Status of Women Committee on May 3rd, 2022

[Hilda Anderson-Pyrz]

I think what it really boils down to are policies and legislation that have accountability mechanisms to hold perpetrators and companies and governments responsible, and also bringing indigenous women and girls and 2S people to the table and centring their voices, and actioning what they are sharing about what prevention and safety look like to them. It's also about providing that equity and equality for meaningful participation when resource development is occurring.

When we look at poverty, it often can lead to the perpetuation of violence as well. If we give opportunities for education, housing, child care and employment, that's what a lot of prevention looks like because we're providing strength-based approaches to supporting indigenous women, girls and 2S people within the communities who are being impacted by resource development.

I also think that there have to be mechanisms put in place and training on violence prevention. What is violence and what is human trafficking and what is sexual exploitation? I mention these because sometimes people do not understand the types of violence occurring out there. It's also an opportunity, even in schools, when there's resource extraction happening, to educate teens and younger children on what violence looks like and what grooming, human trafficking and sexual exploitation look like.

We need to really focus on the education piece, and also on grounding indigenous women and 2S people in who they are and where they come from, and providing those opportunities to anchor themselves in their land, their culture, their language, because these are really strength-based approaches. We know that when resource extraction occurs, it often takes away many of these things.

We also need opportunities for healing because we have been impacted by intergenerational trauma as well.

There are many things that are needed. Those are just some of the things I can share right now in the interests of time, but I could talk for two days on what prevention can look like.

Thank you.

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

That's very helpful. I really appreciate that.

If you have more things to mention, including recommendations, that you didn't get a chance to mention, please do write to the committee.

[Hilda Anderson-Pyrz]

Perfect.

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

That applies also to Ms. Saunders and Ms. Gabriel, if we didn't get a chance to get to you, because, I think, Chair, I'm out of time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Yes, I know you wanted to mention they can send it. That's always a reminder. We are having great conversations, but if there's additional information, please send it our way. You're providing great details today.

We're now going to move to Sylvie.

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

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

My question is for the three witnesses.

We are talking about resource development projects and companies, but, in your opinion, have steps been taken to limit the harmful effects of these resource development projects on indigenous women and girls?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

I'm going to pick one of you first. I'm going to go to Martina, Hilda and then Ellen.

[Martina Saunders]

If I'm expected to answer that question, I don't understand what language it was spoken in.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Did you hear it in French, perhaps?

[Martina Saunders]

Yes, I did.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Okay, so we need to turn on your interpretation to show the language on there.

I'm going to ask Sylvie to put the question back to you, Martina. Give me a thumbs-up if you hear it, okay?

Go ahead, Sylvie.

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

In your opinion, in the context of resource development projects, have steps been taken to limit the harmful effects of these projects on indigenous women and girls?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Martina, were you able to hear it that time? Fantastic.

We're going to start off with you for the answer, then Hilda and then Ellen.

Go ahead, Martina.

[Martina Saunders]

I know that they did try to help with the issue of violence against indigenous women and girls. They tried to help with bringing people in. There was a meeting that happened in my community, and they brought in outside resources. I know that one of them had to do with addictions. Another one I think was to promote healthy lifestyles. I wasn't at the community meetings myself. I had already finished working for my first nation.

When I looked at that, I thought there's nobody from the community who's speaking to those issues or who can help plan those types of services. Bringing in people from the outside has never worked for us.

We know what we need. We're our own—for lack of a better word—healers. We know ourselves best. We just lack the resources. We lack the resources and the budgets that go along with all of this. It's more from a western view. That's how I interpret it. We need our own indigenous ways of healing. I'll say it again: We lack those resources. We don't have the money to pay for all of the things that we need.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Hilda, do you want to add your thoughts on that?

[Hilda Anderson-Pyrz]

Sure.

I'm also from a hydro-impacted community, but I also sit nationally with the National Family and Survivors Circle. I would say there are not enough measures that have been put into place. It's very lacking. It's almost like, when it comes to gender issues, they're often off the side of a desk when resource development projects are occurring. They have to be front and centre. As I mentioned previously, it's often the individuals who are the most impacted whose voices are not at the table.

I've seen a lot of struggles, even in my advocacy, where it's like you're pressuring governments, Manitoba Hydro and even other industries that are participating in these resource development projects. You meet with them, and they'll ask you to meet, but then there's never any action associated with what you're sharing that needs to take place when it comes to prevention, wellness and healing when resource development projects are occurring in our communities. I'd say there's a lot of lip service and not enough action.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

I'm sorry about this, Ellen. I'm going to give you just 10 seconds. We are so out of our time frame, but I'm just going to make it work.

Ellen, can you just give us a few last comments? Then I'll pass the floor over to Leah.

There are just 15 seconds. I know that's not a lot.

[Ellen Gabriel]

No, there's nothing. It's very adversarial and racist.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much.

I'm now going to pass the floor over to Leah Gazan. We're anywhere between two and a half minutes to 10—you never know.

I'll pass the floor over to you for two and a half minutes.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thanks so much, Chair.

Martina, I heard you just say that we don't have the resources.

Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, you talked about the need for an ombudsman as stated in call for justice 1.7, and the lack of action. You know, we're three years out from the national inquiry. There's been money allocated in the budget that's not being spent. There's a whole pile of excuses. Meanwhile, we continue to deal with the most horrific violence, and in this study, particularly around resource extraction, there's zero in this budget to deal with this issue. It's abhorrent from my perspective, especially listening to the stories that we're listening to in this study. It's like our lives or our not having lives doesn't seem to matter very much.

Hilda, you did an interview with Amnesty International, and you spoke about the connection between resource development and violence against indigenous women, girls and two-spirit individuals. You noted that, “If there’s activities happening in our territories, there need to be mechanisms to protect us from all types of violence.” We've heard from Ellen Gabriel and Martina Saunders, that's not there. You said, this occurs “so others can benefit economically.”

I'm quoting you on this because I find that since being elected in 2019, they seem to want to uphold our human rights when it suits their political and economic interests and then they just brush them aside when it doesn't, and the brunt of it is indigenous women, girls and two-spirit individuals.

I wanted to see if you agree with me on that and ask you to share what kind of mechanisms should be in place to protect indigenous women, two-spirit individuals and victims of violence. What do you think the hold up is? Why are they sitting on all this money while we're dying on the streets?

[Hilda Anderson-Pyrz]

I would say that it's the lack of political will that is creating all the inaction. There has to be political will. There's a lot of talk about transformative change, but it has to be equally matched with the political will to support that transformative change and to provide that resourcing. There's a lot of inequity when it comes to addressing violence against indigenous women and girls and two-spirit and gender-diverse people. We're often invited to processes, but we don't have the same type of equity or equality to meaningfully participate and to make our lived experience, our knowledge and our ways of being and knowing as indigenous people come to fruition, because we don't have the resourcing to be able to do that. It's often coming from a western-based approach towards what is best for us when it comes to prevention.

I also think that we also need to really look at and go back to communities that have been impacted by resource development, because they're left in a really sad state. As I shared previously, I come from South Indian Lake, which is a resource-impacted community too, and I see the devastating impacts years later. It's like there's no hope in the community. The women and the girls who are involved in the process of supporting their men who lived off the land were never compensated for resource development, so there's a lot of misogyny and patriarchy in how decisions are made. I think that's a really big problem.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you so much, Hilda.

As I said, I've let time get all offside, so we're going to go for four minutes for the next round. It will be four minutes to Dominique, four minutes to Emmanuella, four minutes to Sylvie and four minutes to Leah.

I'm going to be cutting you off at the four-minute mark. There's no playing nice for the chair today.

I'm going to pass the floor over to Dominique.

You have four minutes.

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

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Thank you for being here this afternoon, ladies.

Your remarks are very interesting, but it is also difficult to hear about all this violence and the circumstances you face.

I am an eternal optimist. That is also why we are here today: we think things could go more smoothly and could be improved.

I was saying at another committee, and you also touched on this, I do not think it will be easy to make progress, to bring the police to the table so that they also change their attitude to help the women more often report the violence to which they have been subjected. The community should be there as well to help these women, to be proactive in finding solutions, starting points; and the companies should be there as well to become good corporate citizens.

I used to work for the Department of Labour. I saw to it that companies were required to adopt policies against psychological and sexual harassment. I know how important that is and how important it is for women to be able to express themselves and work in a safe environment. Before that can be achieved, the problems, the situation must be recognized. I think that is the starting point for mobilization. These people must be mobilized. You talked about securing funding, and more resources are needed.

Ms. Saunders, I heard what you said. I heard all of you, ladies, but will money on the table get these people moving? Will it make them work together? Will it change mentalities, cultures and ways of doing things? Will it give women the opportunity to report violence? Will they be convinced to report it more often? These are not questions, just observations.

It is important that the various players not be pitted against each other. Common ground must be found in each of these areas.

This is what I think, and maybe it is sort of a question. I think it would be easy to sit everyone down around the table and say that we are changing the way things are done.

What do you think? Do you think I am being overly optimistic?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Is there anyone in particular you want to start with?

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

Ms. Anderson‑Pyrz, would you like to answer my question?