Status of Women Committee on June 4th, 2026

[Dr. Jacqueline Benn-John]

The most difficult service to fund.... I don't understand the difficulty. I think we've established that it is so important. We know the numbers are there. We know women are dying. We know women are not leaving abusive situations. We know they're being trafficked and exploited—

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

Ms. Benn‑John, I'm sorry, I have to interrupt you.

Witnesses, if you have any information to share with the committee, please feel free to do so by email. We will be pleased to have it.

Mrs. Roberts, you have the floor for five minutes.

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

Thank you.

Through you, Madam Chair, one thing I'm very disturbed about is the comment you made, Dr. Benn-John, that one woman is killed every single week. I know those stats are correct. I heard it during my undercover investigation.

Everyone here has said that we lack housing, and this is really troubling me. There was $8.35 billion, in 2015-16, spent on professional services and consultants. In 2024-25, $19.6 billion of public money was spent on consultants. That's an increase of 135%.

Do you feel that this money could have been better used? We know we need housing. We know we need to help the shelters. We know we need to provide housing for these children and these families. Would you not agree that we have enough evidence?

We've had this meeting many times. Let's forget about the consultants. You guys are the experts. Let's give you the money so that we can build the houses. Do you agree, Dr. Benn-John?

[Dr. Jacqueline Benn-John]

Absolutely. Thank you so much for acknowledging that the work has been done.

It's the same message. I'm sure there have been themes across all of these testimonies you've been hearing. We know the work is done. If you look back to previous inquiries, they have been very similar. At a community-based level, academically, we've researched. We've addressed these issues, and we've made recommendations. We need action. That's what we need—action. We do not need another woman dying. We do not need children dying.

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

I appreciate that because, on July 31, 2024, Cait Alexander, who runs an organization called EVE, End Violence Everywhere, had to leave this country because she feared for her life. Her perpetrator got off because of the Jordan rule.

I'm sick and tired of listening to stories in which survivors say they don't feel safe in this country. The sad thing about it is that 76% of intimate partner violence is against women, and we keep hearing the same story over and over again.

Carol Wildgoose, I know that you and I have chatted about this, and I've also spoken to Jasmine De Fina, who was a witness here previously. The housing is crucial for the betterment of the families and the children. The only thing we can do is ensure that we provide them with the opportunity for some kind of normal life. Would you agree to that?

[Carol Wildgoose]

Yes, housing is absolutely the issue, as we've heard from many people today.

It was mentioned by the previous witnesses that a carve-out for some of these specific things that we need would make it less difficult to get access to the dollars when the projects are ready to go. It's pretty simple, actually. I know it doesn't feel simple when you're sitting in government, but from the perspective of those of us who are doing the work, it's pretty simple. It can be done. It's not hard.

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

I know you mentioned earlier that there are no safe homes in York region for human trafficking—

[Carol Wildgoose]

Yes, there is 360°Kids; there is one safe house.

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

Right.

I know after speaking to Casandra Diamond that she provides a transition home for individuals coming out of human trafficking. I think you've met Casandra Diamond.

[Carol Wildgoose]

Yes, a number of years ago.

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

One of the issues she talks about is that even though they provide the counselling and the tools to help these young women and children get through this traumatic situation, she has nowhere to place them because of what you said earlier, there's no housing.

I think that what we need to do as parliamentarians is put the recommendation forward that housing is crucial in order for us to stop this intimate partner violence. The women we've spoken to have educated us that if we don't create these homes where the families are safe, we're never going to get rid of intimate partner violence.

Would you also agree with the fact that if we can combine the education with the housing, we could put a stop to this intimate partner violence?

[Carol Wildgoose]

I'm not sure.

I would love to say we could stop it. It's pretty entrenched. Sadly, we have 14- and 15-year-olds trafficking 11- and 12-year-olds now, and that's a fact.

We need to work really hard to do it. We can do a lot better; let's put it that way.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

Thank you, madam.

Ms. Ménard will bring up the rear with five minutes of speaking time.

[Marie-Gabrielle Ménard, Liberal, Hochelaga—Rosemont-Est, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'll be sharing my time with my colleague Ms. Nathan. When the Prime Minister took office after he was elected, he mandated the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure to develop a housing strategy, which the Minister of Women and Gender Equality was asked to be part of from the beginning.

Since the beginning, it has been imperative and a given that shelters and second-stage housing must be part of the housing strategy. On Monday, I was at the announcement that a new shelter will be built to house survivors in 12 months. In any year, starting from the ground up, that's a pretty quick turnaround.

In Quebec, dozens of projects are currently being developed. That's how quickly the Prime Minister asked us to act, recognizing the severity of the crisis. What encourages me right now, based on what I'm hearing, is that there are a number of real estate developers who are very aware and want to help in this area.

What might encourage us right now is that the Department of Finance, the Department of Housing and Infrastructure, the Department of Justice and Women and Gender Equality Canada are working together to ensure that more housing opportunities are available.

Ms. Wildgoose, you talked in particular about the size of the type of housing you're involved in. What the sector has been telling us from the beginning is not to standardize anything. Each location has specific needs. Sometimes a shelter that can house six women is as good as one that can house 48. Each experience is different.

Ms. Wildgoose and Ms. Mercer, can you tell us what you think? Once again, do we have to be careful about what we build to avoid thinking that the silver bullet is to provide a single solution across Canada?

[Kirsten Mercer]

Thank you.

I think you've touched on something important, which is the need for local priorities to dictate what this looks like at the local level. In the federal government, you have a tremendous capacity to flow resources, but you have to work in partnership. The example you described earlier, with your visit, is a good example of that. What works in one community, in a rural community—for example, in Renfrew—might be very different from what's needed in Laval, Vancouver, Halifax or wherever else in the country. Those local priorities absolutely have to govern—and with the engagement of local communities.

As I mentioned in my testimony, the expertise of the people who do the work in those buildings has to be present from the very beginning of the process. This can't be housing that's developed by housing developers. It has to be purpose-built, purpose-driven housing that's going to be specifically tailored to the needs of shelters or transitional housing.

It's also important to say that you can't uncouple the emergency housing crisis that we are talking about from the broader housing crisis because, of course, eventually we want people to leave these systems and go into the “regular” housing market, if I can put it that way. If they can't get out into that housing system because they can't access housing—either it doesn't exist or it's not affordable—then that's when we have the backlogs, which I know you've heard so much about already.

[Marie-Gabrielle Ménard, Liberal, Hochelaga—Rosemont-Est, QC]

Thank you. You are really of the same mind.

I'll turn it over to my colleague, Ms. Nathan.

[Juanita Nathan, Liberal, Pickering—Brooklin, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'll ask the question. If you don't have enough time to answer, maybe you could write your answers and send them in.

I'll start with Ms. Mercer. We've established that this is currently an epidemic or a crisis that we are dealing with at the moment. I think we need to simultaneously work on prevention while we look for solutions to the current problem. In your opinion, if you can, what kinds of recommendations would you give for prevention, specifically, for the federal government? I ask this to all three of you, and you could send in your responses and your perspectives. However, Ms. Mercer, if you want, you can start and talk a bit.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

That's probably what you're going to do, because the time is up.

You'll have to answer quickly, madam.

[Kirsten Mercer]

I have two words: restorative justice.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

Thank you.

I invite you to follow up on our colleague Ms. Nathan's request. Thank you very much. You've been very enlightening.

I wish everyone a good evening, and I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you.

The meeting is adjourned.