Status of Women Committee on June 4th, 2026

[Chi Nguyen, Liberal, Spadina—Harbourfront, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thanks very much to the witnesses for being here for this very important study.

Ms. Mercer, I know you didn't get to finish your last two points. I'm wondering, do you want to take a minute or two to add the fourth and fifth points you were speaking to?

[Kirsten Mercer]

Thank you very much.

I'll be brief because they've been mentioned already, but I want to add my voice to the call for the full funding and renewal of the national action plan. We know that the Liberal Party, during the last election, made a commitment to continue to support that plan. I cannot state strongly enough how important that gene rational investment and the plan that goes behind it are to tackling the issue of gender-based violence. It's a huge investment. That's been spoken to already, and I just want to add my voice to that.

The second—and again, I believe my colleague spoke about this earlier—is to add my voice to the call for a gender-based violence commissioner, at the federal level, to help oversee the implementation of the national action plan and the coordination of plans and work that's happening across various ministries, as well as to work to counteract the siloing effect that we often see in the ways that governments flow resources. I want to add my voice to the call for a gender-based violence commissioner, which I believe is a critical piece of the infrastructure.

Those were my five. Thank you.

[Chi Nguyen, Liberal, Spadina—Harbourfront, ON]

Thanks, Ms. Mercer.

Ms. Benn-John, you spoke a little about the role of affordable housing, and this is a theme that we have heard a number of times from other witnesses as well. Given that, in Ontario, we have fewer rental protections and challenges around affordable housing, can you talk a little about what that might mean if our systems actually made sure that we had protections in place for renters and tenants who are seeking supports and for the ability to stay in their homes?

[Dr. Jacqueline Benn-John]

Absolutely. It's so important to ensure that the women we're talking about, individuals who have experienced gender violence, can stay in their home, but the reality is that sometimes they are in a multi-generational home. Sometimes they are not in their own home, or they have been couch surfing. They've left an abusive situation, and they're staying elsewhere, where they are exploited again. Not everyone who experiences violence is a homeowner, and that's important to recognize.

I spoke to the intersection of poverty, for example. Many are not starting out from a place of being in the middle class or necessarily being employed. Any response has to factor in that some individuals face the additional barriers that I spoke about. Some are in a situation in which they're caregivers for children. They may also be caregivers for an elder at home. A response needs to recognize that they may need affordable housing outside and away from their original home, because it really wasn't theirs to begin with. That's really important to acknowledge. We're not all starting at the same place.

With that awareness, we will ensure that we have safe and affordable housing. I emphasize affordable, because now this individual may become a sole support parent. They may be an individual. They're on their own. They're not caregiving for anyone else but themselves, but they may be struggling with the mental health impact and the trauma associated with the violence they endured.

Some of our clients are not able to maintain housing on their own at the moment. They could not manage caregiving for themselves and may need some support. It's recognizing again that survivors are not all at the same place. The solution isn't “Here you go: Here's housing.”

Unfortunately, some have been asked to leave shelters because they're struggling to follow the communal living rules. They're dealing with addictions and mental health concerns. That, unfortunately, will result in their needing to seek other types of wraparound supports that have long waiting lists as well.

[Chi Nguyen, Liberal, Spadina—Harbourfront, ON]

Thank you, Dr. Benn-John.

Ms. Mercer, you started to describe the need for understanding this as core infrastructure, that it's social infrastructure and physical infrastructure. You also talked a bit about the care economy, the systems lens that you're starting to describe.

Can you talk about what it would take for us to take the next generational investments to address these challenges that we have and build out the systems that we need?

[Kirsten Mercer]

Thanks for the question.

It can be really easy to think about infrastructure investments in terms of the extractive economy, bringing things out of the ground, building things that fly in the air, building shiny rail links that connect one part of the country to the other or ships. Those things are easy for us to imagine, but we know that there is also sometimes a gendered economy, the caring economy, which is additive, in which the resources—

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

I can't hear anything, Madam Chair, because there's too much noise. It's disrespectful to the witnesses.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

I would ask my colleagues, especially Ms. Cody and Mrs. Roberts, to keep the noise down.

Thank you in advance.

[Kirsten Mercer]

Thank you.

I was talking about how, in contrast to the extractive type of infrastructure that we sometimes imagine—pipelines are top of mind—we have an additive infrastructure that is about providing care and support. It's a very gendered kind of infrastructure. I think it's really helpful for us to think about the kinds of resources that we need to have in place in the caring economy.

We know that this economy is overwhelmingly female. In this area of work, it's work often done by women, for women, on issues that overwhelmingly impact women and other folks who are survivors. I think that we need to see that as part of our infrastructure plan.

It's been a long time since we had really good numbers at the national level about the cost of gender-based violence, but we know that, in 2009, the cost of intimate partner violence was $7.4 billion. That's the justice system and health.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

Ms. Mercer, I gave you a few extra seconds to make sure it was fair, but I have to interrupt you now.

Mrs. Larouche, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

We are obviously taking copious notes. We realize that shelters are a core part of the domestic violence healing process, but as I understand it, shelters are certainly not going to solve everything. We want to empower victims to take care of themselves.

Ms. Mercer, a number of witnesses emphasized the importance of leave for victims of domestic violence, which was also mentioned in the study. What do you think an effective system would look like? We advocate for things like a real employment insurance reform, because this type of reality must be taken into account. What would be the most effective or ideal system to help women?

[Kirsten Mercer]

You're talking about the women who are leaving.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Yes, and I'm talking about leave.

[Kirsten Mercer]

I'll speak in English if that's okay.

We have seen intimate partner violence leave or leave for people who are survivors of violence have some effectiveness. Job-protected leave is particularly important for people who are working.

Leaves are less helpful for many survivors who aren't in the workforce and who perhaps didn't have access to it. Some of the most profoundly impacted instances of intimate partner violence are folks who were prevented from engaging in the active workforce, so that may not be the best solution for folks in that situation.

As I said during my remarks, my view is that we have to shift our focus to what happens after the violence has reached a point that results in someone leaving, in the need for leave or worse, in the worst of cases. We have to switch our focus upstream. I would rather see leaves and resources being invested in prevention and in helping people get out of the situation that they're in.

One of my colleagues talked about the YWCA program. I think it's called the NESS program—the national emergency survivor support fund—which is a really small amount of money. We're hearing from survivors who say that the couple of thousand dollars made the difference. It was first and last month's rent. That money allowed them to fix their car so that they could leave. That small bit of help was what they needed to get out the door the last time and really leave the situation behind.

That echoes the recommendation that came out of the inquest in Renfrew county that took place a number of years ago. Recommendation 19 was for a similar fund. It would be a low barrier, easy-access fund referred through service providers in the community—not necessarily the justice system, because we know that many survivors don't go to the justice system looking for help. They go to other places in their community, whether it's shelter services or other services for survivors.

These are small grants. To be honest with you, these are hugely impactful for many people. The difference between staying and going can be really as simple as a few thousand dollars. I don't mean simple, but from a cost perspective, that's the best $2,000 a government could ever spend, if that's the difference and if that's what is holding someone back.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Obviously, finances are a huge issue when it comes to leaving an abusive situation.

I want to come back to something you touched on in your opening remarks. We just talked about money, but based on your expertise as a lawyer specializing in gender-based violence, what might the other main legal barriers be that prevent women from leaving a violent situation? You briefly touched on it a little bit in your remarks. I'd like you to talk a bit more about that.

Bill C‑16, which will recognize coercive control, will soon be adopted. Will it be a useful protection mechanism?

[Kirsten Mercer]

Thank you for the question. I'm glad to speak to this.

The concept of coercive control is a really important one. I know we've been talking today about Bill C-16 and the criminalization of coercive control. That's one set of tools.

We saw a couple of weeks ago, in the civil context, the Supreme Court of Canada ruling in the Ahluwalia and Ahluwalia case, in which the court created a new tort—a kind of claim for suing. One of the main factors there is around coercive control.

This is a really important concept, but I want to be clear that I don't think the solution to this problem lies in the criminal law. We need criminal law tools in order to tackle this, but I think we're fooling ourselves if we think that addressing the harm after it's happened is the way to get to where we need to go.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

We know that the Criminal Code provides additional tools, but that the administration of justice falls under the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces.

Therefore, it is also important that funds be transferred so that Quebec and the provinces can have the tools to enforce the law. As you say, we already have laws, but we have trouble enforcing them because of staffing shortages and a lack of resources.

[Kirsten Mercer]

My view would be that the best money that could be spent in the justice system right now—in addition to educating the judiciary, which I think is important, is—

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

Thank you. That completes the discussion.

I will now give the floor to Ms. Cody for five minutes.

[Connie Cody, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

Through you, Chair, thank you to the witnesses. I'm collecting a pile of information here.

I'm going to address my questions to Carol Wildgoose.

Victims of human trafficking require unique supports to help them recover from the deep trauma and extreme abuse they experienced, and they require safe spaces to heal and recover.

Do you think the current shelter system provides this support?

[Carol Wildgoose]

Because of the unique traumas experienced, they can't be cared for in other domestic and intimate partner violence shelters. They often leave with their children as well. If I remember correctly, Dr. Benn-John said that 50% of the survivors they see have children with their traffickers.

It's really important that we have shelters geared towards trafficking victims.

[Connie Cody, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

Recently, I received a message from someone in my riding. She told me about her horrific experience of being trafficked out of a women's shelter.

What can we do to ensure that women are not being trafficked from there and getting recruited into a life of exploitation?

[Carol Wildgoose]

We need to do a better job of policing what's happening outside our shelters, but that's hard to do. It's very hard to keep shelters secret. When you take someone in, you do your best so that everybody treats it as a confidential place, but you can't control what people say and do. You make it as secure as possible. We heard about Covenant House in downtown Toronto. It happens in lots of shelters where people are going for immediate care. It's about eyes and ears.

It's probably a staffing issue too. If you don't have enough staff to keep an eye on what's going on, you will have these kinds of things happening.

[Connie Cody, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

If a shelter space is found out by an abuser, does it put the woman and other women in the shelter at high risk?

[Carol Wildgoose]

It does if the person is violent and has violent intentions, yes.