Status of Women Committee on April 27th, 2021

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

I will call this meeting to order.

Everyone, welcome the meeting number 29 of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. The committee meeting today will be in hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of January 25. The proceedings will be made available on the House of Commons website. We are continuing our study on women living in rural communities, and the second panel today will be on women's unpaid work.

For the benefit of the witnesses, when you're ready to speak, just click on your microphone icon to activate your mike and address your comments through the chair. If you want interpretation, it's at the bottom of your screen. You can select English or French. When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you're not speaking, your mike should be on mute.

Now, I'd like to welcome our witnesses, who will each have five minutes for opening remarks. I don't know if you're going to share or not.

From Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada, we have Shealah Hart, national youth council member; and Traci Anderson, from BGC Kamloops, executive director.

Shealah, if you want to start, you have five minutes.

[Shealah Hart, National Youth Council Member, BGC Canada]

Thank you, first of all, for that kind welcome.

Traci and I have prepared to share our five minutes. If we have your permission to do so, we will proceed that way. If we have a little bit of wiggle room, perhaps we can go ahead with that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Perfect. Go ahead.

[Shealah Hart]

I will pass it over to Traci, because she will begin our presentation for you all today.

Here you go, Traci. Thank you.

[Traci Anderson, Executive Director, BGC Kamloops]

Thank you, Shealah.

Clubs support 200,000 children, youth and families in 775 communities across Canada, including rural communities from coast to coast to coast. Clubs play an important role in building social safety nets for so many Canadians and their families. Clubs across the country offer equity, acceptance, support and opportunity, and opportunity changes everything.

Whether it's homework help or a homeless shelter, a quick snack after school or the only meal of the day for some of our youth, a high-five or a one-to-one mental health check-in, our clubs offer everything a young person needs, including access to opportunities they might not find outside our walls, opportunities that change lives.

My name is Traci. I'm the executive director of the BGC Kamloops in British Columbia, with a population of over 100,000. I'm also the acting director of the BGC Williams Lake in the heart of Cariboo, with a population of 12,000.

I'll pass it over to Shealah.

[Shealah Hart]

I'm Shealah, a youth from Northern Arm, Newfoundland and Labrador, with a population of just 426. Today, I'm here representing my club in the neighbouring community of Botwood, Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as BGC Canada as a member of their national youth council. Thank you so much for having us here today to speak to you all.

Traci and I would like to highlight three intersecting issues that affect women in rural communities. First is access to Internet. Second is employment, and third is child care. First, we'll briefly highlight the issues as we see them, and then give our recommendations for action.

One of the largest barriers in rural communities is unreliable Internet access, which has become especially problematic during the ongoing pandemic and the transition to online learning, particularly for post-secondary students across the country. Without Internet access, I would have had to delay pursuing my post-secondary degree, yet with access to Internet, I still experience and have experienced disconnections during lectures.

I rely on the homes of friends and family in neighbouring communities to complete my exams or to upload assignments. In fact, I'm here today connecting in a neighbouring community, not only due to the fear that my Internet will cut out, but also because the Internet speed in my rural community is not fast enough to support both my sister and me learning online at the same time.

Another struggle that those of us living in rural communities face is obtaining employment. In my community, there are only a handful of places to work, each providing minimum wage, and $12 an hour doesn't exactly pay the bills or put food on the table. As a youth who so dearly loves her rural community, I want to be able to continue to call Northern Arm my home. However, without strong Internet access, educational opportunities for myself and future children, and a job that allows me to fulfill my passions, I'll be forced to leave the place that I know as home.

[Traci Anderson]

On child care, we applaud the recently announced commitment to a national child care program within the federal budget.

Child care issues, as you know, are complex, and for those in rural communities the challenges are compounded. As a leading national not-for-profit child care provider, Clubs knows the benefit that access to quality-enriching child care can have on the lives of children; yet for some, it simply isn't accessible.

Child care is key to the economic stability of Canada and to getting people back to work. Not-for-profit providers are key partners to ensuring that every community can have access to child care and before- and after-school programs.

We see first-hand the effects that systemic problems such as poor access to Internet, employment and child care have within rural communities and the impact this has on women's access to opportunities. We know that the solution needs to be systemic. We need a system of wraparound supports that addresses all of the intersecting issues to sustain rural communities and their prosperity in the long term.

We have four recommendations for this committee.

[Shealah Hart]

First, we were pleased to see the inclusion of a universal broadband fund within Budget 2021.

Our first recommendation is to focus on affordable options. Canadian service providers must be required—be mandated by government—to service areas that are currently struggling with Internet accessibility and to put a system in place such that prices are not higher in smaller communities for poorer service.

Our second recommendation is to work with provincial and territorial governments to provide support so that rural communities are able to build their economies. Incredible things can happen in small communities, but we need this support. We see this throughout the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, in tiny communities with small populations that have made incredible income from tourism. We need help, however, to get those things off the ground and get them started.

It's also integral that we continue to find ways for people to work from home. Improving Internet access, of course, is a huge part of that.

[Traci Anderson]

Our third recommendation focuses on child care. We know from our clubs and our members across the country that a one-size-fits-all approach will not suit the diversity we see in families across the country. Some families are looking for child care to be colocated within schools, whereas others prefer child care in the community to allow participation in skills-based learning and recreational activities.

Our final recommendation is to focus on higher and more equitable wages to stabilize the child care sector. We know there needs to be effort to attract people to the child care workforce equal to that for reducing fees for parents. We cannot increase child care spaces without staff to care for children.

We are experiencing critical staffing shortages, and our wait-lists continue to grow. This forces parents to place unborn children on wait-lists in hopes that they can access space.

Ninety-five per cent of child care staff are women, and they continue to be paid low wages, often resulting in their leaving the sector to further their careers and to earn higher wages. Without stable child care, women who want to enter the workforce simply cannot.

We wish to thank the committee members for providing us with this opportunity to speak with you, and we look forward to your questions.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Very good.

I apologize for the delays we had at the start from the votes, but thanks so much for being here.

We'll start our first round of questions with Ms. Sahota for six minutes.

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for being here and for your testimony.

I want to touch on what you just said, Ms. Anderson, about child care.

There is universal child care being proposed by the government. I'm wondering whether you can talk about some of the challenges that rural communities will face and about how child care needs may not be met under this universal child care proposal.

[Traci Anderson]

Thank you, Madam Chair, for the question.

The situation in rural communities is very similar to that in some larger centres. It's just a question of quality access to care. Simply, in rural communities there aren't child care providers, for one thing. This means that families have to leave their community to bring their children to reliable child care.

Some of the recommendations that BGC has regarding the national child care program include really thinking about it holistically and including all ages. It's not just zero-to-five, but also school-age children who need to be able to access child care. This is really challenging rural communities.

Then, our key issue is the fact that we do not have enough staff. There are some pretty regulated circumstances in which you can hire staff for child care, which relate to quality in hiring early childhood educators. We simply don't have enough staffing resources. That's compounded in rural communities. We are thus really interested and want to work with the government regarding their plans for the universal child care program.

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

To build on that, Ms. Anderson, you spoke about some of the challenges. I'm wondering if you can give me your thoughts on universal child care. What's being proposed has a cookie-cutter kind of approach, and it will look exactly the same from coast to coast to coast. What are some of the challenges that may be faced by rural communities? The child care spaces—well not so much the spaces, but the child care facilities—will be separated and further away. Also, women don't necessarily work nine-to-five jobs and this will be nine to five.

What about parental choice and not being able to leave the children with grandparents, for example? How important is parental choice in that?

[Traci Anderson]

Parental choices are absolutely very important. To have a cookie-cutter approach across the country, from coast to coast to coast, does not make sense. Every community in Canada is a bit different, and the program needs to have flexibility so that child care can fit the needs of our communities.

As for BGCs across Canada, if you've been in one BGC, you've been in one BGC. That's something our CEO always says, because we really do work to fit the needs of our communities. I think that's integral for this plan. As it rolls out, it really needs to be diverse. There needs to be inclusion for flexible child care. Parents don't work nine to five, and especially since the pandemic, we're learning that there are a lot of flexible work schedules now, so child care needs to work to fit that. We absolutely believe that it can't be a one-size-fits-all approach, and as I said, things are compounded for rural communities.

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Ms. Hart, you spoke about some of the challenges you are facing as a young woman in a rural community. I'm wondering if you can elaborate a bit on that. How do women in rural and remote areas integrate into the local and regional economies, given there are Internet challenges and that broadband is not readily available?

[Shealah Hart]

I can only speak from my perspective, of course, and I recognize and understand that challenges are different in different rural communities throughout my province and throughout the country. I've been faced with some challenges with Internet inaccessibility over the course of the past year or so with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In my community, there is one Internet provider, so there is no other option to go with a different provider. It is what it is. However, with that provider, the quality of Internet we're receiving is very poor. We can't seem to get anything done about that, and the costs are high for the services we're receiving.

I've been trying to take advantage of new opportunities to learn, grow and develop, despite being stuck at home at this time. However, it's become quite difficult to attend things like the Daughters of the Vote summit and YWCA's women's summit, which I was able to attend this past March, although I had to come to a neighbouring community.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Very good. That's the end of your time.

[Shealah Hart]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

We'll go now to Ms. Hutchings [Technical difficulty—Editor].

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Long Range Mountains, NL]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to both of our witnesses for being here today. I'll say a special hello to Botwood from Little Rapids. That's where I am today, Shealah.

Thank you both for your comments. As my colleagues know, I speak about really rural parts of Canada. As you know, Shealah, I'm in a really rural area as well. I agree with you all on your comments about connectivity. Connectivity was an issue long before COVID-19 hit, but it ripped off the band-aid.

I'm sure you have heard our commitments. We're well under way to have 98% of Canada connected by 2026. I hope I can count on my colleagues here to support the budget, because we added $1 billion to the universal broadband fund, which is making a difference.

One of the criteria under the new universal broadband fund—and part of it is in the rapid response stream—is affordability. That is one of the criteria boxes. I'm looking forward to rolling out more and more applications across the country, and I encourage people to apply, because we are well under way to reach our goal and connect more Canadians. We know that this is such an important component, especially as women recover and as small businesses recover in rural Canada everywhere.

It's interesting to see that people are coming to the rural parts of Canada—nothing against my colleagues in urban centres. They are coming to rural centres for fresher air, a better quality of life and bigger, open spaces, and we know how important the connectivity piece is there.

I welcome your comments, Ms. Anderson, on the child care piece. We are building the footprint for this now. There is no cookie cutter for it. It's about working with the provinces and territories on how it needs to be implemented, and it needs to be different in rural.

Ms. Anderson, I'd love your comments on that. If there were two pieces of advice.... You gave us one: It needs to be more flexible. What else would you say as we develop the child care piece for rural areas—and I mean really rural areas—across the country? What couple of criteria would you love to see in that piece as it gets [Technical difficulty—Editor], along with flexibility?

[Traci Anderson]

I believe one of the challenges facing very rural communities is access to quality staff. I recommend some flexibility around training opportunities for people entering the workforce into child care. Of course, to match that we need to see some equitable wages—wages that would draw some people in—and some other benefits.

We have talked a bit nationally with BGCs about an opportunity for training that's like the training for trades. You would enter into the field and hit the ground working. You could get right into the field and then learn as you go, like the apprenticeship approach.

We really feel that education for early childhood education needs to be reimagined in a creative way that would draw more people into the sector.

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Long Range Mountains, NL]

I'm familiar with the Boys and Girls Club in St. Anthony, which does phenomenal work for all ages. I love your model because it's welcoming. It's not just for the preschool kids. It's a welcoming environment, and the work you do there is phenomenal.

On your comments regarding community infrastructure and playing a role there, I find that a lot of times the smaller communities don't always have access to and knowledge of the programs out there. There are phenomenal programs out there, but, again, it's about helping people apply. It's about helping the small communities that may have a town clerk who's sorting the mail one day, shovelling the snow another day and sending out tax bills another day. Do they have the time to apply for a funding program?

In the rapid response stream of the universal broadband fund, we have what we call the pathfinder service. It is a 1-800 number and an email that any small community or any small Internet service provider can contact if they have a question.

Do you think something like that should be in the broader scheme so that communities have a resource they could go to for rural economic development if they have a question? If they need to build a playground or need to look at some accessible funding, there would be a place. There's lots of information online, but sometimes you don't have the time to sift through everything to see if your community could avail itself of funding for a new town hall or a new seniors centre.

Shealah, do you think it would help to have some regional economic development coordinators to quarterback with these communities to help in finding the applications and to help them through the process?

[Shealah Hart]

I definitely believe that would be incredibly helpful. As a post-secondary student, I know about, say, trying to apply for scholarships. There are so many scholarships out there for students to avail themselves of, but we can't find them. I imagine it's much the same for people looking for monies in rural communities for different initiatives, projects and such. They don't know where to begin. If you do a Google search, two or three things come up, but they're not what you're looking for. You don't really know how to get from point A to point B.

I believe the suggestion you're offering could be incredibly helpful to those of us in rural communities who are looking to make a difference, improve things and benefit from what is out there.

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Long Range Mountains, NL]

In our part of the world, it's ACOA, and there's FedNor. There are different groups across the country. I wonder sometimes if we need to give them a few more resources that they are then able to get out and help the smaller communities.

But like you said—

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Thank you, Ms. Hutchings. You're out of time.