Status of Women Committee on Feb. 11th, 2022

[Karen Campbell]

We've been talking with our colleagues in the sector since the beginning of the pandemic. When you ask them, “What do women and gender-diverse people need right now?”, housing is right at the top of the list. Housing and access to an adequate income are really, really significant. Access to child care and access to transportation really come together to have an impact on whether or not someone is safe.

I guess it's really very much about considering what the social determinants of health are and making sure those things are all in place. They're necessary for women to be safe.

Absolutely, a leadership role on the part of the federal government on the national housing strategy is required.

[Sherilyn Bell]

I would agree with what the other two speakers have said. I don't work directly with the adult population, but I certainly would support what they're saying on this issue.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Thank you very much.

Chair, how much time do I have left?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

You have one minute.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Quickly, income security was raised as well. My colleague Leah Gazan has been a champion of a guaranteed livable income.

I'm wondering, Ms. Stinson and Ms. Campbell, if you have any thoughts to share on how that could be a support for women who face violence and want to flee violence.

[Jane Stinson]

The women who are working on the national action plan actually had a session on guaranteed annual income, and a big question about it. It was a bit of a debate. There is desire to have a minimum income, absolutely, but the concern is, will services get stripped away? Will it become a market-based system where people are given money and expected to buy services for cash on the market? That's what's really important, ensuring that it doesn't result in that.

We need the infrastructure. We need the support and public services, in addition to a guaranteed income. People shouldn't be living in poverty.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much.

We're now going to move on to round two. We actually have enough time to do the entire round. We're going to start with Dominique.

Dominique, you will have five minutes; Sonia, you will have five minutes; Louise, two and a half minutes; and Niki, two and a half minutes.

I'm going to pass the floor over to Dominique for five minutes.

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

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

My questions are primarily for you, Mrs. Bell. Could I ask you for fairly concise answers because I have a number of them.

As a psychologist and a responder with a lot of experience, would you say that a young victim is automatically going to become an adult victim?

[Sherilyn Bell]

Yes, I do think so.

The statistic is that one out of three adolescents is affected by teen violence. For the one out of three, often it does continue. Even though you work with the victims, sometimes, unknowingly, they just tend to end up in similar situations.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Madam Chair, I can't hear the interpretation anymore.

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

That's right, Madam Chair, we don't have the interpretation anymore.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Is the translation working?

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

Yes, Madam Chair, the interpretation is working now.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[Sherilyn Bell]

Should I repeat what I said or continue?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Please repeat what you said.

[Sherilyn Bell]

I do agree that young teenagers who are involved in a situation, perhaps victims of online violence or in-person violence, often go on to have repeated incidences, where they become victims of ongoing relationship violence even with different partners.

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

I am sorry, Mrs. Bell, but I'm going to have to interrupt you. I know it's very impolite of me and I don't like doing it. But I don't have a lot of time and I have the gist of your answer.

In the examples I am about to give you, which, in your opinion, would be the clearest cause, unless it is well understood that they are all part of the cause?

What drives young people to violence? Is it the social media? Is it the Internet, family violence, are they predisposed? Is it all of the above? What can you tell us? What have you heard in your practice?

[Sherilyn Bell]

It's a combination. I don't think it's any one thing.

There can be predisposing factors based on things going on in the family, or even just perception of the young persons themselves of situations that can be a bit skewed, which then affects their view of things and their decision-making.

You can't just pinpoint one thing. It is a combination, and I guess that's what makes it such a difficult situation to deal with.

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

Okay.

I am the mom of a young man who will soon be 26. As parents, we also have a responsibility for the way in which we raise our boys.

What should parents be telling the boys?

[Sherilyn Bell]

I don't know how much empathy training is taught in the elementary curriculum, but it's really important that our kids are taught from a young age how to view things from other people's perspectives and how to put themselves in somebody else's shoes.

It's also important to talk with kids about decision-making, how a parent makes a decision. Maybe talk through the steps with the kids, how a parent thinks critically about a situation, so that the child has something concrete to go on and it's not just an interpretation of the situation that they're going with.

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

I have one minute left.

Finally, Mrs. Bell, we are familiar with shelters and help centres for women. Some organizations also provide help for men. Are there enough resources to help our adolescents who are violent or who are victims of violence? We have a few resources in Quebec, including Tel-jeunes, but are there enough?

[Sherilyn Bell]

I don't think so. Certainly I know that when I was working as a guidance counsellor, in terms of the demand in the schools—and speaking with colleagues, too, not just in the schools I worked in, but in other schools, public and private—there were never enough counsellors to go around. Even in private practice, I know the demand for psychologists and therapists is extremely high.

So I would say there need to be more resources.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much.

We're now going to pass it over to Sonia.

Sonia, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses for their great testimony.

My question is for Ms. Stinson.

Ms. Stinson, part of this study includes how coercive and manipulative behaviour is also a form of abuse. We heard about the language barrier, the lack of community resources. What steps do you think are more effective in tackling this particular form of violence?