Status of Women Committee on Nov. 21st, 2022

[Dr. Teresa Fowler]

Sure. I have to first say that I am not a policy person. I understand policy only to spell it, but if we really think of the lens.... In research we talk about lenses, about how we approach our work, and there are different lenses to how we engage with our study. For example, as a sociologist, I read the world differently from the way that a quantitative person would.

If we trace back to see why sports is in the Heritage Canada portfolio, we will see that it stems back to a failed Olympic run when the men's ice hockey team didn't achieve gold medals. Therefore, now we need to invest in this national idea that ice hockey is “our” game, “our” sport, which again overrides our indigenous history with respect to those sports that have been here before us.

When you think about the lens that sports is viewed through from a funding or whichever sort of lens, having it within Heritage Canada raises red flags, because what are we promoting as Canadian heritage?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Thank you, Dr. Fowler.

You can count on me to be looking up quite a lot of your research in the coming days. I appreciate that testimony.

I only have about a minute. My next question, Ms. Sandmeyer-Graves, will be over to you. We met in 2017 when the then minister of sport asked us to be part of a working group, which has resulted in quite a lot of progress since, but needs to keep moving forward. Can you give us your opinion, your views, on the progress to date, and what needs to happen in order to continue to see progress?

[Allison Sandmeyer-Graves]

I want to mention that it was actually an all-party or committee study of the heritage committee that really kicked off a lot of that work, and that led to an initial investment of $30 million in sport, of which a portion went to addressing gender-based violence.

Our organization is the national voice and authority on this topic. We've seen a lot of progress. We've gone from talking about it to acting on it, which has been very positive. Over our 41-year history, the productivity of the last five years is noteworthy.

I think it's all incremental. It's glacial in its pace it seems at times. When you listen to the survivors speak, you realize that we're absolutely not moving fast enough. We're not being aggressive enough. We're not moving with enough urgency, and we're moving too much through an institutional lens. We need to put the athletes at the centre of this and not move at the pace that institutions are comfortable with. Move at the pace that society and these families and these athletes demand.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Thanks, Allison. It's good to see you.

I'll close by saying thanks to Ms. Bailey for being an extraordinary voice and mentor for young indigenous women in this country. You're awesome.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Awesome.

Okay, we're rushing.

Go ahead, Andréanne. When I start getting up and dancing, that means we're done.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

I'll keep it short, then, Madam Chair.

In the bit of time I have, I'd like to thank the witnesses.

Can we keep the discussion going a bit longer after the vote?

I'm being told that we can't. All right, then.

Ms. Sandmeyer‑Graves, if you could keep your answer to 30 seconds, it would be greatly appreciated, because I have another question. In your opening statement, you talked about the Own the Podium program. Is there anything you'd like to say about that or how it relates to today's study?

[Allison Sandmeyer-Graves]

I'm very sorry. I missed part of the question and the interpretation.

Would you repeat it, please?

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

In your opening statement, you mentioned the Own the Podium program.

In 30 seconds, can you tell us what we should take away from the program?

[Allison Sandmeyer-Graves]

I understand.

Own the Podium is a major pot of money that is governed by a body called Own the Podium. It started with the Vancouver Olympics because we wanted to win lots of medals, and it continues today.

It directs millions of dollars to our national sport organizations. It needs to direct that money with values in mind, not just medals. It is a major lever for us to use in creating change.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Allison, thank you so much.

Leah, I apologize. We are down past zero for time. Before I lose my job from the committee members, I do have to end the meeting today.

On behalf of all of the members of the committee, I would like to thank all the witnesses for coming in. Thank you so much for bringing your testimony.

As we've indicated, if there's any follow-up that you need to do, please reach out. If there are concerns, please reach out to the clerk or myself.

We will see everybody Thursday from 3:30 to 5:30. We're going to start on version one of our indigenous study.

Today's meeting is adjourned.