Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for all her hard work at the United Nations last week in New York. I was very pleased to join her and the delegation of the Minister of Status of Women.
I also want to take a moment to commend the hon. member and the Standing Committee on the Status of Women for all their hard work, leading to their new report this week entitled, “Taking Action to End Violence Against Young Women and Girls in Canada”. I am confident this report will help to engage Canadians in finding solutions, and we must all be part of the solution, men and women.
I want to add my voice to that of the hon. member, the Minister of Status of Women, and all members of this place who share a profound disgust at the misogyny that women in politics must endure. Violent and sexual language are of course forms of gender-based violence that take place in homes, workplaces, communities, and online in the cyberworld that must never be tolerated anywhere.
The federal government fully understands the profound damage gender-based violence has on a woman, her family, and her community. That is why we are taking a multifaceted approach to addressing violence against women and girls in all its forms. It is why we have put in place a number of important measures to address it since taking office.
Last summer, we established a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. It will examine and report on the systemic causes behind the violence that indigenous women and girls experience, and their greater vulnerability to that violence, by looking for patterns and underlying factors that explain why higher levels of violence occur.
To inform the development of a strategy addressing gender-based violence, we have consulted with a great many Canadians, including service providers, researchers, academics and survivors from across our country. This strategy will also build on the important work already under way on this critical issue in the provinces and territories.
Another key action by the federal government involves ensuring that women and their families have a place to turn in their moment of need through access to shelter and housing. The Minister of Status of Women has announced federal support of over $1 million for a project by the Canadian Network of Women’s Shelters & Transition Houses, the largest federal funding this organization has received, to examine the multiple roles played by the shelter sector in supporting women who are victims of violence.
These concrete actions underscore the federal commitment to reducing and preventing all forms of gender-based violence.