Status of Women Committee on Nov. 14th, 2022

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

I would like to call this meeting to order.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to meeting number 38 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted on Tuesday, February 1, the committee will resume its study on the mental health of young women and girls.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of June 23, 2022. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.

I would like to make a few comments for the benefit of the witnesses and members.

Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon to activate your mike, and please mute yourself when you're not speaking. For interpretation for those on Zoom, you will have the choice, at the bottom of your screen, of floor, English or French. For those in the room, you can use your earpiece and select the desired channel.

Looking at who's in here today, I think we have some professionals participating. We should all know how to use this, so we should be in good shape.

As a reminder, all comments should be addressed through the chair. For members in the room, if you wish to speak, please raise your hand, and for members on Zoom, please use the “raise hand” function. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as well as we can, and I would appreciate your patience and understanding in this regard.

In accordance with our routine motion, I am informing the committee that all witnesses have completed the required connection tests in advance of the meeting.

Before we welcome our witnesses, I would like to provide this trigger warning. This will be a difficult study, and we will be discussing experiences related to mental health. This may be triggering to viewers, members, or staff with similar experiences. If you feel distressed or if you need help, please advise the clerk.

I would now like to welcome our guests.

On our first panel today, we have the Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, and Marci is online here today. I'd like to welcome, from the department, Frances McRae, who is deputy minister; and Lisa Smylie, director general of the research, results and delivery branch. Thank you all for coming here.

I will be providing five minutes to the minister for her opening comments. When you see me start swirling my hand, that means your time is up.

Minister Ien, I pass the floor over to you for five minutes.

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Thank you, colleagues, for the opportunity to speak with you today as part of your important study on the mental health of young women and girls.

I want to begin by acknowledging that I am speaking to you from the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinabe, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples.

I have the fortune of regularly meeting with extraordinary young people from right across the country who, I can tell you, are more diverse, more socially engaged, and much more educated than ever before.

These remarkable young people fill me with profound hope for bright and prosperous days ahead. They are not just the leaders of tomorrow—they are the leaders of today.

For young people, mental health is an everyday topic. It is not separate from work, community, school, or family; it is part of their daily lives. With their voices, we will create a healthier, more inclusive Canada.

As you know, the lead on mental health is my colleague, Minister Bennett, whom you'll be hearing from later today. I work with Minister Bennett and all of my cabinet colleagues to ensure that mental health support is accessible, and that our young people are protected. Looking toward the youth section of my portfolio, as well as on a very personal level, I have a keen interest in ensuring that we think about what we can do in a holistic way to improve the lives of young people in Canada.

The pandemic disrupted and impacted many aspects of our lives—school closures and disruptions, social isolation, more time spent online to stay connected, increased family stress, and fewer options for those experiencing gender-based violence. All of these factors have resulted in a greater number of young people struggling with their mental health.

Along with this, systemic inequality worsens mental health challenges and symptoms for young people with intersecting lived experiences. For their part, 2SLGBTQI+ youth report notably high rates of mental health struggles—60% reporting moderate to severe anxiety, 41% reporting symptoms of depression, and nearly 30% reporting suicidal thoughts.

It is essential that youth have access to the mental health services and support they need.

Young women and girls who have experienced gender-based violence have a high risk of distress and immediate or long-term mental health issues, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use issues or suicidal thoughts. To address this and to help create awareness on gender-based violence, my department recently developed a campaign designed for youth called “It's Not Just”. It will help empower young people to identify and challenge views and actions in their environment that contribute to GBV.

While it's clear that there are challenges, there are opportunities and successes as well that we must continue to bring forward. I cannot stress enough the significant role that community-based organizations play in the space of youth well-being and mental health. Such programs as the youth employment and skills strategy, Canada summer jobs and the Canada service corps have wraparound support services, such as mentorship and coaching, built in to help young people navigate not only job and volunteer opportunities but also a key period in their lives as they learn about the world of work and transition into adulthood.

During the early days of COVID-19, Prime Minister Trudeau took the time to talk about mental health and to talk about such resources as Kids Help Phone. Representatives from that organization tell us that on that day, Kids Help Phone had the highest level of engagement ever. The PM's youth council, of which I am vice-chair, is a diverse group of young Canadians who provide non-partisan advice to the PM and the Government of Canada on issues of importance to them and to all Canadians.

The world has changed so much, and the unique challenges and pressures young people face in their lives are significant. It's our job as a government to support them and reduce barriers wherever possible. That comes through concrete support, such as the $30-million investment to crisis hotlines across Canada, $14.8 million specifically for Kids Help Phone; fighting online harm; and taking measures to reduce financial pressure on students, such as permanently freezing interest on federal student loans.

The actions and investments I have described cannot on their own put an end to ongoing mental health impacts experienced by young women and girls. We know that.

The committee’s study promises to contribute another important piece to finding larger solutions that address the root causes and challenges affecting the mental health of young people.

Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members. I am very happy to take your questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much, Minister.

We will now begin our first round of questions. Each group will have six minutes.

I'll be starting off with Dominique Vien.

Dominique, you have the floor for six minutes.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I welcome each of you.

Minister, thank you for being with us this morning.

To follow up on what we've heard here, I was rereading the mandate letter that the Prime Minister sent you when you were appointed. You have a lot on your plate.

One of the tasks that the Prime Minister gave you is of particular interest to us: “the development of a 10‑year National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence”. In that letter, you were also asked to “begin negotiations with the provinces and territories within a year, and accelerate the establishment of a dedicated Secretariat” to address violence against women.

With the year almost over, where are you in achieving these three tasks assigned to you by the Prime Minister?

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Thank you for your question.

It's such a great opportunity to talk about this.

Last week, on Wednesday, November 9, I was so happy to stand beside my provincial and territorial counterparts, from whom we got the go-ahead, I'll call it, after speaking for two days in Pictou, Nova Scotia, and launch our national action plan to end gender-based violence. It was an opportunity to speak with my counterparts, as each province is unique and each province is rare, with regard to what they're seeing and how gender-based violence is addressed, to hear and to listen.

At the beginning of that meeting, the first day, it was national indigenous leaders and representatives who were at the table. Here's what I'd like to tell you: All of us, to a person, sat in a circle. We heard from the national indigenous leaders and representatives about their struggles, their challenges and, frankly, how we've all helped. It was listening and it was learning. The two days after that, we did the same with provinces and territories.

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

What came of it?

Minister, what the witnesses told us during our meetings on the issue was quite worrying: organizations are not adequately funded, young girls are harassed and bullied on social media and so forth. Everything you can imagine, we've heard it here.

How will the action plan resolve the problems of violence against women and girls that we've been told about here?

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

That's a good question.

Eighty per cent of the recommendations for the national action plan to end gender-based violence came from the provinces and territories, because we know, as I said earlier, that they are unique. They know what they need. They know the grassroots organizations that are doing the work to help the women and girls and provide the wraparound services. Each is unique.

We are at a stage now when we will begin our negotiations—bilateral, province by province—to hear everything that each province has heard from those who are experiencing gender-based violence, because that's what this action plan was built on: survivors, those who are in the space, the experts. We couldn't have gotten there without them. That's what this plan is based on.

Now it is coming together with the provinces and territories one by one to find out. We will continue to bring that plan forward.

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

It's a matter of establishing a secretariat dedicated to addressing violence against women. What will that secretariat's response be to the horror stories that we're hearing from people on the ground?

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

The provinces and territories that we hear from as well.... This is a joint effort. There's nothing like hearing from grassroots organizations, hearing from survivors, hearing from those who have spoken to you in this very important forum after reading, understanding and learning from this very important study. This is who we need to hear from; this is who we have heard from. Really, it is about the provinces and territories negotiating with us and saying, “This is what survivors are telling us. This is what we need.”

We have a floor. Each territory will get at least $4 million, and each province will get at least $2 million. There is a shared cost and, of course, there will be a public accounting of all of this. My ministry will work hand in hand with each province and territory to make sure that we're addressing the very needs you talk about.

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

Minister, you talk a lot about the future. There's some consensus on the need to move forward. How much time are you giving yourself to conclude negotiations with the provinces, before we'll be able to see concrete actions on the ground?

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

We are seeing concrete actions on the field. This is why we knew that there was a need for an action plan that brought together provinces, territories as well as the government to push this work forward.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

That's perfect.

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

We didn't just get here. We've been doing this work a long time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much, Minister Ien.

I'm going to pass it over for six minutes to Sonia Sidhu.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'm splitting my time with Emmanuella.

Thank you, Minister Ien, for being with us today. I know you're working very hard on the ground for women and girls across this country.

Minister, we heard from the witnesses that early intervention is important for young women and girls with intersecting identities who experience unique mental health challenges.

I know you are also the minister for youth. Can you expand on the importance of culturally relevant supports and how early intervention is important for young women and girls?

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Thank you for your question, Ms. Sidhu.

It is such an important one. It is about early intervention.

Young people these days are bombarded by social media. They face so many issues at school in their spaces, so it's about meeting them where they are.

First and foremost, I want to put a spotlight on Kids Help Phone. Why don't we start there? When I say meeting kids where they are, the $14.8 million that was provided to Kids Help Phone meant that kids could text. This is what they do. They could get in touch. They can pick up the phone wherever they are.

When we talk about the intersectionality of this—racialized, indigenous, Black—we need to know that help has to be available 24 hours a day. Kids Help Phone does that. Crisis help lines do that. Why is that important? Because, if they are faced with an abuser within their household or in the space that they're in, they can send a text. They are able to call—I've seen the numbers—in the middle of the night when there's availability 24 hours a day to get the help they need.

I will add one more thing on an intersectional lens and the 2SLGBTQ community. About a year ago, I met with Berkha Gupta. They operate the LGBTQ youth line. It's a hotline. Berkha wanted to be what they didn't have because, when she was no longer welcome in her family, she didn't really have a place to reach out. She created this youth line so that young people could call. They were part of the $20-million capacity funding. They were able to use that funding to expand to rural and other places outside of the urban areas in this country. When you talk about intersectionality, Berkha is on the front line. They hear it all. They have trauma-informed crisis counsellors on those lines to help everybody who calls in, whenever they might call or text.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Thank you.

I'll pass it over to Emmanuella, Madam Chair.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Sonia.

Minister, thank you for being with us today to answer our questions. We know that this is an important topic for you as well. We hear in your voice that you're passionate about it, so thank you for the work that you're doing.

Early on in this study, we heard directly from a young lady who has attempted to take her life several times and knows the struggle of depression all too well. She spoke to us about the need to include young people when coming up with a plan to help youth who are struggling with mental health issues, as they are the ones who know what they need more than anybody else.

What are we doing to ensure that young girls have access to mental health services? Are we consulting our young people when coming up with a plan to give additional supports to this population?

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

“Nothing for us without us”: That's what I've heard right across this country.

I'm the vice-chair of the Prime Minister's youth council and, might I say, the council doesn't mince words. Mental health has been the priority and is the priority. There was a state of the youth report as well that puts that squarely as the top priority for young people, women and girls across this country.

When we look at what we need to do, it's important not to start when young women and girls are 14, 15 and 16 years old. It's also important—and I hear this from the youth council and young people I speak to across this country—to include men and boys. An elder told me a while ago that an eagle cannot fly with one wing. She was talking about gender-based violence and including boys and men as well as young women and girls.

I want to highlight right now how important it is to have programs and services that address gender-based violence and mental health at a young age, not just for young women but for boys and for men.

I was in Nova Scotia last week, and there is an organization called Guys Work. It's grade 6 to 12 in schools right across Nova Scotia. They do excellent work. Here's what I was hearing from the boys who attend in grade 6: “This is a safe space. I can be who I am.” They talk about masculinity, what it means, how to help and how to engage with girls and young women. It's amazing. You cannot have one without the other: “nothing for us without us”.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Perfect, thank you so much.

We're now going to pass the floor over to Andréanne.

Andréanne, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Minister, thank you as well for being with us today.

It's a sad day, however, given that a 14th femicide has been committed in Quebec, near my home, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richeliu. I offer my sincere condolences and my full support to the family of Donna Callahan.

That femicide occurred with the days of activism against gender-based violence around the corner. During that period, on December 6, we will mark the sad events at Polytechnique, where women were killed because they were women.

I'm bringing all this up because I know that it has repercussions on the mental health of women and girls. Witnesses have told us that today.

Previous questions addressed the national action plan to end gender-based violence. Last week, you had a meeting with the provinces and territories, which obviously approved it, except Quebec. The Government of Quebec said that it approved of the action plan's objectives, but that it would not sign it because it wants to retain sole responsibility for areas under its jurisdiction. The Government of Quebec expects full financial compensation from Ottawa for its own programs and services.

Will your government and your department commit to fully compensating Quebec?

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Thank you for your question. It's a very important one.

It was a privilege and a pleasure to have excellent conversations prior to the meeting in Nova Scotia last week with my counterpart in Quebec.

Minister Biron is excellent.

She knows what the province of Quebec needs. We will always work and always partner with Quebec. We are looking forward to bilateral negotiations with Quebec. The action plan to end gender-based violence in the last budget, in 2021, included $3 billion over five years to advance initiatives to prevent violence, and that includes money that has gone to Quebec. We are not new to this. We look forward to those negotiations. Quebec was a full partner at the table. Madame Biron was represented extremely well. The conversations went extremely well, and I look forward to the next steps.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

I also intend to meet soon with Ms. Biron for discussions, as I did with her predecessor.

I spoke to you about what we experienced during the pandemic. I asked you this specific question because you know that the federal government's encroachment into areas under the jurisdiction of Quebec and the other provinces always delays payments to the provinces of crucial funding to help improve their capacity and their resources on the ground.

I'll give you a concrete example that happened during the pandemic. In contacting Quebec's status of women secretariat and public safety department, I learned that the transfer of funds was up to six months late. Do you find that acceptable?

Quebec already has the infrastructure and expertise to address the issue of women's and girls' mental health. It has led the way, releasing a report entitled “Rebâtir la confiance”, which includes about a hundred recommendations.

During the pandemic, you held women who were victims of violence hostage.

Will you now give the provinces the means to act by increasing health transfers? That request from the provinces and from Quebec is unanimous.

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Thank you for this question, as well.

I would like to draw your attention to the height of the pandemic, because I think it speaks to what you're speaking to here.

During the pandemic, Quebec received approximately $17 million of the $100 million in funding that was given to shelter organizations, on-the-ground organizations. We have an excellent relationship with Quebec. We have shown that when Quebec needs to be supported, it will be supported. We have signed agreements, and we will sign more, but this is not something that is new to us at the table. We understand the urgency. Quebec understands the urgency. Madame Biron and her team understand the urgency, and we will always be at the table.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

You have 10 seconds.