Status of Women committee  Good morning, Madam Chair, members of the committee, and distinguished guests. Thank you, Alan. Thank you for inviting me as part of your study on the treatment of women within the Department of National Defence. I am here on behalf of my organization but also as a member of t

Status of Women committee  Yes. Women, Peace and Security is a network of about 70 individuals and organizations formed in 2012. It's a network of volunteers. However, we just incorporated in a non-governmental organization, but we all remain volunteers. We advise and monitor the government on the Nationa

Status of Women committee  Yes, I do.

Status of Women committee  I think we're still at the same.... In terms of peacekeeping, it's still 95% male-dominated.

Status of Women committee  There's been a tremendous effort to raise the number of women as part of the military and as part of the police, but it remains that in order to raise the number of women in peacekeeping, we need to start at home. A big part of the national action plan in Canada.... In terms of

Status of Women committee  I fully agree. With the work that I've done with the RCMP specifically, this is exactly what I hear: “I didn't take paternity leave because I didn't think I could.”

Status of Women committee  I truly believe so. I think the culture is allowing.... I mean, I think it's completely linked. I think there are power dynamics at play. There is a culture of impunity. All of that combined with the need for strict policies is key, and I think leadership is key. When I say lea

Status of Women committee  I want to mention that I do some work with a police project in Ukraine. One thing, as part of their national action plan on resolution1325, was to revise their education system. Within their ministry of interior, they launched this revision of the education system for all law enf

Status of Women committee  Certainly.

Status of Women committee  We are in the second year. The second report will be tabled, if I'm getting my years correct. The second national action plan was actually a real step forward. There are specific implementation plans for each department, so for each implementation partner. As a network, we've bee

Status of Women committee  As Alan mentioned, I've met so many women who have joined, but after a number of years have left, because they aren't able to be themselves, in addition to everything else they may have encountered. Certainly, their voices are not being recognized. Another point I will make is

Status of Women committee  I think changing the organization, and changing the culture, as we've been mentioning, would go a long way to making it a more accessible organization. If women, or young women, are looking at this organization, and what they see in the media, it's not always very positive. The

Status of Women committee  As Alan mentioned, the cadet system is a separate system. In terms of the schooling, the education in the public system, if you look at national action plans that look at women, peace and security around the world, there are a number of these plans that actually advise changing t

Status of Women committee  I would argue that, yes, they are suffering the same challenges. I'm not as familiar with the other countries. I do know that Australia has done a lot in terms of putting policies in place and really trying to change that culture within the armed forces. That would be something t

Status of Women committee  I wouldn't be the best person to answer. I haven't worked with the LGBTQ+ community. If we're hearing this from women on this committee and we're getting all this data about what women are going through, then I would argue that, certainly, there is a lot that we don't know in ter