FEWO Committee Report
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Ms.
Marie-Claude Morin, M.P. Dear Colleague: Pursuant to Standing Order 109 of the House of Commons, I am pleased to respond on behalf of the Government of Canada to the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women’s report "Improving Economic Prospects for Canadian Girls". I would like to thank the members of the Committee for taking the time to consider this important matter, and the witnesses for their contributions, as it helps to illuminate many of the issues facing girls in our country. I would also like to acknowledge the Committee’s attention to the specific issues encountered by diverse groups of girls, including girls with disabilities, girls in remote and isolated communities, Aboriginal girls and immigrant girls. The report will help inform the work that Status of Women Canada (SWC) undertakes to meet its key priorities. As an Agency dedicated to advancing equality for women and girls, SWC focuses its efforts in three priority areas: ending violence against women and girls; improving women's and girls' economic security and prosperity; and encouraging women and girls in leadership and decision-making roles. It is with a deep sense of commitment that I write to you to respond to this report. Since becoming the Minister for Status of Women, I have dedicated significant effort towards making visible the needs and strengths of girls in Canada and globally. This has culminated in Canada leading the international community in establishing the International Day of the Girl, which will help raise awareness of girls’ rights. But one day is not enough – more action is needed for girls to fully realize their rights. Your report will help inform SWC’s, and others’, ongoing work and future endeavours to help bring about meaningful change. To provide context to the response that follows, I would like to emphasize that addressing the complex social and economic issues outlined in the Committee’s report is a responsibility that we all share, both within and outside of the federal government. As pointed out in the report, federal action on the specific issue of improving the economic prospects of girls falls within the purview of a number of federal organizations, such as Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, and Citizenship and Immigration Canada. As the report’s recommendations are directed at potential actions that SWC currently does and can undertake in the future to help promote the economic prospects of girls and young women, this response focuses specifically on the role of SWC. The report provides an opportunity for SWC to examine how its current activities in these three priority areas support the economic prospects of girls and young women, and to identify what more can be done, including by engaging and fostering meaningful collaboration with federal counterparts as well as those working at the provincial and territorial level and in civil society. SWC has three main levers at its disposal in achieving this work:
The following will outline SWC’s current efforts to address the issue of improving economic prospects for girls and young women, organized by the three thematic areas discussed in the report (economic participation, economic prosperity and economic leadership). Economic Participation The report underscores that girls’ economic participation depends on available supports, including help in overcoming barriers to participation that can result from experiencing violence and the multiple barriers faced by certain groups of girls, including Aboriginal girls. It also emphasizes the importance of using GBA to identify and address these barriers, and of supporting girls in their development through education and training, skills building and mentorship opportunities. Violence against women and girls This Government is committed to addressing the problem of violence against women and girls, including Aboriginal women and girls. This is the responsibility of multiple actors, including SWC along with other federal organizations as well as provincial/territorial governments and civil society. Together we can deliver effective and appropriate solutions and through collaborative efforts, we can and we will build the capacity necessary to send a clear and unwavering message: violence against women and girls in Canada will not be tolerated in any community across the country or against any group of Canadians. Federal coordination of the issue of violence against girls and women rests with the Public Health Agency of Canada, who leads the ongoing interdepartmental Family Violence Initiative, which is a collaboration of 15 federal organizations. The mandate of this Initiative, in broad terms, is to raise awareness about the issue, strengthen the capacity of various systems to respond, and support the collection of relevant information and evidence. SWC is a member of this Initiative, and of a number of other interdepartmental committees who address the various forms of gender-based violence, including trafficking in persons and so-called "honour" crimes. SWC exercises leadership on a number of activities that help advance understanding of this complex issue and support prevention and intervention efforts across the country. For example, in 2011, SWC launched a Call for Proposals to engage youth in preventing violence against women and girls through the delivery of innovative youth-led activities to address the issue within their communities. The Agency also recently launched an innovative Call for Proposals to engage communities in preventing and reducing violence against women and girls, including those in high-risk neighbourhoods, and those at risk of falling victim to the barbaric practice of so-called "honour" crimes. SWC is also currently playing a coordinating role between the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women Forum and Statistics Canada on the production of Measuring Violence Against Women, a report that will include data on violence against girls and marginalized populations. Overall, the report will advance understanding of the breadth and severity of violence against women in Canada. The release is scheduled for February 2013. The Agency also continues to increase awareness of the key role that men and boys can play in violence prevention and highlight related opportunities for meaningful collaboration with a range of stakeholders. This includes a recent Call for Proposals, for projects that will engage men and boys in ending violence. Men and boys will be equipped to work in partnership with women and girls, and to develop skills and take on leadership roles to identify and respond to the pressing issue of gender-based violence in their communities. Addressing multiple barriers faced by girls using GBA Addressing the needs of diverse groups of girls, including girls living in rural and remote communities, girls with disabilities and Aboriginal girls, who may experience multiple barriers is critical in promoting their economic participation. The Committee’s study will support SWC to raise awareness of this issue when promoting the use of gender-based analysis (GBA) within federal institutions. GBA is one of the key tools SWC uses to ensure that federal policies and programs are sensitive to diverse groups, including groups of young women and girls. SWC continues to play a leadership and capacity building role in supporting federal organizations to meaningfully apply GBA. The importance of diversity considerations has been reflected in SWC’s new tools, known as “GBA+,” with the “plus” serving to highlight the necessity of taking into account the intersection of gender and other identity factors, including age, culture, geographic location, income, and a range of others. This will support federal organizations in understanding and addressing the specific needs of girls by guiding analysis that is sensitive to gender and age, as well as other relevant factors. SWC has also recently enhanced the scope and accessibility of GBA+ information and tools available to federal organizations on its website, including through a new GBA+ introductory online course. This course uses a series of examples, including one focused specifically on the different needs and realities of girls and boys, to demonstrate how to apply GBA in a meaningful way. Applying GBA+ is a shared responsibility across the federal government, with responsibility for performing and documenting gender and diversity analysis and accounting for results resting with individual departments/agencies, and with the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Privy Council Office playing a key challenge function. Currently, SWC and central agencies are focused on providing support and training to federal officials under the implementation of the Departmental Action Plan on Gender-Based Analysis. The Action Plan requires departments and agencies to develop and implement sustainable organizational frameworks which build internal capacity for the application of GBA+ to their respective policy and program development. To date, 25 departments and agencies have been supported in implementing the Action Plan, many of which hold levers that contribute, in concrete ways, to improving the economic prospects of girls. For example, SWC is supporting efforts of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development (AANDC) to implement a more substantive approach to integrating gender into its policy making process throughout the development of the Aboriginal Economic Development Framework. While Framework implementation is still underway, integrating a gendered approach is already changing policy and program outcomes with the development of pilot projects supporting Aboriginal women entrepreneurs, and improved processes for conducting gender-based analysis overall. The Women’s Program also engages with other federal departments with lead responsibilities to ensure SWC supports their efforts. For example, SWC recently launched a Call for Proposals to address the serious issue of trafficking in persons in support of the Government’s National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons. Projects will pilot a tool, developed by Public Safety Canada, to support the development of community-based plans that address trafficking for sexual exploitation and consider the factors that make some individuals particularly vulnerable, including Aboriginal women and girls. Additionally, the Women’s Program strives to identify shared funding opportunities in engaging federal funds, particularly on projects for Aboriginal women and girls. Education and training, skills building and mentorship to support economic participation Supporting girls, particularly Aboriginal girls, in their development through education and training, skills building and mentorship to promote economic participation is an important area of work identified by the Committee. SWC will engage with its federal, provincial and territorial counterparts to share the report and its recommendations, including the recommendations under this heading. Economic Prosperity The report considers how girls can achieve prosperity through participation in the economy – to ensure that it is meaningful and economically rewarding. The Committee’s report identifies different elements that may increase girls’ economic prospects including areas where there is an employment demand, and where salaries and compensation can be high, such as in non-traditional occupations. As with the recommendations related to education and training, SWC will discuss the curriculum for salary negotiation with its provincial and territorial counterparts. The Government of Canada is committed to creating a healthy economy for all Canadians, including women and girls. SWC supports work within this broader government context and priorities. In 2012, the Women’s Program launched a Call for Proposals entitled “Setting the Stage for Girls and Young Women to Succeed”, which had a specific theme of strengthening girls’ and young women’s future economic prosperity. Successful projects under this theme will build partnerships and collaboration between girls and young women, communities and stakeholders to identify and respond to the barriers that girls and women face in fulfilling their economic potential. Girls participating in these projects will gain leadership skills and will work with others to deliver action-oriented initiatives in their communities. I want to thank the committee for identifying the economic potential available to girls by working in non-traditional occupations. In particular, the specific issue of women’s recruitment, retention and promotion in non-traditional occupations is an area that SWC is also engaged in and exploring with its federal, provincial and territorial counterparts. For example, SWC in collaboration with the Provinces and Territories supported a Policy Forum recently hosted by the Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology. Moving forward, the Committee’s study provides SWC and other federal organizations with an opportunity to consider how best to continue to promote non-traditional occupations among girls in Canada. SWC will explore future opportunities in this area, including the possibility of raising awareness and showcasing role models through commemorative events. Economic Leadership The Committee’s focus on leadership provides a meaningful opportunity for SWC to review its existing approach to leadership, and determine ways of leveraging it further to the advantage of girls, including Aboriginal girls. Consistent with the Committee’s report, SWC’s work in this regard recognizes that the economic security and prosperity of girls is inseparable from women’s economic security and prosperity. It is inseparable for many reasons, including, as the study notes: providing role models for girls to envision themselves in leadership roles in the future, as well as by making advances in women’s representation today and paving the way for girls to gain access to these roles as women leaders of tomorrow. SWC is currently seeking to advance understanding of the benefits of women’s contributions to leadership in business and democratic life, including through exchanging knowledge with key partners, such as the private sector and its provincial and territorial counterparts, about strategies to overcome barriers to women’s representation in leadership roles. For example, the Federal-Territorial-Provincial Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women have committed to exploring potential work in the area of women and leadership, including raising awareness within their individual jurisdictions on the issue of representation of women on public and private sector leadership appointments. Of particular interest to the Committee will be the Economic Action Plan 2012 announcement of the creation of an Advisory Council of public- and private-sector leaders to promote the participation of women on corporate boards. This Council will help raise awareness about the importance of women as leaders in the economy, and advance opportunities to showcase successful women leaders as role models for girls. All of this work is complemented by funding for projects that support girls to develop the skills and confidence to be leaders in their communities today and in the labour force and Canadian economy tomorrow. A theme of a recently launched Women’s Program Call for Proposals addressed engaging girls and young women in leadership roles. The projects funded under this theme will develop the capacity of girls and young women to identify and respond to specific barriers to their full participation in civic, political and community life in Canada, and provide support measures to respond to the under-representation of girls and young women in these sectors. Using the Committee’s Report Moving Forward Thank you again for studying this important issue. The Report will continue to be a useful resource for SWC in moving forward. It will inform the Agency’s work, including through the Women’s Program, GBA+ and commemorative events, on promoting the economic prospects of Canadian girls. We are setting course in a hopeful direction. For example, the recent Women’s Program Call for Proposals to promote girls’ leadership and economic prosperity has elicited a large number of applications from a wide range of organizations, beyond those with whom SWC has traditionally worked. The strong, positive response to the call demonstrates the degree of interest in the area of girls’ leadership and economic prosperity, and will be taken into consideration for future work in the area. In the meantime, the successful projects from this Call for Proposals will help address many of the themes raised by this Report, including building partnerships and collaboration between individuals, communities and other stakeholders that will help make meaningful change in girls’ lives. While the specific projects that will be supported under this Call for Proposals have yet to be finalized, I would like to highlight a couple of relevant projects that have been funded by the Women’s Program (see also Appendix A of the Report). The Bay St. George Status of Women Council’s Girls United and Ready to Lead (GURL) project is working with girls and young women to develop the skills they need to carry out girl-led initiatives and become leaders in their community. Another good example is the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County that worked with girls and young women aged 14 to 24 and their mothers, aunts or other women family members. The participants gained knowledge and skills in financial literacy, self-employment, employment readiness as well as leadership training. These projects demonstrate the important work taking place in organizations across Canada to support girls in achieving economic prosperity and leadership. When we make a difference in the lives of girls today, we make a difference in the lives of girls and women for generations to come. Status of Women Canada will continue to work with the rest of Government, and with its provincial and territorial counterparts and other key stakeholders to promote and advance the economic prospects of girls, including through the use of GBA. We will also be pleased to provide a list of projects funded under the Women’s Program call for projects to promote girls economic prosperity and leadership to the Committee, which will outline the contribution of this work to the goals of the Report. On behalf of the Government of Canada, I would like to thank the Committee for its Report and for the opportunity to respond. Yours sincerely, Hon. Rona Ambrose P.C., M.P. |