Celina Caesar-Chavannes

[Business of Supply, May 17th, 2017]

Madam Chair, another part of the minister's responsibilities include the Francophonie. My comments mentioned increased needs, and I believe that many Francophonie countries face important development needs as they are unfortunately among the poorest and most vulnerable to climate change, conflict, and demographic changes.

Canada was well represented at the Francophonie summit in Madagascar with a delegation led by our Prime Minister. How does the minister plan to go about supporting the ever-increasing needs, particularly for the African Francophonie countries?

[Business of Supply, May 17th, 2017]

Madam Chair, I am going to give a 10-minute speech, and leave five minutes for questions and answers with the minister.

I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak to the committee today about issues that are priorities for the Government of Canada: promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls.

I am proud to say that gender equality and empowering women and girls are now central to Canada's feminist approach to international development efforts.

Our approach is to identify gaps and obstacles that have an impact on the fundamental rights of girls and women, on their participation in decision-making, and on their access to and control over resources.

We are convinced that this is the best approach to reduce poverty and inequality and to build a more inclusive world. Let me explain why. First, let us be clear that poverty is sexist. Around the world, women and girls still face many challenges in realizing their full potential. Each year, an estimated 50 million girls under the age of 18 are forced into marriage. That is 50 million girls who are robbed of their opportunity to go to school and reach their full potential. Every year, out of desperation, an estimated 22 million girls and women endanger their lives by undergoing unsafe abortions. An estimated 62 million teenage girls in the world do not go to school or are frequently absent, double the number of boys, and in developing countries, women spend significantly more time than men on unpaid care, limiting their ability to invest their time in education, paid work, political and public participation, and leisure.

Second, women and girls are powerful agents of change who can drive progress toward peace, prosperity, and sustainable development. We know this, because when women and girls are part of the decision-making process, policies and programs are more effective and bring about real and lasting change. When women and girls have access to quality, safe education, their lives and the lives of those around them change for the better. They tend to marry later, have fewer children, provide better health, education, and nutrition for their families, and earn more than women without the advantage of schooling.

When women can participate in the economy on an equal footing with men, economic growth rates and income per capita increase, allowing people to be lifted out of poverty. When women and girls have access to information about their health and well-being and have agency over their sexual and reproductive health and rights, they are empowered in all aspects of their lives. Rates of unintended pregnancy, maternal mortality, and unsafe abortions go down and families thrive.

Adopting a feminist approach is both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. Canada can make a real difference in the lives of women and girls around the world while ensuring that its international assistance provides the greatest development impact benefit for all.

Canada's commitment to the empowerment of women and girls received an overwhelmingly positive reception through the international assistance review. A wide array of partners and stakeholders emphasized the need to increase support to feminist and women's and girls' rights movements and women-led initiatives and to address the root causes of poverty, including gender-based discrimination, inequality, and harmful social norms.

Over the past month, we have been making it clear to our partners and stakeholders that this is the way forward for Canada's international assistance, and we have been busy delivering on our commitment to be a leader in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. This is why we are supporting a comprehensive approach to close existing gaps in sexual and reproductive health and rights as a top priority.

To mark International Women's Day, the right hon. Prime Minister, along with the hon. Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, announced an investment of $650 million over three years in funding for sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Canada's support will focus specifically on providing comprehensive sexuality education, strengthening reproductive health services, and investing in family planning and contraceptives. Programs aided by this announcement will help prevent, and respond to sexual and gender-based violence, including child, early and forced marriage, female genital mutilation and cutting, and support for the right to choose safe and legal abortions as well as access to post-abortion care.

We have also increased spending on programming that targets the specific needs of women and girls in conflict situations. For example, as part of the $1.1 billion package for the Middle East, Canada is providing $40.5 million in multi-year programming on sexual and gender-based violence with the UNFPA in response to the Syria and Iraq crises, to include reproductive health services, as well as assistance to women and girls who have experienced sexual and gender-based violence.

Moving forward, we will take an active stance for gender equality and women's human rights in all bilateral, multilateral and international fora, and in mobilizing our partners. We will continue to prioritize gender equality initiatives starting with a focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including sexual and gender-based violence, and supports to women's organizations and movements, including women's rights organizations, and we will strengthen the integration of gender equality results across all other interventions from education, to food security, to climate action.

To make a real difference, we will ensure that the empowerment of women and girls is not a check box at the bottom of a form. We want to see women and girls involved in the decision-making process, so they can shape the services, programming, and policies that touch their lives. We want to see them in positions of leadership.

Finally, we are committing to a high degree of accountability for achieving gender equality results supported by a system to measure impact, and by reporting concrete results to Canadians. Looking ahead, we are eager to release Canada's new international assistance policy statement which will tackle gender inequalities, address significant obstacles faced by women and girls all around the world, and recognize the active role that women and girls can and must play in society for everyone's benefit.

I will now take the opportunity to ask the minister a few questions. In the course of our discussions, we talked about the need for increased levels of need around the world, and the capacity for us to look at ODA and private funding, and find a medium between the two. I know the minister has talked about the development finance institute, and how it is aligned with the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and the sustainable development goals as well as the Paris agreement.

Could the minister elaborate on how the DFI relates to our official development at this stage?

[Business of Supply, May 17th, 2017]

Mr. Chair, how is Canada approaching the notion of increasing its partnership to attract new sources of funds for development issues?

[Business of Supply, May 17th, 2017]

Mr. Chair, my question is for the minister.

We know that AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria are the leading causes of death in developing countries. These epidemics have a disproportionate impact on the world's poorest, but especially on women and girls, who are still the most affected by new HIV infections.

In 2014, tuberculosis killed 1.5 million people, including 480,000 women and 140,000 children. Currently, half the world's population is at risk of malaria. I would like to know what Canada is doing to fight effectively against these diseases. More precisely, how do we make sure that our efforts benefit the most vulnerable?

[Business of Supply, May 17th, 2017]

Mr. Chair, I understand that the $650 million directed toward the sexual and reproductive health and rights commitment, or SRHR, will build on and address gaps in the previous MNCH commitment by protecting and promoting SRHR of women and adolescent girls.

What does the new funding seek to achieve, and what else is Canada doing to support SRHR?

[Business of Supply, May 17th, 2017]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the minister for her remarks. Obviously, the key message in her intervention was refocusing assistance on the poorest and most vulnerable, and more precisely, on women and girls.

The previous government's initiatives focused on mothers, newborns, and child health, MNCH, which I will be referring to in future questions. I would like to commend my colleague opposite for this initiative, because I think that we would all agree that it is really important.

I note that the minister has maintained this initiative, but she also mentioned the need to close gaps. Could the minister be more specific on how she has gone about closing these gaps?

[Whitby Fire Department, May 12th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark a number of milestones for the Whitby fire department. First, the swearing in of 24 new firefighters represents the largest recruitment in the department's history. We appreciate their commitment to serving the increasing needs of our town and to protecting our community for years to come. I would also like to extend my recognition to platoon chief Douglas Miller and chief training officer Gordon Hampson on the occasion of their recent retirements. We thank them for their years of service with pride and dedication.

Finally, I want to extend my sympathies on the recent passing of platoon chief Randy Tureski. Turk will be sorely missed by his family, fellow firefighters, friends, and everyone in our community.

[Rwandan Genocide, April 6th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow marks the 23rd anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, which began on April 7, 1994. Approximately one million people lost their lives over a three-month period.

Tomorrow's commemoration marks the beginning of one of the darkest chapters in human history and should serve as a constant reminder of the never-again promise that the international community failed to uphold in Rwanda. It is also a day to reflect on our responsibility to prevent genocide and protect the vulnerable.

I would like to salute the actions of those who, in the face of unspeakable atrocities, stayed to protect civilians. The resilience of the survivors of the Rwandan genocide inspires admiration and respect. Rest assured that we will never forget and continue to stand with them.

[Slavery, March 24th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, March 25 is the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to visit Elmina Castle in Ghana. Seeing where my ancestors were kidnapped, tortured, and enslaved was devastating. Those who did not survive had their bodies thrown into the Atlantic Ocean and their humanity was never acknowledged. It broke me.

However, the experience has also empowered and strengthened me to ensure that the words “never again” have meaning, and that I live my life honouring the 305,000 slaves from Elmina and the millions of Africans who were brutalized during the transatlantic slave trade.

I encourage everyone in this chamber and around the country to educate themselves on this terrible time in our history and its ongoing impacts on the black community. I also encourage us all to commit to ensuring that these horrific injustices are never repeated and that modern-day slavery ends forever.

[Preclearance Act, 2016, March 6th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for her speech and her explanation of this much-needed bill, one that, as she said, would help Canadian travellers as well as businesses.

I wonder if she could elaborate further on the provisions in the bill that would ensure that when Canadians travel, they will be protected by Canadian law, and in particular, our human rights law, with the pre-clearance regime.