Status of Women Committee on Nov. 6th, 2024

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

Sorry to cut you off, Ms. Monastesse, but I have just a minute left.

[Manon Monastesse]

Okay.

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

Sorry, Ms. Jeanson, but I'd like to use my remaining minute to ask Ms. Young a question.

You said these things are preventable and that we need to address the root causes. Can you go over what those root causes are, in your opinion, and what we should be focusing on in order to prevent this, rather than putting a band-aid on an issue that is clearly rampant?

[Jill Young]

We need to start with prevention. It starts when individuals are young, which is a key aspect to not responding but preventing. We need to instill skills—life skills, healthy relationships, empowerment to girls and to boys—so that they understand when they are young and so that we can eliminate this at an earlier age, rather than responding after the fact when it has happened. We need to focus on those skills and really build on programs that are going to support prevention of gender-based violence.

[The Chair, Conservative, Shelby Kramp-Neuman]

Excellent. Thank you.

MP Larouche, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to use my second turn to continue the discussion with Ms. St‑Pierre Gaudreault and Ms. Monastesse.

You said this in your opening remarks and you also explained it when you were answering questions. We need to look at femicide not just through a domestic violence lens, but also through other lenses. Thank you for opening our eyes to that. Ultimately, it comes back to the power imbalance between men and women. You can elaborate on that if you like.

Otherwise, could you give us more information on something you touched on in one of your answers, online violence? It's a matter that falls under federal jurisdiction, since it has to be addressed through the Criminal Code. We need to think about where we draw the line on hateful comments that fuel misogyny. At a certain point, the question has to be asked: When do we bring the law into it and hold people responsible under the Criminal Code for what they say online, and use their comments as evidence? Backlash: Misogyny in the Digital Age and other such documentaries do a good job of showing that police don't have the same tools at their disposal to deal with online violence.

[Manon Monastesse]

You're absolutely right. It is extremely worrisome.

Right now, we are seeing a backlash against women and greater tolerance in society for violent language. Legislation is certainly needed to address that because it's totally unacceptable. It is pretty bad when society tolerates politicians saying racist, sexist and extremely violent things about women. It is totally unacceptable. If Canada wants to do something about violence against women, it has to send the message that it has zero tolerance for violence against women.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Ms. St‑Pierre Gaudreault, I saw you nodding your head. I'll give you the 15 seconds I have left to let you speak.

[Julie St-Pierre Gaudreault]

I completely agree. It's important to understand that technology-based online violence can transform into real-life violence. It can lead to physical violence, even femicide. That can start online.

We need to find a way to take action at the source, as soon as a complaint is made about an act of online violence, harassment or misogyny. We have to find a way to limit the use of aliases so that we can track down the perpetrators of violence.

It can start with online violence, which should never be trivialized.

[The Chair, Conservative, Shelby Kramp-Neuman]

Excellent.

MP Gazan, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you, Chair.

You said prevention. One thing that I've really pushed for since being elected is to push forward bills to tackle the roots of gender-based violence. Guaranteed livable basic income was voted against.

Ms. Young, you said affordable housing and rent geared to income. I don't feel that we'll tackle gender-based violence unless we deal with human rights matters.

Madame Buffalo, you spoke about human rights violations perpetrated by the state against indigenous women on lands, territories and resources.

I'm wondering if you could both briefly respond to that.

[Jill Young]

Can you repeat the question?

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

For prevention, do you agree that we need those things in order to deal with gender-based violence head-on, as human rights matters?

[Jill Young]

Prevention and human rights are essential core pieces in having a significant impact on ending gender-based violence.

Given the dollars that are attached to responding after the fact with our shelters and our second stage, if we were able to invest such a significant amount of money on the prevention side by providing individuals with those necessary, basic needs and the education around it, we could really start to have a financial impact, as well, on gender-based violence.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

You spoke about one of the roots being gender inequality and inequities.

[Jill Young]

Yes.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Madame Buffalo, would you comment?

[Dr. Amanda Buffalo]

I think that sometimes we get into this back-and-forth of the chicken and the egg. It's really important to remember that violence is actually the root cause of all of those inequities. It's not the other way around. It's not that the inequity exists, and then violence can happen; it's that violence ensures that those inequities exist. I think we need to start thinking about it like that. When we start thinking about it and addressing it like that, we can look at it like....

Violence is deliberate. It is always a choice. You can see it; when a woman is beaten, it's usually not in the places that you can see. It's unilateral. Somebody makes a decision to do it to somebody else, and then they do it, and it's social. We're all part of that.

We have an opportunity to address those three things in a variety of ways, particularly with the law. If we start treating violence as the crime that it actually is, I think that we also have a different opportunity to address all of these other social ills that come as a result of one person's choice to use violence against another.

[The Chair, Conservative, Shelby Kramp-Neuman]

Thank you.

Mrs. Vien, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to all of the witnesses for making themselves available today.

Ms. Jeanson, you appeared before the committee as part of another study. It was actually for the study of a bill, but it still involved violence against women, unfortunately.

You said that your partner left you for dead 30 years ago. If I understood correctly, he later claimed seven other victims.

What happened between each of the offences? How did the justice system respond? Obviously, it didn't get the memo.

[Madam Martine Jeanson]

He simply had to sign peace bonds under section 810 of the Criminal Code. When I was writing my book along with a colleague, we pulled up my ex's criminal record. That's when we saw that there had been seven procedures under section 810 of the Criminal Code.

After he hurt me, he hurt another woman just as badly. She has twins. We have a connection now as victims. She managed to escape before she went through what I did, but she was beaten. He wasn't convicted in court for that either. His victimization of women is ongoing.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

This is someone who brazenly reoffends, and the system has failed to stop him or hold him accountable.

[Madam Martine Jeanson]

That's correct.

That's why I was talking earlier about therapy with experts. They are able to determine whether a man is a narcissistic pervert and will never change.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

I agree with you that in the case of narcissistic perverts, it's a little more complicated.

Ms. Monastesse, you are no doubt familiar with the Hommes Québec network, a Quebec organization. Other organizations have undertaken a similar mission. In my neck of the woods, Beauce, there is an organization called Partage au Masculin. When I was hosting a public affairs radio show 30 or 40 years ago, I invited men to speak on-air. Even back then, we were starting to talk about men and asking them to express themselves. We learned a little more about their reality.

I may be an eternal optimist, but I would like to think that something can be done.

To your knowledge, what is happening in our schools? I ask because the committee did a study on intimate partner violence, and it seems that acting early, talking not just to men but also to young boys, is linked to success.

Are we doing enough outreach in schools?

[Manon Monastesse]

Yes, prevention is the core of outreach. Even shelters do outreach in schools, although mainly in high schools owing to lack of resources. I think it's fair to say that prevention is the least funded component. However, it is the one that should be emphasized.

Our outreach work involves explaining what a healthy relationship between intimate partners looks like. Every time, young women share their experiences with us. We work with girls who tell us they need our services.

Prevention is central to the solution. Let's not forget that in shelters, including those in our network, women have their children with them, 50% of whom are young boys. We also do work with them, since they have witnessed violence. There are programs for that.