Status of Women committee  Thank you so much, MP Zahid, particularly for your leadership as chair of the immigration and citizenship committee. That work is so important to our government and to our country's economic prosperity, and we appreciate having you at the table. In terms of the measures that have been implemented, there are the CERB, the wage subsidy, the CEBA loans, the women entrepreneurship fund, the changes in EI that have actually brought the number of women receiving EI close to 50% for the first time ever, the GBV funds that we were discussing, the supports given to increase pay for those on the front lines of the fight against the pandemic, and vaccines.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, our federal strategy to address and prevent gender-based violence was the first of its kind, so Canada is moving to phase two of its plan to address and prevent gender-based violence with a national action plan. The last time I was here, I shared with this committee that we have to speak with our provincial and territorial counterparts.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, I thought I answered the previous question in a lot of detail. If my colleague would like more information, I'm happy to provide it. I can assure her too that I'm in regular conversation with my colleagues about the need to improve processes and the culture within these institutions so that all women can feel safe and feel like they belong.

Status of Women committee  Yes. We've been very fortunate that FEWO undertook that study. We appreciated it in June, and certainly we've been reviewing it further.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, may I provide a quick response to that?

Status of Women committee  The Conservative Party of Canada voted against our pay equity legislation.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, do I have time to answer? Our agreement with Quebec is working well. We were happy to hear finally that it's ready to be signed and that organizations can receive funds for the next phase of instalments. Quebec has said it will act as an observer in the national action plan on gender-based violence for the time being.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, I too look forward to the upcoming budget, the first to be tabled in the House of Commons by a woman finance minister. I would say that the $450 million set aside for skills training and the workforce development on early learning and child care workers is a significant first step in building a system that provides that quality of affordable, accessible care.

Status of Women committee  MP Mathyssen, we're working very closely with them. We are short of about 15,000 child care workers in Canada right now. We can't build a system without the mostly women who look after our kids, so that's a priority. Minister Hussen has also held a federal-provincial-territorial meeting with his counterparts.

Status of Women committee  Yes. Not including Quebec, in over 1,000 we changed some of the contribution agreements with existing organizations that we had agreements with so they'd have more flexibility. For Quebec, with the first instalment, about 200 were supported. With the next instalment we expect at least another 200 will be supported.

Status of Women committee  MP Shin, I share your frustration, and I want to assure you that in the past five years, more has been done to create greater safety and support for Canadian women than in, I would say, decades, probably not since the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Because of just my own government department, not the whole government but just my own, six million Canadians received supports and care—

Status of Women committee  I do. I think the close to 2,000 organizations we have funded in rural communities and indigenous communities and urban centres for racialized women, for indigenous women, for Black women and for those with disabilities have been a lifeline. Just during COVID, I can say that in their hour of need, close to a million women and children have been able to find support.

Status of Women committee  For about a million women and children who have received supports because of our government's investment in front-line organizations, I would say that this support has been more than nothing. It has been a lifeline. As someone who has stayed in one of those places in her hour of need, I can assure you that it's made a world of difference.

Status of Women committee  We will do more. We will do more.

Status of Women committee  MP Shin, there is no cover-up. If anything, we're out there talking openly about the processes that need to be improved. We're out there sharing data about the increases in gender-based violence. We're working on a national action plan on gender-based violence, which can only move forward with provinces and territories.