Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for joining us today. Once again, I want to say that we're reeling from the shocking news of yet another femicide. One of the first victims of femicides this year was Véronique Champagne, and I want to recognize her loved ones. Her death occurred in the riding of Shefford, in Rougemont to be precise. I attended her vigil, which was organized by the Rougemont community.
We now have a 10th femicide. I would also like to extend my sincere condolences to Shannon Jean Hickey's family.
It's hard to understand the reason behind all of this violence. On November 25 last year, after tabling the report on the study that I recommended to this committee on the status of women, during which we spoke about coercive control—the idea came from a Quebec government report on rebuilding trust entitled “Rebâtir la confiance”—and heard that coercive control should be enshrined in the Criminal Code and that the federal government had to take action. The thing that shook me at the beginning of this year when I heard about Véronique Champagne's femicide was the reminder from one of her loved ones that femicides are highly preventable crimes. Unfortunately, we have failed to prevent them.
Minister, we can't undertake a multi-year campaign to end femicide with a 12-month grant. Several organizations have told us that.
Temporary project-related funding that women's rights organizations receive from Women and Gender Equality Canada is sorely inadequate in this day and age. In the course of our study, we've seen that retrogressive and extremist movements on the rise of masculinism are actively trying to reverse human rights, even as the wave of violence against women continues to claim an increasing number of victims, with rates of femicide on the rise in Quebec and throughout Canada. This comes on top of rising economic uncertainty and precarious employment driven by geopolitical instability, the trade war between the United States and Canada, and lack of operational funding for domestic organizations that advocate for women's rights, and this is imperiling women's rights and safety.
Are you committed to addressing this inequality and to providing funding to support the long-term mandates of these organizations?