Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I want to add my voice. I didn't have a speaking slot at the last meeting, so I didn't get a chance to thank Karen Vecchio for her tremendous amount of work on this committee. I've been on this committee; I was here for two years, before she was chair, when Marilyn Gladu was chair and did a wonderful job, but for the last three years as well, with Karen as chair. My understanding is since she became chair in 2017, our committee has done 45 reports. That is phenomenal, if you want to compare that to every other committee. The amount of work, the effectiveness and, I would say, the fairness with which she chaired this committee is something I think many other committees in this place could look to as an example.
I did want to say, today, that I have concerns. I am very worried about the committee, but not because of you, Shelby. I want to be very clear that I think every one of us is very proud of the work we've done and wants to work very hard to fight to keep this a space that does not give in to the toxicity we see in other parts of Parliament and in other committees.
However, I do think that the Leader of the Opposition has been putting out a narrative that Parliament is broken, that democracy is broken, that Parliament is dysfunctional and that government members are so degenerate that there's no possibility of coming to consensus.
The way Karen chaired this committee is living, breathing proof that is not true. Every day that this committee was able to bring voices of women and girls, voices of non-binary and gender-diverse people who are not heard, and voices of victims and survivors, and work collaboratively with true respect and even friendship across party lines, we proved that Parliament can be functional, that Parliament is functioning and that democracy does work. I truly think that by removing Karen Vecchio as chair.... Pierre Poilievre had to destroy that because it defies his narrative that Parliament is not working.
I'm imploring you, Shelby, because I think, right now.... I've done governance work for decades and worked with parliaments here and around the world, and it is about incentives. It is about what's punished and what's rewarded. Every one of us comes to this place wanting to do good. I don't think there's a person who puts their name on a ballot who isn't doing so because they want to make Canada a better place, particularly the women here who want to do good and bring voices of women into the halls of power in this place, where we have been absent for too many generations.
However, once here, what happens is the incentives are against collaboration. This is a very partisan place. The structure and the very way in which it is formed is based on two swords' lengths. It was created 150-some years ago. It was created by men, and it has been a very aggressive, very male-dominated place. Lately, there's been a toxicity that has come into our politics, whether it's here in Parliament or outside.
What Karen was able to do very effectively as chair was to keep that out. Whether it was through wedge issues, ambush motions that are meant to hijack agendas, the “gotcha” clips on social media or the character assassination that we sometimes see in our political discourse, she kept that out of this committee, and she was punished for it.
Shelby, it wasn't just about Karen. It was about learning lessons. It was about teaching that collaboration and bringing voices of women is something that is not to be rewarded. I think the lessons I would really hope you learn are the lessons from this committee of the last number of years. I do believe very strongly that you want this committee to work, and we will support that.
All members of this committee, and we've seen all the members speaking, will support you to make sure that what Karen did is continued: Instead of listening to the voice of any one member of this committee, she listened to the voices of the witnesses and the voices of the women who came here and needed us to give them space. We will support you in making sure you continue to do that.
However, it is an uphill battle because of the way this place is. I was a staffer here in 2002. I was in the Liberal research bureau for the democracy caucus when committee chairs were voted to be elected. For those of you who don't remember, this was 22 years ago. There was a motion of Parliament that was opposed by the government of the day, the Chrétien government, but supported by backbench Liberals and opposition members. They created the election of committee chairs hoping to bring in a whole new era where committees would truly be independent and autonomous, and that the chairs would truly be independent of their parties—whatever party that was.
Sadly, over the years, I think all of us know that's become a little bit of a rubber stamp. Yes, we elect committee chairs, but it's pretty much the whips, the House leaders and the leaders who decide who those chairs are. Because of that, the chairs are beholden to those whips, House leaders and leaders—whatever party it is. With that incentive structure it can easily be abused.
I would like to do something positive today and come up with some ideas on how we change, as women.... We've been able to do it here despite the way that Parliament is structured in this sort of very aggressive and partisan way.
As women, I think we need to—maybe this committee, maybe the all-party women's caucus—go back to look at some ideas of how committee chairs are selected so that what happened to Karen doesn't happen....
In the Quebec legislature, they actually have a double majority for committee chairs—a majority of government members and a majority of opposition members. If you can't get both sides to agree, then, at that point you cannot be the chair, so the incentive is for the chair to be fair to both sides, like what we're hoping you'll do and like what Karen did.
We had a Conservative motion in 2012—I think it was by Brad Trost—that committee chairs should be elected by the entire Parliament, the same way the Speaker is elected, with a preferential ballot before committees are even set. That way, committees and the chairs would be chosen by all of us, not by the leadership or the whips.
I think it would be really good for us as women, who have really given a space to other women to be able to be heard in Parliament, to champion those kinds of changes, because I think it is really important that what happened here does not happen ever again.
Thank you.