Status of Women Committee on April 27th, 2021

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

Thanks, Marilyn.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Ms. Larouche, you may go ahead. You have six minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to thank the two witnesses, Ms. Anderson and Ms. Hart, for their participation today. They did a good job highlighting the differences between rural and urban communities.

One of their recommendations focused on child care, an area in which Quebec was a pioneer. In Quebec, we have certainly seen the impact child care has had on the labour market and women. It's quite clear that access to child care has put better-paying jobs and a wider variety of jobs within the reach of more women.

If Canada wishes to follow in Quebec's footsteps, we can only be supportive, but we hope that our achievement and expertise in the area will be recognized. Quebec should receive full compensation and the right to opt out, with no strings attached. That is what we want, and we hope that a similar initiative helps you as well.

You talked a lot about Internet access, particularly for business owners and students. I know many young people want to get into farming, which now relies a lot on new technology. Farms these days are connected to the Internet. You said you were pleased to see that the universal broadband fund was included in the recent budget.

I would like to hear from Ms. Hart first, followed by Ms. Anderson.

Given your preliminary analysis of the budget, do you think the fund will help communities considering how great the need is all over Canada and even Quebec?

[Shealah Hart]

Based on what I've read so far of the budget—of course, it's a very long document—and knowing what I know about rural communities and lack of access to the Internet, I think affordability is probably the biggest piece for people. In rural communities, we often struggle financially from household to household, from families to family, so getting Internet access in the first place is an expensive thing to do.

In rural communities, we're also paying more money for fewer services from the same companies that our friends and families are paying in larger areas. I know that's true for myself living here in Northern Arm. My parents are paying more money for way poorer quality Internet than what I was paying in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. That's definitely a humongous problem that we're seeing people face.

I think having options available that are still good Internet access...because everybody wants Internet where they can actually use it to do the things they enjoy. Whether it's streaming a TV show or doing homework or attending a Zoom call, you want to be able to do multiple things at once without having to worry about disconnecting.

It's being able to do those things while also being able to put food on the table for your family each day, being able to take your children to school in the car because you have enough money to put gas in the car, while still having that very vital—in the world we're living in today—access to the Internet. I think affordability is key, having services that people can afford to pay for.

Thank you.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Ms. Anderson, do you have anything to add?

[Traci Anderson]

To add in regard to child care, for rural communities, I think there needs to be that consideration for flexible care and then giving parents choice to have access...and I think also just recognizing that care in rural communities is going to look very different from care in urban communities. I feel that there needs to be that consideration.

Clubs across Canada look very different. At one club, there's a real focus on just giving kids access to sports and skill-based activities, whereas in other communities it's about educational opportunities.

I just feel like it needs to be very considerate of a parent's choice, and then also having the flexibility around models of child care and ensuring that it's age appropriate. I think that is key as well. Of course, affordable child care is very helpful, which Quebec has pioneered and led the way on.

Thank you.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

I also gather from your comments that every effort should be made to recognize Internet service as an essential service, as evidenced by the pandemic. Ms. Hart, in particular, discussed the importance of employment. You brought up the tourism sector and the need for support programs to help the sector get back on its feet, especially since, for many communities, tourism will be one of the last sectors to get going again. Therefore, support programs need to be extended until the pandemic is behind us.

It's obvious that both of you are very dynamic, but it's also clear that some entrepreneurship programs are ill-suited to women with smaller businesses. These women are sometimes overburdened. Young business owners where I'm from bemoan the fact that some programs have cut-off dates. In many cases, they find out about a program and go online to get more information, only to learn that all of the funding has already been handed out. More flexible programs would be more helpful to them.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Unfortunately, that's the end of your time.

We're going to Ms. Mathyssen, for six minutes.

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I really appreciate what the witnesses have brought forward today.

One of the issues that my colleague Ms. Hutchings talked about is the provision of additional supports to help some of the organizations sorting through all of these projects and the funding that could potentially exist. Interestingly, one thing I heard directly from many groups within the not-for-profit sector is that they've been struggling because the traditional fundraising opportunities they have had to rely upon to supplement the funding they receive in other ways have been cut. They've also told me that what they really need is operational-based funding that is consistent—core funding. It ensures that, whether you have to deal with an emergency like a pandemic or just the day-to-day, you know there is a consistent amount of money coming forward that you can rely upon. You won't have to go out and search for all these different projects and won't have to change the potential activities or operations that you provide to your clients based on what a government has outlined for a project.

Could you talk about the necessity for core and operational-based funding?

[Traci Anderson]

I can answer that.

I've worked in the non-profit sector for 28 years now, and it has been very interesting to see the evolution of funding for non-profits.

Now more than ever we need operational funding. When financial investments are made in non-profits, we are nimble. We're able to develop things really quickly and respond really quickly. When we can connect to operational funding, there's so much more we can do. We're more efficient and we're able to respond in a more concrete way. Some people still believe that non-profits are run by volunteers, but we are a business. We're a not-for-profit business but we are a business.

We value having operational funding in a variety of different aspects. The landscape has changed, and donors are few and far between right now, so it's very challenging. We often call fundraisers in my community “friendraisers”, because they really don't raise funds. They're really just about building friendships and connections in communities so that people can see the value and we can demonstrate what we do in a great way. We're very fiscally responsible and we're very transparent about our operations.

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Well, you absolutely have to be to keep that not-for-profit designation.

Of course, core funding would also come with the ability for you to ensure that the incredible experts within your field are properly employed. You spoke about this in terms of child care as well.

Could you talk about the importance of investments in the educational side?

Also, what I've heard from a lot of child care providers—and we've spoken about it in other panels for other studies—is the idea that child care work is seen as women's work, and is therefore not as valued.

Could you talk about the importance of ensuring a decent wage, a higher wage, for those workers?

[Traci Anderson]

Yes. Thank you for the question, Madam Chair.

We know there needs to be an investment in increasing wages and making them more equitable for those in similar sectors, especially for women since those jobs are filled primarily by women, although there is the odd male. It is extremely important that we be able to offer those.

There is a sense that the sector is not a professional one, so people will often get the educational components so they can further their career. It's sort of a stepping stone. We really need to reimagine the training for early childhood education and then also ensure that the wages are equitable.

Different governments in different provinces across the country are doing different things around that, but until there is a little bit of a stronger systemic sort of approach to child care, it is going to continue to be a challenge to recruit and retain women and men into the sector.

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

I will just squeeze this in. I know, Madam Chair.

I was hoping you could talk quickly about the national food strategy. You've probably seen a lot of students in terms of that need. Could you talk about that and the focus on that as well?

[Traci Anderson]

Is that for Sheelah? That's just on the food strategy...?

In every single one of BGC's programs, we provide food. It's very key to ensuring that people have access to programs and access to services. Honestly, I haven't read a lot about the food, but I know that it's 100% important.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

That's okay—you're out of time anyway.

We'll have to go next to our second round of questioning, with Ms. Shin for five minutes.

[Nelly Shin, Conservative, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you very much.

I'd like to thank our witnesses today for being here and giving us insight on the impact of COVID on women in rural areas.

I understand it is very important for women to be financially autonomous, seeing as sometimes it is that financial dependence on spouses that perpetuates things like domestic violence and makes it difficult for them to escape.

Part of that is to be able to access jobs that can make them more autonomous. My understanding is that because the kinds of industries that can be in rural areas are pretty much established there and set and defined, economic development is quite difficult, so what are some viable areas for economic development that would be able to open doors for more women to find work in their rural communities?

[Shealah Hart]

Of course, I can speak only from my own experience in my rural community, but, as I said before, we have only a handful of places to work right now: a convenience store, a bar, and the town hall. There are very few positions, so having more jobs particularly for women would be favourable. Oftentimes we know that women are the ones who are expected to stay home and take care of young children. They are the ones who are expected to be there when the kids get off the bus and, on top of that, they're often responsible for all of those household duties like cooking and cleaning and helping with homework and those kinds of things.

Given that, when women have to take on those responsibilities, having work that is flexible is no doubt a really big thing. Where my mind goes with that question, of course, is right back to the Internet. If we have stable Internet access in our rural communities, women are able to work from home.

The pandemic has proven just how many industries and how many kinds of jobs can be adapted to an at-home online environment. Further to that, there are lots of women, especially in small communities like my own, who have taken action to begin their own small businesses. Whether it be selling beauty products they have made themselves or selling crafts or offering a service, they are doing these things from home, more and more, of course, with the onset of the pandemic.

That brings us to what Traci has been discussing throughout the duration of our conversation today, which is, of course, child care. If we have women who are able to work from home because they have, say, Internet access that is stable and reliable, they now need someone to watch their children while they are working from home. I am sure many of you have experienced what it's like to try to get your work done from home with children under your feet or pets or someone getting hurt or fights breaking out between the two children. My own mom struggled with that. We're both grown adults, and she still had a hard time working from home at the beginning of the pandemic.

Having child care options available—whether that means somebody coming into your home or your children going to somebody else's home, or maybe there's a centre or a community centre they are going to—goes right back to flexibility and having options, because life is different for everybody. Everyone's circumstances are different and, of course, in rural communities things look vastly different than they do in larger urban centres.

Everything goes back to Internet and flexibility.

[Nelly Shin, Conservative, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

I appreciate that answer.

Traci, do you want to add anything to that?

[Traci Anderson]

Yes. I would add that I think women in rural communities need access to opportunities, which could include tools to support entrepreneurship, as Shealah mentioned, for people opening their own businesses and doing things of that nature. I think that would support women.

Then, of course, my platform is child care. Access to affordable child care would help ease that burden for women. Also, I think tourism is another really great opportunity for women.

Yes, I would add access to opportunity, in a variety of ways, and tools to assist them to think outside that box of roles.

[Nelly Shin, Conservative, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you very much.

I think you've touched on something there that now is resonating with me—the education piece. What is already out there and available for women in rural areas and allows them to access education and grow as entrepreneurs in fields that can be accessed remotely? Many people are working remotely right now. Could you speak to that?

[Traci Anderson]

Thank you for the question.

Go ahead, Shealah.

[Shealah Hart]

No, you can go, Traci. That's fine.

[Traci Anderson]

I was just going to say I think we've seen a real shift in online access to educational opportunities, but of course that's very challenging for women in rural communities when there is no reliable access to Internet.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Very good.

Now, before I go to Ms. Zahid, I understand that we're going to hear the bells ringing shortly for a second vote, so I will need the unanimous consent of the committee to continue when that happens. Do I have the unanimous consent of the committee?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.