Status of Women Committee on June 15th, 2021

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

I'll call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting 42 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women.

Before we begin today, I want to thank the clerk for arranging for Thursday's meeting to be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., in our normal time slot.

Today we're here to talk about the supplementary estimates (A) for 2021-22. We're glad to welcome the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and officials as well. From the Department for Women and Gender Equality, we have Madam Roy, who is the deputy minister, and Madam Gardiner, who is the assistant deputy minister.

We're going to begin with five minutes of comments from the minister and then we'll go into our rounds of questions.

Minister, you may begin.

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

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Hello, colleagues. Bonjour. Aaniin. Assalamu alaikum.

I join you from my home in Peterborough—Kawartha on Michi Saagiig and Anishinabek territory.

I am so grateful to all of you for your work. Truly, your work has never been more important.

I would like to acknowledge my wonderful parliamentary secretary, Gudie Hutchings, who consistently reminds us to look out for the most rural and the most isolated.

I would also like to wish the public service a happy National Public Service Week. This has been a difficult 16 months for all of us, but you have been there for Canadians in their time of need. If we're number one in the G7 and G20 for vaccine administration with the first dose and if Canada is going to be okay on the other side of this pandemic, it's truly because of public servants like you. We appreciate you.

I'd also like to acknowledge that it is Pride Month. Happy Pride.

Happy Filipino Heritage Month. Many thanks to Salma Zahid for bringing that bill forward.

Of course, it's also National Indigenous History Month, which is a time for all of us to reflect collectively and to learn more.

Madam Chair, I am so grateful to be here today as we reflect on the upcoming Canada Day, which will be better than the last one we had. There is more to be optimistic about and more to be hopeful about. With 75% of the population here in Peterborough—Kawartha having received their first dose, we are close to putting the pandemic behind us. Even as we do that, we recognize there is work to do. We all have to survey the damage that the pandemic caused, roll up our sleeves, build back better systems and institutions, and create a million jobs by the end of this year.

There are also many reckonings happening. There is climate change, the horrendous experiences of our elders in long-term care, Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, who is an essential worker and pay equity. The rate of femicide continues to increase. Anti-Asian rhetoric and anti-Asian hate is increasing, as is anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. The bodies of 215 children being discovered—and many more each and every day—offers an opportunity to us as Canadians to have courageous conversations and to move forward in a better way.

I was in London this weekend and was grateful to see MP Mathyssen and her mom, as well as Salma Zahid, Minister Alghabra, Peter Fragiskatos and Kate Young. We witnessed the burial of four bodies—three women and a man. These were four lives that ended too soon. These folks were targeted because of how they worship in a country like Canada. The accused for this terrorist act is a 20-year-old and I reflect on the fact that it has been 20 years since 9/11. The rhetoric, policies, politics and decisions made since 9/11, I have to accept, has all fuelled hate. We must work together to address and to stop those seeds of hate. There is clearly a need to have a conversation about Islamophobia and all forms of hate.

I want to thank the chair of our justice committee and the chair of the Liberal women's caucus, Iqra Khalid, for bravely standing up in the House of Commons in 2017 and asking us to study Islamophobia. Because of her, we have the tools, the lexicon and the partnerships to fight Islamophobia. That fight, for her, was not an easy one to fight.

Our oppressions are connected, whether it is sexism, misogyny, racism, ableism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia or other forms of hate. It is only truly together that we can put an end to the hate and violence and build back better communities, stronger advocacy networks and programs that put an end to violence and ensure that every Canadian is safe.

I am hopeful and optimistic, because despite COVID, we are moving forward. We are protecting progress. I truly hope that we all support budget 2021 because it includes historic investments that those who have come before us have fought for.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Thank you very much, Minister.

Now we're going into our first round of questions, beginning with Ms. Sahota for six minutes.

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would like to thank the minister for being here.

Minister, I'm going to get to my questions immediately. This past year, Canadians have been shocked and appalled at revelations of sexual misconduct in the highest ranks of our Canadian Armed Forces. However, it is well known that this wasn't the first time.

In 2015, former Supreme Court justice the Honourable Marie Deschamps released a scathing report on issues within the Canadian Armed Forces. One of her recommendations was to clarify the definition of “sexual misconduct” in DAOD 5019-5 as it was “confusing and misleading because the DAOD’s use of the term is inconsistent with its plain language meaning.” However, this wasn't changed until November 2020, five years after the report was released.

In your mandate letter from the Prime Minister, you've been charged with ensuring GBA+ is conducted within the government, which would include the military. Can you please explain why you did not see to it, when this report came out, that DAOD 5019-5 was amended in 2015?

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

Madam Chair, I've brought a formal update about sexual misconduct in the military for the committee. May I read it into the record? It's about sexual misconduct in the military.

I share my honourable colleague's outrage and disappointment, as all Canadians do, with the ongoing, disturbing developments. National Defence, of course, as is the case with our government, continues to encourage everyone who has been affected by sexual misconduct to come forward. Our goal is for those who come forward to be heard and to feel safe and supported.

Currently, the sexual misconduct response centre provides 24-7 confidential support to Canadian Armed Forces members, and I thank them for that. The SMRC is independent from the chain of command and offers a variety of counselling, support and—

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Minister, but that's not my—

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

I'm getting to it, Madam Chair. I'd like to provide a fulsome update, as I think this is an issue Canadians care about.

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

I have limited—

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

May I continue?

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

I have limited time. My question is very direct. Can you please—

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

I'll be respectful of your time—

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

I will add time for Ms. Sahota in order to hear the rest of what the minister—

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Okay, thank you.

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

The SMRC is independent from the chain of command and offers a variety of supports. Moving forward, National Defence will leverage $236.2 million to expand and enhance those supports. It's a 24-7 support line that will continue to be there, and folks can access it from anywhere in the world.

Madam Chair, I'd like to add that in this budget there is an opportunity for those of us who care about this issue and who want to bring about cultural change faster to do that work and to vote in favour of it. As for my role in all of this, I assure my colleagues and Canadians that my team and I are keeping a very close eye on this. We are connecting with survivors and experts, and we are ensuring that an intersectional gender lens is applied.

I will say this, too, before I hand the mike back over to you, Madam Chair. It is clear that what we have done over the past six years has not gone far enough. We understand that, and we're committed to moving forward faster to ensure that every woman, man and gender-diverse person in our armed forces and DND feels safe and feels like they can contribute meaningfully to their country.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

We'll go back to you, Ms. Sahota.

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Minister, you still didn't answer my question.

My question was: This report came out in 2015, and five years later there was an amendment done to the definition of sexual misconduct, when you were told, five years ago, to change this. Why did it take so long for you to get moving on that?

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

Madam Chair, as I've said, it's clear that we've not gone far enough quickly enough.

The sexual misconduct response centre did not exist back when we started. We helped set it up. I thank the folks who work there. We're working to expand it further. Rest assured that our commitments to the safety of those who look after the safety of us and the most vulnerable around the world remains top priority—

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Minister, I'm going to interrupt and say that your words mean nothing if you didn't do anything for six years. You're not answering my question, but I'll leave that and move on.

Recently, in Justice Fish's report, he acknowledged that the DAOD has recently been changed; however, he also pointed out the new DAOD was still inadequate.

How involved were you in the development of this new DAOD?

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

Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for her question. I imagine if she is asking these questions, she wants to hear my words and I will continue to give her my best response.

We're working closely with the minister, with the department and with the SMRC to ensure that they're moving forward in a good way and ensuring that the directive that has been sent down through the military, the one that has been drafted by CAF, is applied thoughtfully.

It's why Madam Louise Arbour is going to lead an independent external review into harassment and sexual misconduct in the military. We recognize that we need to make more changes in our systems to create safety, inclusion and belonging and we will continue to work with all willing partners to achieve that outcome.

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Minister, what we see here is you constantly not standing up for women when it comes to making sure that they're represented in your policy. Your colleague was here last year and told us that no GBA+ analysis was done on COVID relief programs. It was your responsibility to ensure that it was done.

Now we're hearing that you have not been involved in the rewriting of the DAOD, even though they particularly affect women. Then on the weekend we heard from the media that two senior officers in the military went golfing. One of them, the former vice chief of the defence staff, has the military police directly reporting to him, all while the former CDS is under investigation for sexual misconduct. The woman at the heart of the investigation told this committee that she didn't believe she would get justice and that the former CDS believed he owned the CFNIS, and given this weekend's article, still believes that.

While your colleague spoke up against this, you remained silent. Why do you remain so silent when it comes to women and giving them a voice?

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

Madam Chair, that's inaccurate. I was standing up for women just last week, fighting a bill that was attempting to control our bodies and our choices. I stand up for women and girls and gender-diverse folks every single day.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Sorry, Minister.

We're going now to Ms. Dhillon for six minutes.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Welcome, Minister. Your opening statement touches all of us in many ways.

The violence we saw in the last week and things that have unfolded in the past two weeks are certainly issues that need to be addressed. I thank you so much for bringing them up in this committee, because that's what we're all about here, trying to help those who are the most vulnerable and to be able to bring justice and any assistance we can.

With that, I'll start with how the government is ensuring that women and other vulnerable groups are at the forefront of the recovery and won't be left behind. How can you ensure this?

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

Thank you so much, MP Dhillon, for your leadership. I know, as a Quebecker, that it has been a really difficult time for you and your communities, and I know that those femicides aren't just numbers for you. They're community members, and you continue to live with the consequences of those tragedies. I thank you for your leadership.

As you know, we work really hard. It's thanks to the public service that we have a tool called GBA+. We do this best when we start our analysis focusing on the under-represented and underserved.

We've applied that lens throughout the entirety of COVID. Maybe we didn't in the first 24 to 48 hours or the first week of COVID, as we were working to set up responses to this unprecedented crisis. Very quickly, however, the Prime Minister asked all of us...and we discussed in cabinet and amongst our teams that we were going to make sure GBA+ was core to our decision-making.

I'm really glad we did that, because it helped us see how older women in rural communities were faring. It helped us understand how small businesses in really small communities were taking up the business supports our government was putting forward. When, for the first time, we started collecting race-based data to add to our existing statistics, it helped us see that newcomers, racialized folks, Black women and those on the front lines of the fight against COVID were carrying the heaviest burden.

That work was recognized by the international community. We may not be perfect, but we've done the best GBA+ of COVID response in the world, and we continue to endeavour to respond well in the budget. Budget 2021 is the most feminist budget that any federal government has put forward.

Those women whose experiences we're tracking and those with care responsibilities need universal early learning and child care. They need their child care fees cut by half as soon as possible. If the budget passes, with the support of our colleagues and all parties, we'll get to that cost being cut in half by next year. We'll get to an average of $10-a-day child care in five years.

We'll hopefully be able to move forward with the budget so that more than $3 billion in funds can be unlocked, moving forward, to respond to the calls for justice in the MMIWG report and ensure that we move forward with our response to gender-based violence.

I sincerely hope that every single one of us votes in favour of this budget and that we work together, moving forward, to ensure that we address the vulnerabilities that COVID has only amplified.

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

Thank you so much, Minister.

I'd also like to say how appreciative I am that you brought up Quebec and the 11 femicides that took place in just about the first four months of this year. It's very hard to stomach these, and we mourn the loss of these women.

I would like to ask you, please, if you can provide us with more details on the work to date of the national action plan to end gender-based violence.