Debates of Sept. 28th, 2006

Opposition Motion--Status of Women

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of my colleagues, Ruby Dhalla and Gurbax Malhi--

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Please refer to your colleagues by their ridings.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

I am sorry, Mr. Speaker, the members for Brampton—Springdale and Bramalea—Gore—Malton. We deal with the greater Toronto area. I am a very proud member of that caucus. However, I am completely fed up with the kind of distraction that occurs.

This is a debate about women. The government has no interest in protecting the women of Canada. Therefore, we have to put up with that kind of rhetoric, which completely runs around the fact that the government is about to gut the programs for women. We can show the women of Canada how they must vote in the next election.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, if I may have just a moment of latitude here. Today I would like to ask everyone in the House to join me in recognizing the retirement of one of our great civil servants, Mr. Ray Gauthier of the postal services. For almost 35 years Ray has basically provided service and advice to generations of parliamentarians and their staff. In fact, everyone calls him the book of knowledge. On behalf of everyone, I wish Ray a happy retirement.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

That sounded more like an S.O. 31 statement. Maybe the member would like to think of a question for the next speaker.

The hon. member for Davenport.

[Mario Silva, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly appreciated the words expressed by the member for St. Paul's and the member for Newmarket—Aurora. Both of them spoke passionately about their concerns about equality and minorities. Certainly they both have been champions of minorities.

I was pleased to hear the member's statements on the UN convention against all forms of discrimination, which is a very important treaty convention.

On the international front, Canada has always been looked upon as a place with great advancements in terms of human rights and humanity dignity. Yet on so many issues on the international front, we are in fact going back on these treaties. On the issues of aboriginal women, we do not want to be part of that discussion.

I am very concerned about what direction the government is going with these international treaties and what we are doing at home. It is the cuts that are made specifically when there is a $13 billion surplus to areas like child care, literacy, women's equality and particularly the court challenges program. It is the types of choices that are being made that really shows that the government is not interested in promoting equality both here at home and abroad.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I too am very concerned, particularly internationally, about the way we will help not only ourselves fulfill the convention around all forms of discrimination but also how we will use CIDA to do the same.

I hope that the minister responsible for CIDA will account to us as to why gender equality seems to have been removed from the website, why groups applying for CIDA funding seem to no longer have to meet this imperative requirement. As Stephen Lewis and others have said in respect of gender equality, if ideology takes over from the reality, research shows that only with programs that deal with gender equality in the way that CIDA insisted will we actually be able to have equality of life and a fair and equitable world.

I also would like to point out to the member that I understand the status of women committee is still waiting for the minister to show up, after eight months of refusing to show up. This is appalling. I hope that the House will insist that the minister show up at committee in order to account for these cuts.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

We have time for a 30-second question and a 30-second response.

The hon. member for Wild Rose.

[Myron Thompson, Conservative, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I hope I can do it in 30 seconds.

The member talked about violence against women and children. Since 1993 I too have been pushing hard in this House to bring in some tough legislation to deal with men in particular, because the majority of them are men, who would dare seriously assault women and children. It makes me very angry when they do that.

I have seen in the last 13 years that we have come to some fairly decent decisions to now where I have seen grain farmers go to jail for selling their grain, an elk poacher go to jail for shooting an elk and in the same week, two cases of serious abuse and assault on a child and one on a woman, and the perpetrators receive house arrest and community service. Out of these cases, a very large majority, it was reported to the justice committee last week, are getting house arrest and community service.

I am suggesting that the member, based on her speech, is prepared to support this government's Bill C-9. Is the member going to support the bill that would put those people in jail? Serious crime deserves serious time.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his support in the ongoing and very complex problem of violence against women. We know that legal remedies are only a small part of this problem. We need to deal with the root causes of violence against women.

I urge the member opposite to talk to his government about taking the counsel of organizations like REAL Women who continue to denigrate the facts. They still think that half of domestic violence is instigated by women. They are absolutely wrong. All kinds of research has proven this. That kind of lack of policy development is what is driving the government.

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Lévis—Bellechasse.

I am very proud to stand today as a member of this new Conservative government, for it is this government that is ensuring all women have the opportunity to meet their full potential, realize their dreams and aspirations, and to be recognized for the contributions they make to their country.

It is interesting that the party opposite would choose this issue to debate when it has failed so miserably to stand up for the real needs of Canadian women. While the Liberals are busy electioneering and writing the so-called pink book, proving once again that they are completely out of touch with the needs of Canadians, our new government has already taken concrete measures that directly benefit and improve the lives of all Canadians. Over 51% of our population is female. Finally, Canada has a government that appreciates this important fact. This government recognizes that improving the lives of Canadians, ridding government of corruption, and delivering on commitments are what Canadian men and women want, not more empty promises in a pink book.

Women are strengthening our economy, providing for our families, and leading successfully in their communities. That is why this government has put forward new measures to enhance the everyday lives of Canadian women. What have we done?

We have implemented the universal child care benefit, which provides all families with $100 per month for each child under the age of six. We will create 25,000 new child care spaces a year. This is something that we will deliver on. We will not talk about it for 13 years like the Liberals did. We will deliver it.

We have delivered a budget with more tax cuts than the last four federal budgets combined, including a cut in the one tax, the GST, that every Canadian pays. We have provided tax relief for low income Canadians, pensioners, and families taking care of a child with a disability, not to mention a new tax credit worth up to $500 to cover eligible fees for physical fitness programs for each child under the age of 16.

We have introduced important legislation that will strengthen our criminal justice laws for serious offenders, thereby creating safer communities for women and their families. We have introduced human trafficking initiatives that will help victims of human trafficking, who are all too often vulnerable women and children, and men as well. We will make available over the course of next year $1.4 billion for affordable housing across the country. While respecting cultural tradition, we will set up a new agency to expedite the recognition of foreign credentials so women new to Canada can more quickly contribute to Canadian life.

Canada's new government is committed to advancing equality and to the full and equal participation of all Canadians in the economic, social and cultural life of Canada.

Next month is Women's History Month. On October 18 we will celebrate the lives of the famous five. In 1929, Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby and Nellie McClung fought for women's rights to be legally recognized as persons. These women are an inspiration to us all. Thanks to them I am not recognized just as a woman, but as a person. One of the famous five, Louise McKinney, said it best when she said, “The purpose of a woman's life is just the same as the purpose of a man's life: that she may make the best possible contribution to the generation in which she is living”.

I have met with a number of women from diverse backgrounds, and what I hear from them is that there is a genuine need for real action and real results. For this reason, each minister is working to improve policies and programs to better the lives of all Canadians. Thus, rather than making more empty promises in an election-style pink book, we are listening to the needs of Canadians and delivering on our priorities and our commitments.

Take for example a recent rant by the member for Beaches—East York who was outraged about the imaginary Conservative slights to women. The House will be interested to know about a very real and recent Liberal slight to women. It was a boys only weekend held by the Liberal leadership candidate who is supported by the member for Beaches--East York. That is right; women were excluded from this event. We do not have that in the Conservative Party. Before Canadians listen to trumped up claims thrown at the government from the other side, they might want to look at the Liberal Party attitude toward women's issues and its record of the last 13 years where there has been no success.

Why should Canadian women so readily trust a party so riddled with scandal and corruption? The Liberals had over a decade to improve the lives of Canadian women, but they did nothing, so why should Canadians depend on them?

The member for Beaches—East York says that she speaks on behalf of all Canadian women. This is just another example of Liberal arrogance. The Liberal Party assumes it speaks for everyone, but just takes the support of Canadian women for granted.

Unlike the Liberals, we know we cannot take women's support for granted. We must work to ensure that every program, every service and every department must use the taxpayers' dollar in the most effective way, because these are taxpayers' dollars for women as well as men.

Unlike the Liberals, we do not characterize our daughters and our granddaughters as weak and vulnerable. Rather, we know that they are confident and full of potential. When I look around the House I see many strong and successful women who worked hard to get where they are today. What I have been hearing from so many women is that they are fed up with being portrayed as victims.

Canada's new government knows that Canadian women are a diverse population. Canadian women are single mothers, stay at home mothers, CEOs of some of the biggest companies, business owners, farmers, caregivers and much, much more. Canada now has a government that recognizes this reality and that this means women need the flexibility of choice that will allow them to meet their full potential.

Women are fed up with broken promises too. Canada's new government was elected to clean up the corruption and scandal that plagued the Liberal Party and still does to this day. We acted. We promised to act on child care; we acted. We promised to create safer communities; we acted. We promised to get rid of corruption and scandal; we acted. The fact of the matter is, the Liberals talk and we act.

Women want to see results rather than listen to more rhetoric and fearmongering. Every day, women more often than not manage the family budget. They ensure that their families and children get the best they can with their budget. They do this every day. They know how to get value for their money and they expect the government to act in the same fiscally responsible manner.

The accusations of the Liberal Party are completely false. In fact, the reality is the exact opposite of what the Liberals claim. We are delivering programs and services, not in a Liberal spending spree fashion, but with careful consideration of what is most effective and what is best for all Canadians, for Canadian women.

[Mario Silva, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, first I congratulate the hon. member on her speech. However, the more I listened to her speech, the more it came to mind that if her statements are accurate, every poll shows and research shows that most women do not support the Conservatives. It has always been known in every election that 50% of the population has a serious issue with the Conservative Party. Be it on child care, issues of the environment, social issues, women in general have been very, very suspicious of the Conservative agenda. It will show again in election after election that the vast majority of Conservative Party voters and supporters are male.

If her party, as she stated, is supportive of equality for women, I wonder why so many women out there are just not attracted to the Conservative Party?

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, first I would like to point out to the hon. member that I am a woman, a young woman at that, and I quite frankly could not ask for a stronger leader, a more supportive leader who understands and is there for me as a young woman in politics. The Prime Minister is exceptional. All of my Conservative colleagues are exceptional.

I want to talk a bit about my own personal experience. I have a great deal of experience. I volunteered for eight and a half years at the rape crisis centre. I was trained in crisis intervention and I was on call. I worked on organizing our first Take Back the Night march back home. I actually walked through four ridings to raise awareness of violence against women and children. Back then the statistics were that one woman out of three would be assaulted at some point in her life, and one out of two men before the age of 18. Those statistics have not changed. After 13 years, the Liberal Party had an opportunity to do something about that and it did nothing. Nothing has changed. We, the Conservative Party, will do something about that.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign her leader had a letter written to a woman named Joyce Carter who is the widow of a deceased veteran. In that letter he promised that immediately upon the election of a Conservative government, we would institute a VIP, veterans independence program, for all widows regardless of the time of death of the veteran.

It is now eight months and counting, and the government still has not acted on that promise. The member says it is a party of action. Here is an opportunity for her to stand up in the House and tell us when is the Conservative government going to honour the promise that her leader made to Joyce Carter and literally thousands of other women in this country?

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to address some of the other issues that we have been talking about today in the House. If the Liberal Party wants to claim that it is standing up for women, we have to stand up for all women.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. You ruled me out of order when I did not respond to a particular statement made by a Liberal questioner. I have asked the hon. member a specific question and it would be nice to have a specific answer.

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as I was trying to explain, and this will be in response directly to him if he will bear with me, if we are going to stand up for all women or at least claim that we are, we have to be considering the women in Afghanistan right now. The Liberals and the NDP want us to pull out of Afghanistan and forget about the women and children there.

I think that is absolutely appalling. We do not just pick one group of women. If we are going to stand up for women, we stand up for all women.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Wetaskiwin, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for her excellent speech. It was very refreshing to hear about the positive things that are happening for women in this country instead of the constant slander and victimization from the parties opposite.

I would like to point out to my hon. colleague that in Alberta, where we no longer have a provincial debt, we spend more money on social programs per capita than any other province.

I am wondering if the member could bring some sense as to why the Government of Canada just announced its major contribution to bringing down the national debt and what positive effect that is going to have for the future of all Canadians.

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about debt repayment, because of the $13 billion that we will put on the debt, we will see $650 million more available a year. We can use that to spend on the incredible social programs that Canada has to offer to support not only women but men and very importantly children. We cannot forget that.

I would like to go back to some of the interventions that I heard earlier. We talked about matrimonial rights for aboriginal women. Again, I would like to point out that the previous Liberal government had an opportunity to ensure that aboriginal women would have matrimonial rights and it failed to deliver on that as well. This is of course something that our government will deliver on.

I have one more point. Having looked on the Magna website, if the member for Newmarket--Aurora is such a champion for women, why are there no women on that board of directors?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade, the hon. member for Simcoe—Grey, for sharing her time with me. I also congratulate her on her excellent speech.

I am pleased to rise today in this House to reiterate the commitment of our government to supporting not only the equality, but also the emancipation of women, and women’s full and entire contribution to the prosperity of this country.

I would also like to disagree with the partisan motion introduced by the hon. member for Beaches—East York, which is contrary to sound management principles and would deprive not only women, but all Canadians, of the funds wisely invested in our social programs.

Let us make this clear. We are talking today about an administrative measure, and no fund for grassroots programs that benefit women will be cut. I can therefore tell the people in my riding, and organizations like Jonction pour elle, which does excellent work, that our government supports their initiatives more than ever.

Our government is entirely committed to supporting the emancipation of women. For example, after 13 years of inaction on the part of the previous government on the question of pay equity, my colleague the Minister of Labour has taken the bull by the horns and has finally taken concrete steps to ensure compliance with pay equity in undertakings under federal jurisdiction. The reason why our minister does not have to propose legislation is that the law already exists. We have the law, but the previous government unfortunately did not enforce it. What we have is therefore a concrete step taken by the Conservative government, which is committed to supporting efforts on the ground to enforce pay equity.

I would like to cite some examples of our government’s commitment to ensuring that there is a role for women and for all newcomers in our society. In the riding of Lévis—Bellechasse, where there are workforce shortages, we need workers, to encourage our businesses to continue expanding.

We are therefore aware of the importance of providing all Canadians, women and men, with equal opportunities, and that is what we mean to do. This is why Citizenship and Immigration Canada is required to analyze the impact of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and of the regulations under that act on gender equality, and to report to Parliament on that question. This is a requirement in the act itself, and it is unprecedented in the whole of federal legislation.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada is thus the first entry door for immigrants arriving in Canada. Because it is important to uphold the humanitarian tradition of this country, our government’s programs place special emphasis on protecting people who have special needs, and in particular women and children.

For example, certain groups of refugees have special needs when they arrive here. Working jointly with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees at the pre-selection stage, we analyze potential problems associated with gender and diversity. In that analysis, we look at women in danger, households led by single women, the risk that family members will be permanently separated, and age issues. All these criteria are examined in order to alleviate problems associated with the resettlement process, with gender and with diversity. Of course, we also look at single women and women heads of household, to assist them in integrating.

I have yet another example. Certain federal government immigration programs deal specifically with the problems of violence against women. For example, the Women at Risk section of the refugee and humanitarian resettlement program is designed to meet the needs of refugee women in situations where it is impossible to guarantee their safety. Since 1988, through Women at Risk, Canada has provided new and safer places to live for thousands of women and children.

As we have mentioned today, the problem of violence against women does not exist only among immigrants. It also exists in our communities. This is why we need community agencies that can provide support to women in need. It is also why I submitted a private bill to help spouses whose lives are threatened by their former spouses. This bill is making its way through the various parliamentary stages. The purpose of this bill is to ensure that, when a woman feels threatened, society is responsible for protecting her. This is extremely important. There are various programs and mechanisms for doing so. The witness protection program, an RCMP program, enables women who request it—and this is the purpose of the bill—to receive protection without their identity being revealed. This is essential to ensuring people’s safety.

These measures are necessary to make sure that our country enables women to be properly integrated in our society and to go on playing their exemplary role.

Another example is human trafficking, which often involves women and children. For anyone wondering what human trafficking is about, it is about people who have had their papers taken away before they arrive in our country. Their legal identity is taken away. They come here under repression and coercion. So it is a woman, a child or any other person who is a victim of human trafficking. It is the third largest illegal market in the world. So it is not insignificant. As a country that sees itself as a defender of democracy and the promotion of women’s equality, we have a moral responsibility, not only to people who are victims of trafficking here, in Canada, but also to all countries.

Our government has taken measures to improve Canada’s response to the unique needs of victims of human trafficking. They are often women and children. They used to be treated like criminals who had to be detained and deported. It was one humiliation after another.

Our new government has ordered immigration officers to issue short-term temporary resident permits to victims of human trafficking. Thanks to these permits, victims have 120 days to recover from their frightful experiences and decide whether they want to apply to remain in Canada or whether they would rather return to their country of origin. These are important measures that are temporary but directly benefit women and children, who are the most vulnerable. The Canadian Council for Refugees has been requesting this basic change for years and our government has responded.

I would also like to point out that, under the interim federal health program, this government also provides asylum seekers and protected persons—many of whom are women—with basic emergency health coverage for as long as they do not meet the requirements for provincial health insurance. All these people are entitled to receive essential care.

As we know, immigration will pose a major challenge to our country, and in order to ensure that we benefit from what newcomers have to offer, it is important that they be successfully integrated into Canadian society. A lot of work needs to be done here, for example with professional associations as well as with our own values and ways of perceiving newcomers. That is why our government has established integration programs that are essential to provide a helpful environment for newcomers, including women. We also developed a new budget with $307 million in additional spending over the next two years for new arrivals, including women, so that they can integrate into the system. One specific example is that a woman who comes and settles in Canada will now be able to have day care for her children.

As a francophone, it is very important to me that new immigrants adapt to their surroundings, and that new immigrants speak French if they settle in Quebec or in the francophone minority regions. That is one specific example of action that our government is taking to help newcomers, including of course, women with children.

There are a lot of other examples of this kind. I could go on almost all afternoon, but what I basically want to say is this: it is important for everyone to realize that the savings we are making today on behalf of Canadian taxpayers, whose money we manage, are not to the detriment of women, for example. Quite the opposite, the money we save will be reinvested in social programs to continue supporting our country’s growth.

[Lloyd St. Amand, Liberal, Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in his speech, the member opposite talked about various groups, including women, immigrant women, et cetera. He will probably know that the law commission was established by way of an act of this Parliament and was utilized over the years by many groups, including women's groups, to advance their issues and causes, and it was working rather well.

With absolutely no mandate from the House, no mandate whatsoever from the people of Canada, the Minister of Finance has decided to dismantle, cut and terminate the law commission. I would like the member's comments about that.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague, who is concerned about the government infringing on human rights, for his question. I believe that he has a legitimate concern; however, it is also representative of a certain way of governing shown by the previous government, which practically appropriated taxpayers' money.

The philosophy of this new Conservative government is that we are here to manage taxpayers' money according to the law. When we act within the law, it is not necessary to resort to the courts and to spend taxpayers' money on futile legal proceedings.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I asked a previous Conservative member this question and got an Afghan answer, so I am going to ask this member the same question.

During the election campaign, the member's leader had a letter written on his behalf to Joyce Carter of Cape Breton. She is the widower of a veteran. The letter stated that if the Conservatives formed the government they would immediately invoke the VIP, the veterans independence program, for all widowers, regardless of time of death of the veteran.

It is now eight months into this so-called government. We still do not have the VIP extension, yet the government is swimming in billions of dollars of taxpayers' money.

My question is quite simple. When will the government or this member, on behalf of his leader, stand up and tell Joyce Carter and the thousands of others, mostly women, in this country that the VIP will be extended now?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my honourable colleague for his question. And I thank him also for telling me about this program for veterans.

I can say to him that, as the member for Lévis—Bellechasse, I will be meeting veterans in my office tomorrow to hear their concerns.

I have already met with them on several occasions, and they have a long list of grievances. The VIP program, as my colleague referred to it, is not the only item that was neglected by the previous government.

These veterans deserve to be honoured and respected for their past contribution to the vitality of democracy in our country.

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to go back to some of the comments the member opposite made earlier with respect to the increased funding for immigrant women and settlement programs and so on, with which I have no problem, obviously.

As someone who spent 35 years in the field of settlement programs and fighting for immigrant women, I understand this very well, but I should tell the hon. member that it was as a result of a charter challenge that we were able to get language training for women in the mid-1980s. There are many other inequalities that still exist for women, such as pay equity and many others. In fact, immigrant women, if we look at the studies, are the most affected in terms of earning the lowest income possible at this point.

Spending on programs for immigrant women and immigrant settlement does not in any way justify the cutting of Status of Women Canada, which is for all Canadian women now and in the future. In fact, it impacts on and hurts the ability of those women to fight for their rights. How can the hon. member justify one with the other?