Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'll start by thanking the witnesses for participating in this important study.
Regarding Mr. Serré's last question, the positive impact of a day care program is well established. I'm not the only one saying this. Economists in Quebec are also saying it. I'm thinking of Luc Godbout, from the Université de Sherbrooke, who proved that we needed this program to give women the chance to return to the workforce. I won't ask a question about this matter.
I'll continue along the same lines as Mr. Serré. In Quebec, the figures aren't very encouraging. Since 2021, 741 municipal officials have resigned.
Ms. Miller, you understand that we're conducting a study on women's economic empowerment. In my opinion, encouraging women to choose non‑traditional jobs, such as the still male‑dominated world of politics, is one way to empower women economically. Women must be able to pursue the jobs that they want to do. Right now, the situation is rather discouraging. Of course, these 741 elected officials aren't all women. I don't want to generalize. In my constituency, one of the male municipal officials told me that bullying contributed to his decision to resign as mayor. However, women have also cited bullying and harassment as reasons for resigning.
Ms. Miller, my colleague asked how we could lower the number of resignations. I would like to point you towards one possible solution, but you can suggest others. How can we combat hateful comments online?
In my opinion, as long as we fail to address this violence, we'll be helping to discourage women from entering politics. They won't want to expose themselves to this violence in politics.
I'm a woman in politics. I'm from the sandwich generation. I have a two‑year‑old daughter whom I don't want to expose to hateful comments. I'll also need to take care of aging parents. All this creates a mental load.
How does this contribute to a decline in women's participation in politics or their access to significant positions? We were talking earlier about the declining proportion of women in corporate management positions, for the same reasons.