Status of Women Committee on March 25th, 2022

[Yordanka Petrova]

We have close to 100 units available for families, two- and three-bedroom units. Because it's ongoing, I can say that we've helped over 300 families and some 500 children through the course of our homeward bound program. Because it's a long-term program, it's not like they stay for a couple of months. We don't have high numbers, and that's what is often not so attractive in terms of support for the program.

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Kanata—Carleton, ON]

There might not be large numbers, but it obviously has a big impact. It's greatly appreciated.

I have one more question, and I'd like to go back to David and Paul.

One of the items I've noted, and I don't think you've had a chance to elaborate on it yet, is around the Moose Hide learning journey for children and youth, the program geared for school-aged children. Can you enlighten us on what that program looks like and its benefits?

[David Stevenson]

I'm happy to do so. Thanks for the question.

You're right. We do have a learning journey program for youth. It's in different stages for different ages. From kindergarten to grade 12, there are about three or four levels, depending on what age you're at.

What we do is engage a lot of peer support as well as mentorship, and we also use famous TikTokers, etc., to get the message out about getting involved and taking a stand. We really encourage creativity in the space. We have art competitions and video competitions, and they're a very playful aspect of this, as well as an opportunity to engage in conversations.

We have online workshops. We actually go out to teachers and have these hour-long online workshops with various folks, which they can do in school, and then we lead that up to our Moose Hide Campaign Day.

On Moose Hide Campaign Day itself, there will be a specific youth plenary. Again, the Governor General is going to say a few words, and there are going to be some famous TikTokers involved. It's basically to encourage discussion about this, discussion about how to be respectful and kind in this space.

Of course, it depends on which age you're talking about. You talk quite differently with a high schooler than you do with early years. We have two indigenous first nations teachers who design and work with this. I wouldn't call it a “curriculum”, because there's a specific thing about curriculum, but it's definitely a learning journey, and it's meant to ladder the youngsters along.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

That's awesome. Thank you so much.

We're now going to move it over to Andréanne for two and half minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to thank the second panel, Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Lacerte and Ms. Petrova, for their presentations.

My questions are for all three witnesses.

I want to delve a little deeper. Several witnesses who spoke to the committee as part of this study proposed ways to resolve some of the domestic violence issues, or at least to improve the situation. Suggestions included improving access to support resources, increasing funding for resources and doing more prevention. These are just some of the tools.

In Quebec, for example, a specialized court was established to address sexual and domestic abuse. This relates to the issue of raising public awareness.

Do you think that we should take action in this area?

There's also talk of introducing tracking bracelets for abusers.

What do you think about these legislative solutions that could go hand in hand with public awareness measures?

Could the federal government implement measures that are similar to the measures in Quebec, but that would apply to the whole country?

[Yordanka Petrova]

Absolutely, education is extremely important with respect to starting with young children. We've found a very essential component that provides opportunities for the children of the women who are in the program for positive role modelling and education, through mentorship programs with students from the University of Toronto, and so on.

I'm absolutely in support of educational opportunities starting at a very young age for those children coming from families where they've witnessed or experienced domestic violence.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Paul, you have 10 seconds.

[Paul Lacerte]

I would just say that women's services have been underfunded. We would never want to infringe on dedicated resources for women's services.

Investing in supports for men and healing, including investing in the Moose Hide Campaign, is absolutely critical if we're going to effect the generational change that we're trying to bring forward.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Wonderful. Thank you so much.

For our final round of questions, we're going to pass the floor over to Leah Gazan.

Leah, you have two and a half minutes.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you so much.

My final questions are for Yordanka Petrova.

Prior to starting a political career, I had the opportunity to teach for a long time in the faculty of education at the University of Winnipeg, in the education access program. One thing that was great about that program was that it was a holistic program. Students received mental health supports, scholarships, bursaries and tutoring if necessary. Many were non-sequential learners, and it allowed individuals who needed other supports to access education with the ability to be successful.

I often found that those students were better than my main campus students. That's now in the Hansard, but this is a true story. They were my best students. They produced the best work.

When we're looking at funding educational programs through federal transfers, would you say that we need to change things, not just to look at the academic parts about the student but the whole student?

[Yordanka Petrova]

That's it exactly. I would agree with you that our participants are often complimented by faculty and different staff at colleges. They are very dedicated and extremely organized, because they've learned through their life experience to juggle multiple responsibilities.

When we talk about who is a good fit in terms of being supported with their education, we should be looking at their holistic situation and not just base it on financial need. We should also look at other resources that they might need and what they might be facing as a barrier. Support would be absolutely necessary.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

I have 20 seconds.

At the foundation, would you say that housing and a livable income are critical pieces in that?

[Yordanka Petrova]

It's livable income, sustainable wage, housing, access to affordable child care, and therapy and counselling—many of them are dealing with PTSD and trauma experiences—so it's a variety of things. It's a package of services that these women need. It's never a single-faceted issue.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

I would really like to thank all of you today.

Thank you so much to Paul, David and Yordanka. You guys have been great today, so thank you. On behalf of the committee, if there's any other documentation or anything you would like to send our way, please feel free to do so.

I'm going to remind everybody that on Tuesday, we'll have Simon Lapierre, Sakeenah Homes, Women's Centre for Social Justice, Ogijiita Pimatiswin Kinamatawin, and the YWCA of Peterborough Haliburton.

Everybody, thank you so much.

Today's meeting is adjourned.