Madam Chair, during the pandemic, we saw a shadow pandemic, a significant increase in domestic violence. Over the past few weeks, the tragedies that occurred in Quebec have reminded us of the sad reality that many women face. Over the past seven weeks, we have lost seven women to family violence in Quebec. Last year, we lost one woman or girl to violence every two and a half days. There is a crisis in our country.
This evening we remember them and we undertake to do better for the women and girls of this country. Experts warned us that there would be an increase in violence. Their reasoning was very simple. After a natural catastrophe, the rate of domestic violence increases. Economic recessions also lead to an increase in domestic violence.
A pandemic is an economic recession during a natural catastrophe. The situation is therefore very serious. Those who deal with victims of domestic violence warned us of the risks to women who are locked down with their aggressors.
Those who deal with victims of domestic violence warned of the risks for women who would be locked down with their aggressors and abusers. At the start of the pandemic the Canadian Women's Foundation developed a sign for help: a hand gesture that could be quietly used on Zoom or on FaceTime to indicate that a woman was in an abusive situation. Raising her hand with her palm to the camera, a woman traps her thumb in her palm under her four fingers. If people know anyone who may be in an abusive situation, they should make sure to reach out to see if they can help.
We have all heard the “seven times” statistic by now, but it is worth repeating. It can take survivors on average seven attempts to successfully leave an abusive relationship and when they do, recent evidence suggests that violence against former domestic partners is also increasing significantly during the pandemic.
We have all heard about the seven times statistic, but it bears repeating. On average, survivors will try to leave an abusive relationship seven times before they manage to leave for good. Unfortunately, statistics show that, when they succeed in leaving, the violence against them by their former partner increases.
The recession is going to be a terrifying legacy of the pandemic. We know from all available statistics that it has disproportionately affected women and especially women in part-time and service sector jobs. In other words, these are women whose financial situations are already precarious. Financial instability is one of the reasons most frequently given for staying with an abusive partner. That should cause all of us to realize that even when the pandemic is over and Canadians are safely vaccinated, the silent pandemic of domestic violence will have worsened and will continue.
Financial problems are often given as a reason for staying with a violent partner. Even when the pandemic is over and Canadians are vaccinated, the shadow pandemic of family violence will still remain. We all need to be aware of that.
The motion as it is currently worded makes reference to the national action plan on gender-based violence. It is a pledge that the government has made since being elected and it is an important pledge, but it is one that has been continually put off.
The government has never presented its policy in response to the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls report, in spite of the fact that many provinces have begun to take action. As an example, last year many provinces announced the end to the practice of birth alerts, a practice that disproportionately impacts indigenous women. However, the Liberal government has failed to act.
This week, the Conservatives asked the Liberals to table a specific plan to gradually and safely lift the COVID-19-related restrictions. These restrictions have had a serious impact on the mental health of Canadians. They have also led to an increase in domestic violence across the country. Unfortunately, the government denied our request.
As I have said many times, the mental health crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has been a pandemic of tears for so many families. That is why the Conservative opposition will introduce a Canada mental health action plan and boost funding partnerships with provinces for mental health care. We will provide incentives for employers to provide better mental wellness coverage for employees. It is important that we, as this House voted, create a nationwide three-digit suicide prevention hotline.
We will also introduce a plan to restore the million jobs lost in this pandemic in one year, and not stop there. Let us remember that so many of those jobs were held by women, who now find themselves unemployed, and as I noted earlier, it is much harder for a woman to flee domestic violence if she does not have a reliable income.
Killings and acts of violence all have something in common, as nearly all of them start with domestic violence.
At this point in my speech, I would like to thank people who have mentored me to be an advocate on this issue from the time of 2006 and 2007: the late Hon. Jim Flaherty and my father, John O'Toole, member of the provincial Parliament for Durham, who in 2007 introduced the Lori Dupont Act in memory of a nurse who was killed in the Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital in Windsor by a former partner. She was unable to secure a peace bond from someone who was a known aggressor.
I was proud to work with my father, as a lawyer at the time, on Bill 10, to provide an intervention order to avoid situations like the one Ms. Dupont found herself in, asking for help from the state, knowing there was a risk, and the workplace and the province were not able to act. As a parliamentarian today, I am proud to continue that tradition that was begun by my father.
This evening, I want to remember the seven women in Quebec who recently lost their lives as a result of a femicide.
We also mourn the lives of the 160 women lost to feminicide this last year alone: 160 daughters, sisters, mothers, friends. Their lives had purpose and value, and we will cherish their memory. They were taken by people they had trusted or loved, snuffed out, and we cannot forget them.
As we mourn, let us recommit as Canadians to ending violence towards women and to watching for the signs of violence around us, whether online or in our workplaces. We all must recommit to do more. Important debates like this, after seven weeks of tragedy in Quebec, are one small step.
This pandemic has led to an increase in domestic violence in Canada. At a time when lockdown measures continue to be in effect and the unemployment rate is rising, we need to increase Canadians' awareness of domestic violence and do everything we can to prevent it.
We all must do more.