Status of Women committee  I would just ask that you strongly urge the government to go back to including women's equality in the mandate of the Status of Women to allow groups to receive funding and continue to advocate for changes so that women can fully participate in society in our country. Thank you.

Status of Women committee  Perhaps I could just speak to the cuts to the literacy program. I find it interesting that the new mandate for Status of Women Canada is to assist women so that they can fully participate in society, but if they're not able to read and write, it's very difficult to do that. On the one hand, programs were cut that assist women so that they can fully participate in society, and then on the other hand, there's a program saying, “We want you to do something to help them”.

Status of Women committee  I'm also on the National Working Group on Women and Housing. Certainly we would like to see a national housing strategy. We'd also like to see a strategy that addresses the specific needs of women living in poverty, because women leaving abusive situations and so on need housing that may be more unique than just the average person.

Status of Women committee  I just want to say that I'm not against direct service, and I think we need to have direct service to women. But there are organizations, funding bodies, and governments that are providing direct services. If we continue to just do that and not change systems, then it's the upstream thing.

Status of Women committee  I think you already are doing that in the transfers to the provinces. You are giving us money that then does go to direct funding for services. What has been so useful for our organization from Status of Women Canada is that we've not been able to apply to traditional sources of funding--foundations, for instance, and even the provincial government--because we were not providing a direct service, and those are typically funding sources that want you to do that.

Status of Women committee  Well, the 40% does not translate—

Status of Women committee  The 40% does not translate into cash. A lot of that is in-kind service too.

Status of Women committee  So it's not always cash. We don't get a lot of money. Most of it is the volunteer hours and free rent, that kind of thing. The funding from Status of Women is really what made the difference for us.

Status of Women committee  I would say that women's voices will be silenced, because organizations like ours will no longer be able to speak for them. There is an example in New Brunswick. Two years ago, then Premier Bernard Lord held provincial consultations to talk about social programs in New Brunswick.

Status of Women committee  I can speak to the first two questions. In terms of the real effect this change will have on women, I can share another story about Sally, who is currently living in second-stage housing. She's been there for more than a year, which is more than what's typically allowed, because she receives $490 a month in income assistance.

Status of Women committee  We're in the process of doing that right now, because funding for the most recent project we're working on ends on Friday. We're not sure if we're going to qualify, because we're not technically providing a direct service. I just want to reiterate that the change in not being allowed to advocate still has a very significant impact on people in our community--women's voices that have not been heard but have been heard through us.

Status of Women committee  I guess I just wanted to say that our organization is the only one in our community that has not been providing direct service. There are many that are providing direct service to women. The need is so great, they don't have the opportunity, the time, or the resources to advocate.

Status of Women committee  As I said in my presentation, we're a very small organization. I'm the one staff person and the rest are volunteers--quite a diverse group around our table. Our project officer has been so helpful in meeting with us when we're trying to think through what our next step might be and what our project might be, clarifying our goals and making sure we're not all over the map.

Status of Women committee  Thank you very much for the opportunity. My name is Brenda Murphy, and I am with the Urban Core Support Network in Saint John, New Brunswick. We're a coalition of individuals who live in poverty, non-profit groups, the faith community, government, and business community representatives, working systemically to reduce poverty in our community.