Status of Women committee  I'll add also that investing in women's organizations is critical, and our government has done that. When we took money away from women's organizations in this country, we left a lot of women vulnerable. Women's shelters that include children, shelters to which they're allowed

Status of Women committee  They are essential.

Status of Women committee  I think you've hit on something that is critically important. Gender violence and violence against women is not a women's issue and it's not a gender issue; it's a societal issue. We have to educate men, as well as women, in disclosing it, on being bystanders, on how to step in a

Status of Women committee  My background is as an educational psychologist, so I will be the first to say that early childhood education, early childhood intervention, is critically important in this country. It's not only for the children; it's also for the mothers, who then are able to go ahead and look

Status of Women committee  I'll let one of my colleagues answer that.

Status of Women committee  I can begin with that. It goes back to what Ms. Hutchings said. Until we get high-speed Internet in all the communities, we need to find Internet nodes for people. I think exactly what was said was that it could be in local libraries or in a Lions Club, but every small communit

Status of Women committee  There's a huge impact in many of our rural communities and northern communities. This is for both male and female students. They cannot access the courses that get them into the different academic streams in university. I met high school students in Labrador who had to go online

Status of Women committee  They're critically important, and they'll be even more important as we look at the need for microcrendentialling and retraining in careers. When I travelled the province—and I travelled your beautiful part of the province—I went into many of those small communities. I listened t

Status of Women committee  I'll also mention that it's not just first responders but also the judicial group that needs special training. I know there's been some discussion about that nationally. My sister was in an abusive relationship in a small rural community, and she did go to court to try to get sup

Status of Women committee  I would agree. I think the only solution is education, and also to ensure that advocacy is provided for women when they meet with the police forces so that they are able to bring an advocate, a support, to help counter the re-traumatization. I think it would be an important suppo

Status of Women committee  I'll begin. I think this is a huge issue, and anti-bias training is critical for all people because of that bias that many people have, in particular people who grew up in rural communities. Just as Ms. Martin said, there's the idea that “He's a good man; he wouldn't do anythin

Status of Women committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm thrilled to be meeting you from the ancestral land of our indigenous people in Newfoundland and Labrador. This is a subject that is close to my heart, both as president of Memorial University and also, more importantly, as a girl who grew up in a sma