Status of Women Committee on June 5th, 2023

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

I spoke to a company recently because I was interested and I knew that this study was coming up. Maybe you could help me with my next question.

I asked why the price has increased for these products that all women need. One of the things they said was that it was due to inflation and due to the carbon tax. Shipping the products and getting them to the locations has impacted the increase in cost. Although there's no tax when you purchase these products, the cost is still going to be much higher.

What solution would you have for us, as the government, to make those products more affordable?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Give about a 15-second response, as you are over time.

[Danielle Kaftarian]

Yes.

I really don't know the economics behind how to make it affordable, but I know we need to take that into consideration. The prices are increasing. I'm seeing them increase substantially, as you said.

If there is a step forward we can take, that would be a great thing for this government to explore.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Maybe we should cut out the carbon tax.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thanks so much.

We now going to pass it over to Sonia Sidhu, who is online. Sonia, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for appearing today on this important issue.

My questions will be directed to Ms. Shaw from the Sustainable Menstrual Equity Coalition.

Ms. Shaw, how do you envision ensuring access to free menstrual equity products in all public spaces, such as schools, libraries, malls, workplaces and other community facilities? We know that by December 15 this year, all federally regulated workplaces and buildings will require free pads and tampons in every washroom.

We also heard of the barriers and which groups are typically harder to reach. How do you work to overcome these barriers?

[Madeleine Shaw]

Thank you very much for that question.

This is an issue that we've given a great deal of thought to at Aisle in particular, but I know we're not alone in this. It's an approach we call “user-centred” access: As a first step, we first consider where the people are who need menstrual products, as opposed to this model of bathroom access only—which, of course, we acknowledge is essential. One thing we do, for example, is issue gift cards that can be redeemed electronically. It allows someone to shop and choose their own products, get exactly what they want, and get those products sent to their homes. The question is no longer about how you get to a bathroom and about where to find that product, but rather how to make these solutions work for you.

We've had huge success with this approach. We've been working with employers like Canada's largest credit union, Vancity, which issued thousands of dollars' worth of these gift cards to their employees. In this day and age, when so many people, as you've pointed out, are working from home, travelling to a bathroom is an inconvenience for them. This approach allows them to shop online to choose exactly the products they want and need.

It's that type of thinking that I would call outside the bathroom—not just outside the box—access points. An example is McGill University, which has recently handed out tons of joni and Aisle products to their students in the middle of student thoroughfares, offering education and peer support. They're basically taking the products to the students in this case, as opposed to making the student go to a bathroom and ask someone and that type of thing.

This free public discourse not only encourages product access but also takes away the stigma and the shame and encourages positive conversations. There are real opportunities here beyond just product access.

Those are a couple of examples for you.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Thank you.

In your experience, what have been the most effective ways to raise awareness, especially in diverse and rural communities?

[Madeleine Shaw]

Social media has been a wonderful tool. I would commend the United Way and I would commend The Period Purse for really conveying the message that menstrual products are about so much more than just cleaning up a mess or solving a problem: This is about jobs, about education, about a future in which youth will be able to fully participate in life.

We see the campaigns that have been created around the Period Promise, and I think The Period Purse is another great example. We co-created with them and Aisle some educational materials for indigenous youth living in the Mohawk nation. We collaborated with elders to understand the traditional Mohawk language for terms related to menstruation and created educational materials that were culturally specific and respectful to them.

I think there's a lot of room for creativity. I guess I would caution against a “one size fits all”. We really want to think about the needs of diverse populations, whether they are transgender or non-binary people, whether they are new Canadians or youth, and really pay a lot of attention to their lifestyles, their educational needs and their cultural considerations.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Ms. Skidmore, would you like to speak to the best practices for raising awareness as well?

[Sussanne Skidmore]

For sure. We've done some creative things, as Madeleine was talking about, here in British Columbia. We've gone to some definitely non-traditional folks to talk about this. We've gone to men in leadership positions and leaders in what would be sort of non-traditional places to see women. The president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union is kind of a gruff and burly guy, but he's super-outspoken and one of our biggest advocates.

I think it's being creative and making sure we're getting it out there far and wide.

I see you, Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

You're awesome. Thanks so much. Thanks for watching me.

I'll pass it for the next two and a half minutes to Andréanne Larouche.

Go ahead, Andréanne.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Ms. Girdauska, Ms. Kaftarian and Ms. Skidmore, thank you again for taking part in the committee's study. Your input will be especially useful.

Ms. Shaw, as I was saying earlier, initiatives are under way in cities, in Quebec and the provinces. To improve period equity, the City of Montreal launched a program on June 1 to make menstrual products available in municipal buildings under its jurisdiction. Pad and tampon dispensers will be installed in the public buildings of the city's boroughs, making menstrual products available to anyone who needs them free of charge. On May 10, the federal government announced that federally regulated employers would have to provide menstrual products to staff in the workplace as of December 15.

We are seeing more and more initiatives like that all over the country. That's good news for menstrual equity. I wonder what more the federal government can do since it's already planning to provide free access to menstrual products in its own workplaces as of this year. I think the ball is now in the court of Quebec and the provinces, because they have the jurisdiction to legislate on health matters. What else can the federal government do without going outside its jurisdiction?

[Madeleine Shaw]

Thank you for that wonderful question.

Quebec in many ways has led the country in innovative ways of dealing with menstrual equity and period poverty. For example, offering vouchers that can be redeemed by citizens in multiple cities and municipalities is one idea.

One of my main asks coming out of today's meeting is calling on each of you as members of Parliament to pass a resolution to find inclusive and sustainable solutions to period poverty. We have some of the answers; I don't think we have all the answers. This is an opportunity for the government to use the ingenuity and leadership in this space right now to come up with new solutions. Those can include things like the voucher idea, the electronic gift card idea and diverse distribution points. It's looking at all of it and divorcing ourselves from a mindset of looking for the holy grail of menstrual equity—that there is one way to do this. There is not one way to do this.

I need to wrap it up. Thank you so much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thanks, Madeleine. You're fantastic.

We'll now go to the last set of questions. I'll pass it over to Leah Gazan.

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

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you so much.

My question is for Sussanne Skidmore.

We know not-for-profits are struggling to provide menstrual health products. I would argue that we've taken a charity model to this human right when it needs to be a government-funded model, because it is a human right. It shouldn't be left outside of government's responsibility to provide this kind of health care for people who menstruate.

Would you agree with that? What do you think needs to change to support that human right in, for example, not-for-profits?

[Sussanne Skidmore]

Thank you.

I 100% agree with that. The charity model is a band-aid solution to a problem that is astronomically larger than we even think it is. The data we have collected here in British Columbia only provides us with so much. I think government needs to work with community organizations and non-profits on the ground to make sure they have funding for these products, because those organizations are where people go. It shouldn't be on the backs of those organizations. They shouldn't be drawing out of the funds they use for other things. This should be a government solution, and there should be access to these products for everyone who needs them.

Thanks for the question, Leah.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you so much.

Could you please expand on that, Danielle, from The Period Purse? I know you spoke about it.

[Danielle Kaftarian]

Yes.

We should be considering the broader spectrum of where we place the products. It's not just charities; it's using all the touchpoints we've talked about.

It's also providing education to ensure people know where to access a product so that people know how to find them. How do you set up free products in your school? How do you set up free products in your workplace? That should be part of the consideration of what we're doing when we're putting those products out into places.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you so much.

Do I have any more time? I'm sorry; I just kept rolling.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Time is up, lady.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

That's what I thought.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

That's okay. I try to work with you. Thank you so much.

On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank you all for the superb kickoff to this study. Thank you very much for all the superb testimony you brought forward today. It's a very important study that we're beginning, and we really appreciate your time.

Is everybody good?

Okay, we will suspend.

[Proceedings continue in camera]