Status of Women Committee on June 9th, 2026

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

All right. You highlighted one of the questions I have when you were answering questions for my colleague, Ms. Cody. Because of your location, being on the highway, with that ease of transportation, it has given you a space where you're a bit of a hub for a lot of human trafficking.

[Debbie Zweep]

Yes.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

What kinds of processes and programs do you guys have in place to mitigate that and to raise awareness about what human trafficking is? I think a lot of people think human trafficking happens in some far distant, faraway country, not to the person down the street. Awareness is so critical.

Is there anything that you guys do and any message you would share with Canadians?

[Debbie Zweep]

For sure. We work with Thunder Bay Counselling. Faye Peterson works with Thunder Bay Counselling around the prevention and education piece. We have ONWA right down the street from us as well, so there is a lot of work being done in their courage program and other programs for HT survivors. Victim services provides financial support to them.

We try to work collectively in the cases where women are asking or needing and are able to move on in service.

I think the issue is when the woman is in that situation and perhaps not sure of what actually is going on, so we need to provide education that this is trafficking, as you've already identified. It is a continuum, and we really need to educate the public on that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

Thank you, Ms. Zweep.

The last turn goes to Ms. Tesser Derkson, for five minutes.

[Kristina Tesser Derksen, Liberal, Milton East—Halton Hills South, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I've listened with great interest to all of the witnesses today, particularly when they talk about access to justice. I worked as a family law lawyer. I worked in a legal clinic where we helped women who were fleeing violence, and the discussions we had back then, I think, are probably similar to what we're having now, about how women are accessing justice and how the justice system serves them so that they feel confident that they're going to get a result that is fair. Unfortunately, we have a lot of work to do there.

What I would like to ask is particularly with respect to the nexus between family courts and criminal courts, and maybe I'll direct the question to Ms. Boyce and Ms. MacGregor, if you'd like to answer.

There were experiences I had where there was a pilot program in Toronto. They were doing a combined family and criminal court pilot, because we were finding that women were trying to get peace bonds or restraining orders in the criminal courts, and then in the family court a judge would make an order for child visitations where dad would be coming to pick up the kids right at the house, and that would put them in very close proximity to each other.

Unfortunately, the pilot didn't really take off, because lawyers in the criminal bar were concerned that it might prejudice their clients. They were doing their job, representing the interests of their clients that way, but perhaps you could comment on the role you see the federal government playing in making access to justice more realistic and more service-facing to the women you serve.

[Sonya Boyce]

Maybe I'll take this opportunity just to let you know that we did receive federal funding to provide some training to key medical, legal and social service systems around responding to Black survivors, particularly helping them navigate the criminal justice system. As you know, like all survivors, they have to make a lot of complex decisions in a really short period of time, so part of the work we're doing is training to help the stakeholders facilitate a more healing journey, perhaps, through the criminal justice system.

[Nneka MacGregor]

I think some of the challenges with the integrated courts that we heard from survivors were that if you happened to get a judge who didn't understand the complexities of gender-based violence and didn't understand the power and control dynamics in one court, and then that judge also had jurisdiction over you in the criminal court, it meant that your ability to get impartiality was compromised at both sides. That system was a good idea, but the way it rolled out had some really complex ramifications.

In terms of what the federal government can do, there needs to be a lot more consultation with survivors around the nuances of their experiences, because it isn't a one-system-fixes-everything type of scenario. You need to have a really good understanding of all the experiences that survivors are going through, and then contextualize that as they navigate the criminal legal system as well as the family courts.

Family courts are fraught with danger at every turn. They're fraught with inconsistencies that actually put women at more risk, so I think there's a call for more consultations with survivors.

[Kristina Tesser Derksen, Liberal, Milton East—Halton Hills South, ON]

Thanks very much.

Leading from that, specifically with respect to women who need more cultural sensitivity around the services they're being offered, in my riding of Milton East—Halton Hills South we have a very large South Asian community of women. A fabulous organization called Hum-WE is offering services to women from that cultural demographic in particular, because the way they understand a family dynamic might be different from the way you or I do.

In the sphere that you work in, can you tell us a little about how you've been able to navigate the different cultural sensitivities that are coming through in your work?

[Nneka MacGregor]

It is “by and for”. That's the way we've been doing it. You need to consult with the individuals who are living that experience.

If we're talking with South Asian women, the peer navigators are South Asian, so that they understand, as you said, the cultural complexities. We try to match them with lawyers, if that's the case, and with social workers and counsellors who have a similar cultural background or the same cultural background as they do, because it's so much harder to train people who are not from the community, and to train them quickly and in time for them to provide the services that are needed.

For us, cultural competency and cultural confidence come from working with, by and for the communities that are actually at stake.

[Kristina Tesser Derksen, Liberal, Milton East—Halton Hills South, ON]

I have a final question.

At the beginning of your remarks, you mentioned issues with data and understanding. That's where we all start. We start with data—

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

Ms. Tesser Derksen, you were off to a great start, but I'm going to have to interrupt you. Speaking time goes by so quickly.

I would like to thank committee members, who helped this somewhat complicated meeting go more smoothly.

Many thanks to our clerk, our analysts and, of course, all of today's guests. This committee meeting was not an easy one.

You witnesses have been very patient, and I thank you greatly.

I thank the committee members, as well as everyone else.

Until next time.

The meeting is adjourned.