Status of Women Committee on March 19th, 2024

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

We know the arrive scam app was a disaster. Your app requires a very minimal amount of funds, which is incredible. I would love for you to share that with us. Could you table that to the committee?

We need to learn how to be more effective and cost-efficient. Listening to you today gives me hope that there is a way we can do this and not burden the taxpayer. You're amazing. I just love listening to you.

There's something I learned, and it's still embedded in my head. We did a tour last year. I think some of my colleagues mentioned it. It was a cross-country tour on human trafficking. One of the things that I noticed was that they had—I believe it was in Sudbury—pictures of the girls who were missing in the airport.

Ms. Varley said that billboards are impactful. I think they are. For areas in which there is no infrastructure, would you agree that incorporating both programs together would give more people the information they need to help the victims?

[Jennifer Jesty]

Yes, absolutely. Just recently in Cape Breton, Chief Annie Daisley of the We'koqma'q First Nation was very successful with posting billboards. There's a very beautiful, powerful billboard on the sign of each indigenous community in Cape Breton. There may be some on the mainland in Nova Scotia as well.

My vision for that is to have a QR code or something right on the bottom of that sign to allow people to access the red dress alert system.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

You mentioned this earlier. We also learned during that tour that it could take minutes for them to kidnap someone and put them on a plane and they'd be out of here, or to drive on the hidden highways so they couldn't be stopped.

I have listened to you and Ms. Varley. We need to do this. We need to take your program, along with her ideas—the two of you together—and expand it right across the country to all areas. I really believe this is something that would benefit everyone—indigenous or otherwise. Would you disagree with sharing that information?

[Jennifer Jesty]

Well, I've been shouting it from the rooftops since I've had this up and running. Nobody's really listening, but I'm certainly not going to stop. So far, I've gone over to Lennox Island, P.E.I., and set up exactly the same alert system that I have in Cape Breton. I am now scheduled to go to Conne River in Newfoundland to set up exactly the same system there.

I have assisted a couple of communities in developing proposals to get funding from Indigenous Services Canada. I'm waiting for them to get those proposals approved so that I can travel to their communities and assist them as well.

As I said at the beginning, in my perfect world, I would love to go to every single indigenous community. If Indigenous Services Canada's EMAP funded me, why wouldn't they fund every single community in the country? I'm able to get this alert system set up in a community in an hour. It can be up and running, and people can be registered within an hour.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you so much.

We're going to Emmanuella for the next five minutes of questions.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you.

I want to thank both of our witnesses for their incredible testimony and for the work they're doing on the ground.

I really like both witnesses' perspectives on how we should go about having a red dress alert.

I want to speak first to Jennifer and to ask her a few questions.

You did mention that there is federal funding. It was through Indigenous Services Canada that you received some of the funding. What is this funding helping with? Is there a need for an increase? Would you say there are some gaps in the system you have currently? Are there ways of reaching more people that you think you could use some help with?

[Jennifer Jesty]

The only downfall to my current system.... This is probably where it wouldn't work nationally, and we would need to tailor it a little bit. Everbridge is so technologically sophisticated, it can do everything but wash your dishes.

I'm sure that if we were able to work with Everbridge, we could make the registration process for the red dress alert system a little easier. Right now, I subscribe to a website called Jotform. I went in and created my own form. It's very easy. You submit your name, your phone number and what community you want to receive the alerts for. We don't need any more information than that. In fact, I don't even need to know your name. You could tell me you're Donald Duck if you like. I just need to know how I get hold of you, and what community you would like to receive the alerts for.

With regard to funding, yes, I do believe there should be a little bit more funding put toward this. We're talking about tens of thousands of people registering for the red dress alert system. The funding that I receive pays for my subscription to Everbridge, and also pays for my subscription to Jotform.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you very much.

What strategies did you use in the beginning, when you first started this system? What strategies did you use to publicize and to inform communities about it, and to get that buy-in and actually make them register? The step that they have to take themselves to register is that additional step that many people don't take.

What was it that enticed people, do you think? What lessons could be learned in order to be effectively reaching out to communities across the country for the red dress alert?

[Jennifer Jesty]

In the very beginning, the five chiefs were so supportive of my idea. They gave me their summer students. We sent summer students to the doors of every single elder in every one of our five indigenous communities. It was to keep this culturally appropriate, and to receive the elders' approval before I moved forward any further.

Our second step was to go everywhere that was kind of busy. We went to the band office, the gas bar and the market, and we sat down with paper forms. We have many people who are still illiterate. We have to give them the option. They don't have the technology in order to sign up through a phone, an app or online. We set out with paper forms, and we were able to collect that information and upload the data.

The next step was to do the media campaign. We reached billboards within communities. They were all funded by the chiefs of the communities. They were so supportive that they paid for some of the advertising. We utilized community radio stations and community television stations. We used community billboards, and, of course, social media. It was very surprising that within the first hour of launching this system in the communities, 1,200 people registered for the system immediately.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you very much for that breakdown.

I think there are lessons to be learned. That ground approach, the fact that you started on the ground going door to door, really helped.

In terms of law enforcement, you spoke about some of the barriers you faced. Thanks to your persistence, you helped increase that co-operation between yourself and law enforcement.

What was the response like at first? What type of culturally appropriate or trauma-informed training might they need? Do you think that's necessary? How do you think the government could help with that?

[Jennifer Jesty]

Yes, I believe their training does need to be expanded. I believe there already is cultural sensitivity training for law enforcement agencies. However, it doesn't seem to be very effective.

When I first launched this system, they all thought it was a great idea. Did they actually use it? Not really. It took my constant persistence, and then the communities got involved. We had an incident that was related to criminal activity where there was a large police presence in the community. One of our chiefs looked out his window, and there was a police officer with an AK-47 on his front lawn. He didn't know that this was happening. He called me immediately and said, “Why didn't you send an alert?” I can't send an alert for something I don't know about.

Bridging the gaps with the police agencies has been a difficult challenge, and still ongoing to this day. They are getting much better, but we definitely need to push it a little bit further. If it means more cultural sensitivity training, maybe that's what it needs to be.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

That's perfect. Thank you so much.

We're now going to pass it on to Andréanne Larouche, for two and half minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Ms. Jesty, I sincerely congratulate you for the work you do.

We are also conducting a study right now on women's economic independence. As a paramedic, you are a great example. There aren't enough examples like yours encouraging indigenous women to break themselves out of the cycle of poverty that keeps them in a cycle of violence.

I read up on some initiatives, and what you did was so very extraordinary. In the 2023 budget, $2.5 million was granted over five years, “to facilitate and coordinate work on advancing the National Action Plan by establishing a standing Federal-Provincial-Territorial-Indigenous table on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQI+ People.” Among other things, this table will enable conversations on the best approach for launching a red dress alert.

Last year, the government also organized the first national round table on missing and murdered women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people, specifically to identify priorities.

In January 2023, the Government of Canada appointed a ministerial special representative to provide advice and recommendations on call for justice 1.7, which calls for the creation of a national indigenous and human rights ombudsperson.

Considering all of your experience, were you consulted during the government's implementation of these measures?

[Jennifer Jesty]

No, this is my first consultation. I did reach out to the senior policy analyst for the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, who spoke with me in December. I met with a committee in January, but this is the first time I'm speaking in person to government about what I've been doing.

I believe I have to go back to saying let's not complicate it; just do something. We've been talking about it for months, and still nothing's been done. As I said, I can set up an alert system in the community within an hour and have it up and operational. This can be very simple. It doesn't need to be as complicated as it's been.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you.

Ms. Varley, I also congratulate you for the work you accomplish at indigenous friendship centres.

I will ask you the same question. For your part, were you consulted within the framework of the initiatives I mentioned, which were implemented last year?

Did the federal government call on your expertise?

[Leslie Varley]

I'm sorry. I didn't get translation on that at all.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

I've stopped the clock. Please go ahead and re-ask the question, and then once it's answered, we'll go on to our next round.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you.

Ms. Varley, I was congratulating you for the work you do. Given your expertise—

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

I'm going to interrupt.

There is no interpretation.

Please go ahead.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Ms. Varley, I wanted to congratulate you for all the work you accomplished in your indigenous friendship centres.

Given your expertise, did the federal government consult you last year about the initiatives it implemented?

[Leslie Varley]

That's a really straightforward question. We've been working with the federal and provincial governments just very recently on this, but we haven't been engaging for very long on these issues. We've certainly been working with Minister Gary Anandasangaree's crew as well as Minister Farnworth's group here in British Columbia.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much.

I'm now going to pass it over for the next two and a half minutes to Bonita for the last round of questions.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you so much.

Ms. Varley, I wanted to hear from you about what the community is saying in and around Vancouver on the red dress alert.

[Leslie Varley]

We definitely have a need for a red dress alert in the Vancouver Lower Mainland area, because most of the human trafficking routes in British Columbia end up in either Surrey or Vancouver. Those are the areas where we have the highest urban indigenous population and human traffickers are parked outside indigenous housing blocks trying to attract young girls.

It is an acute need in the urban centres where we have high indigenous populations, and we're eager to get going on it.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

I have one last question, Ms. Varley.

You mentioned that you're working with the minister and CIRNAC right now, but we heard testimony earlier today that Ms. Jesty's program is funded through ISC.

Do you see any problems with or have concerns about the fact that funding is coming from one ministry, whereas consultation on the red dress alert is coming from another?