

You are right; women's shelters and women's organizations, particularly over the past few decades, have had to find creative ways to make ends meet. They've been able to maintain their services despite the whims and the values of the various governments of the day.

We came in, in 2015, and one of our first steps forward on that front was providing supports to support and maintain 7,000 shelter units. We also carved out one-third of the national housing strategy so that women who are staying in shelters could then move into affordable housing, so that they could free up spaces but also piece back together and rebuild their lives. To date, about 29% of the national housing strategy has supported builds for women.

In addition to that, we were able to put forward funding to support shelters through capacity-building funds, through the gender-based violence program. During the COVID response, one of the first calls was to Lise Martin of Women's Shelters Canada. In partnership with her and her team, we were able to get money directly into the bank accounts of some 500 shelters in Canada to respond to COVID.

There is absolutely more work to do. We know that the work around operations for these women's organizations and equality-seeking organizations has to be in conjunction and co-operation with provinces and territories. The national action plan for gender-based violence is going to create an opportunity to further support these organizations.

MP Mathyssen, I look forward to your continued advocacy and partnership to ensure greater sustainability for these essential services for Canadians.

11:20 a.m.

NDP

Lindsay Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON

Great. Thank you.

The other thing that we heard from every single witness yesterday was the need for affordable, reliable child care. In fact, the economist Armine Yalnizyan said that without child care, without women going back to work, the economy cannot recover and that we would not only see a recession but we would actually see a depression. The key here is that those spaces not only are available, but they are safe, they are licensed and they are affordable, they are publicly funded.

Is your government committed or willing to commit to ensuring that children and parents have equal access, no matter where they live in Canada, to that high-quality early learning child care? Much like it's enshrined within the Canada Health Act that everyone has access to health care, they could have access to affordable, publicly funded child care.

11:20 a.m.

Liberal

Maryam Monsef Liberal Peterborough—Kawartha, ON

The short answer is yes. We are working with provinces and territories, with the safe restart agreement, with the $14 billion that's on the table, to support the safe reopening of day cares so that parents can go to work knowing that their little ones are safe.

We also know that the child care system in Canada is not yet fully a system. We can't get back to a strong economy if we don't address the labour force attachments that women need. There is a link between gender-based violence, economic security, child care and pay equity. These things are all related. When women are able to stand on their own feet, to earn a good income, to participate in the economy, they are less vulnerable to gender-based violence—not totally 100% safe and free, but it makes a difference.

We are committed to that work. We do look forward to coming to agreement with our provinces and territories. It's mid-July. Parents are nervous, and rightfully so. We need women to get back to work so that we can restart the engines of our economy.

11:25 a.m.

NDP

Lindsay Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON

Thank you, Minister.

I would like to quickly shift to Minister Qualtrough. You had acknowledged that you did not do the gender-based analysis on the CERB program. Now that you've had more time, your government still insists on shifting towards a more penalizing system of the CERB. How do you think that's going to impact the most marginalized, especially women? Have you done a gender-based analysis on this new policy?

11:25 a.m.

Liberal

Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC

I really want to emphasize that we are not going after the most vulnerable by penalizing CERB fraudsters. We're actually going after the people who prey on the most vulnerable. I truly believe that.

11:25 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio

Thank you very much, Minister Qualtrough. Our time has expired. I am now going to move over to Raquel Dancho.

Raquel, you have five minutes for this round.

11:25 a.m.

Conservative

Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Ministers, for joining us this morning to help the committee study the impacts of COVID-19 on women. We greatly appreciate you being here virtually.

We know that it has been 131 days since this committee last met, and I think all committee members recognize the importance of this opportunity for parliamentarians to study the unique impacts on women of this pandemic and, critically, the government's response to it.

Committee members are also well aware that women make up the overwhelming majority of students in this country—over 60%. However, like in many other sectors, they do not occupy many of the senior positions, such as Ph.D. programs and faculty positions, and all of this despite making up the majority of undergraduate students for the last 30 years. I think this is quite a concern.

As a result, the summer months are critical in helping women students work to afford tuition and continue their academic careers. I know this because I was a student who was a waitress and worked for many years to help pay for my education.

I will make reference to some of the Manitoba statistics that I believe are relevant to this.

The restaurant, hotel and retail sector, which is dominated by young people, particularly student women, represented 43.5% of job losses. Younger Manitobans aged 15 to 24 accounted for 35.3% of job losses. Fifty-six per cent of Manitoba job losses were women's.

The Canada student service grant is in fact a response to these alarming statistics, as I'm sure you would agree, and I have to say that I do applaud the government for thinking in innovative ways to support students who have been unable to find summer work. Frankly, this grant would have been a great help to me a decade ago.

With that in mind, Minister Qualtrough, would you permit me to ask a few quick questions about the grant, given that it's on the minds of Canadians and students?

11:25 a.m.

Liberal

Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC

Absolutely. Understanding that it's not my file, I can give you the most information that I have and refer you to a colleague to give you feedback if I can't provide too many of the details.

11:25 a.m.

Conservative

Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB

Thank you, Minister. I do appreciate that.

My understanding was that this grant did in fact fall under your department. Is that not the case?

11:25 a.m.

Liberal

Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC

It's technically under the Department of ESDC, but under the responsibilities of the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth.

11:25 a.m.

Conservative

Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB

Okay. So it was not one of your officials who recommended the WE Charity to run the program?

11:30 a.m.

Liberal

Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC

Again, I'm not trying to be difficult, but I was not the program lead on this. It would have of course been ESDC officials who supported Minister Chagger in the development of this program, yes.

11:30 a.m.

Conservative

Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB

Okay.

Minister, can you confirm if there were other organizations that in that department were considered before the decision was made to award the $900-million sole-source contract to the WE Charity, and did that include any women-led organizations?

11:30 a.m.

Liberal

Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC

I'm not privy to that information. I do understand that part of the decision-making rationale was the speed with which it had to be rolled out, but again, my colleague is much better positioned to answer that specificity, and we can get that information for you.