Status of Women Committee on July 8th, 2020

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to our ministers for being here today.

GBA is administered by each respective department. Does WAGE give common guidelines on how each department should do their GBA evaluations? Can you please talk to us a little bit about why GBA+ was not conducted on programs that were rolled out during the pandemic?

If there's time, perhaps you could also talk to us a little bit about the GBA task force.

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

Yes, WAGE provides those guidelines. We also, in the past years, have hit it over to the training of the public service at the Canada School of Public Service. We work very closely with them.

We have applied an intersectional gender lens to everything you'll see in the economic snapshot, and you'll see just how thorough we've been. It's really quite historic. In the first week or two of the pandemic, as Minister Qualtrough mentioned, our job was to take into account the most vulnerable, to use what we knew and to rely on our public servants for their guidance to ensure that the most vulnerable were supported. The focus was on rapid response and ensuring that the most vulnerable were supported.

Then, very quickly, we restored processes that were in place around GBA+. We set up a task force. The task force worked with every government department. When the Black Lives Matter protests particularly escalated, we partnered with anti-racism secretariats and other departments to further fine-tune GBA+. I want to assure you that this work is being done, because it has to be done. When it's not done, in the formal kind of way, we rely on the intellect, experience and wisdom of those around the table to move us forward, and of course on our amazing partners across the country who keep us accountable and informed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

You have 45 seconds.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

In 2009 and 2015, the Auditor General's reports stated that the Conservative government's use of gender-based analysis was lacking. Could you tell us how this government and your department specifically have embedded gender-based analysis in the development of policies, legislative programs and initiatives?

Thank you.

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

We returned the word “gender” to our foreign policy. We put forward a feminist international assistance policy. In addition to that, we opened 12 out of 16—

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much. Our time has expired.

On behalf of the committee, I would greatly like to thank Minister Qualtrough, Minister Monsef and all the department officials for coming today. I'm afraid we didn't get to speak to the excellent staff with you both today, but we do know that there's a very important committee of the whole today that we need to attend.

On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank you all. This has been a wonderful time.

Andréanne, do you have a question?

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Yes, Madam Chair.

I asked a question that doesn't even seem to have been translated. The minister didn't respond to my question about CALACS and the program that supports organizations that provide assistance to victims who want to find a way out of sexual exploitation. I explained that, in my constituency—

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much. Just recognizing the time, I do need to make sure that we are able to go forward.

We are asking that, if there are any questions that were asked and, due to the time frames, were not responded to, both Minister Qualtrough and Minister Monsef write those responses, and that is greatly appreciated. I know both ministers have been addressed and they said yes.

Once again, on behalf of all women in Canada, I would like to thank everybody for putting the time forward and making sure that we're here today to discuss these extremely important issues. It's better for all Canadians when we're doing our work, so thank you very much.

Today's meeting is adjourned.