Status of Women Committee on April 1st, 2022

[Dr. Lisa Smylie, Director General, Research, Results and Delivery Branch, Department for Women and Gender Equality]

Through the federal strategy, as the minister said, we've spent over $30 million in research since 2017, and that has given us three new national surveys, including an ability to better understand intimate partner violence. Through that strategy, since 2015, we've also invested $213 million in 557 projects that have reached nearly 1.3 million women. That's 1.3 million women who have had programs and supports related to gender-based violence, because of this federal framework.

As the minister has already said, during the pandemic, we have invested over $122 million in over 1,300 shelters, sexual assault centres, and other gender-based violence organizations, which have reached more than 1.3 million women.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Any further documentation you could provide to the committee would be helpful.

I guess it's concerning, just because we often talk about how many millions and how many thousands of dollars are being spent on something—and I appreciate that there is work being done and I can respect that—but after listening to several different witnesses over the course of the last several weeks, it just seems as though every time we turn around.... Of course, they're asking for more funding, but how do we use that funding so that we no longer have 500 people being turned away at shelters?

My next question, then, would be.... Yes, you've committed to additional funding for shelters in 2021—in fact, over $300 million—so what is the progress of this funding and how is it being allocated to shelters across the country? How many women's shelters and how many men's shelters?

Again, this is not going away. It was intended to be fixed years ago. We heard from one particular witness that 20 years ago they had an endgame of 10 years and were hoping to have this situation solved, but today, again.... You're insinuating that you're not going to stop until it's solved. What is it going to take? How can we best use these millions of dollars that are being poured into these programs? Money doesn't solve everything. We need action and actual programs.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

You have 55 seconds.

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Oh boy.

Absolutely, it's the bane of my existence, Shelby. It's the reason we're here, but I'll give you a couple of examples.

From 2017 to 2020, for example, WAGE provided the Newfoundland Aboriginal Women's Network nearly $300,000 to increase women's reporting of domestic violence. That's on-the-ground, tangible stuff. As a result of this funding, more than 1,200 indigenous women who experienced violence now have access to culturally relevant supports. That is really important. You wanted an on-the-ground example. In Halifax, I visited a friendship centre, and while reports of GBV weren't up exponentially in the provincial numbers, they were at that centre.

The fact that women fleeing violence, indigenous women, could meet with therapists and people who looked like them, who could understand their experiences, was so important. The executive director at that shelter said, “Our numbers are up. The province's may not be, but ours are up because cultural relevance is important.”

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you so much, Minister.

We're now going to pass it over to Anita Vandenbeld.

Anita, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Thank you.

I want to thank you, Minister, for being here today.

One of the things we've heard throughout this study is that there is a link between gender-based violence or intimate partner violence and poverty. Despite progress, there is still a persistent wage gap in our country. There are many reasons for this.

We know that women working in jobs with the same education level and same skill set as their male counterparts are making less. We know that women primarily have more responsibility in terms of caregiving. We know that women have less access to capital. This persists throughout their lives, and when they retire, because they're not paying as much into pensions, we see more poverty among senior women. This makes women vulnerable throughout their lifetime.

I was wondering if you could tell us a bit about what we are doing and what you are doing to address the gender wage gap in Canada.

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

This is such an important question to raise. Again, this is an example of an all-of-government approach. You mentioned housing and you mentioned a lot of things there. Again, I'm liaising with all my ministerial counterparts to make sure that we address this properly. Our government recognizes that making sure women are financially independent gives them the mobility to leave; if they're in an unsafe situation, they can leave. That is not the case for so many women, and we know that.

For example, in collaboration with Minister Hussen, the minister responsible for housing.... If you look at the housing strategy, 25% of the 10-year rapid housing plan is dedicated specifically to women and children. This is a $70-billion plan. I've seen the results of this in my own riding of Toronto Centre. I've seen it take hold and make a difference. What that means is that at least 7,000 spaces will be created or repaired for survivors of family violence, and that's a huge thing.

The women entrepreneurship fund, which facilitates access and capacity for women to start their own businesses, is very important to attain that independence, Anita, that you talk about. Minister Ng, who put this forward, is really seeing the impact of women being supported and starting their own businesses, because when women thrive, communities thrive. Now, our entire country, thank goodness, has affordable child care, and we know what that means. Women were making the decision of either having to stay home or, in a lot of cases, work and pursue their goals in their professions.

All of these things make it easier for women to leave an unsafe environment.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Thank you.

I'm passing my time to Ms. Lambropoulos.

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

Thank you, Anita.

Thank you, Minister Ien, for being here with us to answer some of our questions today. I really appreciate your taking the time.

I only have a little bit of time left, and I know that you have already touched on some of the questions I had in mind, so I'll try to focus a bit more on something that hasn't necessarily been answered.

We heard from a lot of witnesses about the number of young people who go through gender-based violence and the number of young women who are affected. This is the biggest group that is affected. We also know that no matter how much funding we put into it, it's still an issue, and it's more of an issue now because of the pandemic than it has ever been in the past.

Nipping it in the bud seems to be the best way to go about it. What are your thoughts on teaching women what healthy relationships are like and what boundaries to set? How much importance are you placing on that in this mandate?

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

It has so much importance, Emmanuella.

At present, WAGE is funding projects that contribute to the promotion of healthy relationships, because that's where things start among youth in Canada. We're developing a youth campaign on gender-based violence. We're going as young as 14 up to 24 years of age. It includes things like resources for youth and information on sexual violence, consent—which is so important—and healthy relationships.

WAGE is also funding White Ribbon with $1.65 million to support the development, implementation and evaluation of a social marketing campaign. We're going to them where they are, to inspire men and young men across the country to change their attitudes and behaviours, to seek help when they need it, to embrace their role as allies and to embrace their role as change-makers.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

You have 15 seconds left.

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

Thank you very much.

I appreciate the work you're doing on this file.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you.

Now we're going to pass it over for two and a half minutes to Andréanne.

You have the floor.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Madam Minister, the importance of investing in housing is a cross-departmental issue. You can't get a woman out of violence without getting her out of the cycle of poverty, without finding her housing so she can be in a safe place.

It's also important to have this discussion with the minister responsible for entrepreneurship programs, because it's even more difficult for women to get into entrepreneurship and to access programs that provide funding.

I would like to come back to your collaboration with the Department of Justice. Several experts in the field of intimate partner and spousal violence testified before the committee during this study. They called on the federal government to criminalize coercive control.

This has been done elsewhere in the world. Scotland is a model for this. These experts have demonstrated the importance of broadening the definition of this violence, because domestic violence is not just physical; hitting is not always involved, but it always hurts.

Considering that 60% to 80% of women who seek help for domestic violence have experienced coercive control, do you not see the urgency and importance of criminalizing coercive control through legislation?

Do you think your government could learn from Scotland?

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Andréanne, you are absolutely right that everybody has the right to live free from violence.

I know we've all probably seen Elizabeth Renzetti's excellent pieces in The Globe and Mail on coercive control. It is front of mind. When we talk about GBV, coercive and controlling behaviours are a big part of that.

It's time. Canada's strategy to prevent and address gender-based violence, which was launched in 2017, brings together the efforts of all federal partners related to gender-based violence, including Justice Canada, to form a whole-of-government approach to end GBV in this country. My colleague, the Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice, leads Canada's important work to address coercive and controlling behaviour, and he has my support to do that.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Have you and the minister thought about domestic violence training for judges and all judicial actors, including training on coercive control, as many experts request that more training be provided to stakeholders on the subject?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

You have 30 seconds.

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

As I said, I will work alongside the Honourable David Lametti to that end, and I would be pleased to provide any information I can to you, Andréanne, or to your office.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you so much.

We're now going to move it over to Jenny Kwan for two and a half minutes.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you.

I want to touch back on the issue of the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. I just want to note that the national action plan must outline timelines, responsibilities, milestones, indicators, resources and indigenous leadership for each and every call for justice, as well as regional and sector-specific reports and recommendations. I hope that there will be action taken in this regard and that it would be outlined in the upcoming budget.

The minister touched on the issue of poverty, and we know from research that raising living standards and lifting individuals out of poverty are one of the key ways to address intimate partner violence.

MP Leah Gazan has put forward a bill for a guaranteed livable basic income, to ensure that individuals and families doing unpaid care work can have economic autonomy and opportunities to leave harmful living situations.

I'd like to ask the minister if she would agree that this is a fundamental step for the government to take to lift individuals out of poverty. Will she support that private member's bill?

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Jenny, thank you for the question.

Of course, everything is on the table. Poverty, as you know, is a huge part of the reason why women don't leave intimate partner violence. As I have addressed with my previous colleague, we are providing and putting things in place, including a child care program that will help women across this country, with $10-a-day child care by 2025 and cutting child care costs in half by the end of this year, which will help women.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Minister, if you can just answer my question.... When you say everything is on the table, will you support the bill?

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Everything is under consideration, Jenny. That's what I'll say at this time.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Are there discussions with respect to this, in terms of the government taking action on a guaranteed livable basic income?