FEWO Committee Meeting
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Standing Committee on the Status of Women
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EVIDENCE
Monday, June 16, 2025
[Recorded by Electronic Apparatus]
[Translation]
Honourable members of the committee, I see a quorum.
I must inform members that the clerk of the committee can only receive motions for the election of the chair. The clerk can't receive other types of motions, can't entertain points of order nor participate in debate.
[English]
We can now proceed to the election of the chair. Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the chair must be a member of the official opposition.
I'm ready to receive motions for the chair.
Madame Vien.
[Translation]
[English]
It has been moved by Madame Vien that Ms. Gladu be elected chair of the committee.
[Translation]
Are there any further motions?
[English]
There are no other motions. Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
The Clerk: Thank you.
I declare the motion carried and Ms. Gladu duly elected chair of the committee.
I invite Ms. Gladu to take the chair.
Some hon. members: Hear, hear!
[Translation]
I want to thank my colleagues and welcome them to the Standing Committee on the Status of Women.
[English]
It is wonderful to see you all.
I want you to know that I have been the chair of status of women before, so I do have some experience in this area. This committee does very good work. I'm sure we will build on the good work that's gone on in the past.
Normally in the first meeting, we do routine motions, which I believe were circulated. These motions pertain to how we run committees. It's how all of them are run—for example, how many minutes the Liberals get to speak, how many minutes the Conservatives get, and the order everything goes in for the first round and the second round.
I'm sorry. We first have to elect the vice-chairs. I didn't receive that on my agenda. Let's take a moment to elect our vice-chairs. We need a vice-chair for each of the parties represented.
I will turn it over to the Liberals to put someone forward to be the vice-chair.
[Translation]
[English]
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the first vice-chair must be a member of the government party.
I'm now prepared to receive motions for the first vice-chair.
[Translation]
Madam Chair, there doesn't seem to be any French interpretation. On my end, I've just found the right button, but there isn't any sound.
[English]
For anyone who doesn't know how to use these newfangled instruments, if you see that there's a language proposed and you don't like it, you can change from that language to the other one or to the floor, where you hear everything.
The volume up and down is on the left-hand side.
[Translation]
Is everything working, Ms. Larouche?
I can't hear the French interpretation right now. I've turned the volume all the way up, but I can't hear it.
There may be an issue with your equipment.
[English]
I will speak in English to make sure that the translation is working. There's nothing.
You have to really put the volume up.
[Translation]
[English]
[Translation]
[English]
That's perfect.
We'll start the meeting again and go back to the clerk for the election of the vice-chairs.
Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the first vice-chair must be a member of the government party.
I'm now prepared to receive motions for the first vice-chair.
[Translation]
It has been moved by Ms. Ménard that Ms. Lambropoulos be elected as first vice‑chair of the committee.
Are there any further motions?
(Motion agreed to)
I declare the motion carried and Ms. Lambropoulos duly elected first vice‑chair of the committee.
Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the second vice‑chair must be a member of an opposition party other than the official opposition.
I'm now prepared to receive motions for the second vice‑chair.
[English]
It has been moved by Ms. Lambropoulos that Madame Larouche be elected as second vice-chair of the committee.
Are there any further motions?
(Motion agreed to)
The Clerk: I declare the motion carried and Madame Larouche duly elected second vice-chair of the committee.
Thank you.
All right. Now I have the actual order of operations here.
Before we continue, I'd like to ask all in-person participants to consult the guidelines written on the cards on the table. These measures are in place to help prevent audio and feedback incidents and to protect the health and safety of all participants, including our wonderful interpreters. You will notice a QR code on the card, which links to a short awareness video.
For all members, please wait until I recognize your name before speaking. All comments should be addressed through the chair. I don't think there are any members on Zoom today. For members in the room, you can raise your hand. On Zoom, you can use the “raise hand” function. Thank you for that.
Now, the committee clerk has circulated a list of draft routine motions. With the agreement of the committee, we can proceed to the consideration of those motions.
What I would tell you is that these are common to all committees. As I said, these are about how questions are asked in terms of how many minutes each side gets or what you do if you don't have quorum. There is also information about travel.
There is information about the subcommittee. Most committees have a subcommittee that is made up of the vice-chairs and the chair. Essentially, they consider what we should study. They bring back a report to the committee for discussion, and it goes forward. I have seen other committees do something different. When they brought the reports back from subcommittee, there was a lot of back and forth and discussion amongst the members. We ended up deciding in that committee that all the members were going to partake in the discussion.
At the will of the committee, we can do either, but what's written in the routine motions is that it's a subcommittee composed of four members: the chair and one member from each recognized party.
We'll do them one at a time. Let's start with the first one.
The first one is on analyst services. It reads:
That the committee retain, as needed and at the discretion of the chair, the services of one or more analysts from the Library of Parliament to assist it in its work.
(Motion agreed to)
The Chair: I invite the analyst to come to the table.
[Translation]
Welcome.
[English]
We will provide a lot of work for you this session.
Would you like some time to introduce yourself to the committee? I would love that.
Good afternoon.
I'm Vanessa Preston. I was with FEWO in the last sitting, and I also work on other committees in the House.
All right. We have an analyst.
The second one is on the subcommittee. It reads:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of four members, the Chair and one member from each recognized party, as designated by each party's whip; and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.
Is there any discussion?
(Motion agreed to)
The next one is on meeting without a quorum. It reads:
That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence published when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four members are present, including two members of the opposition parties and two members of the government party.
Is there any discussion?
(Motion agreed to)
Next, we have travel. It reads:
That, when travelling outside the Parliamentary Precinct: (a) the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of whether quorum is present; (b) no substantive motion may be moved during such meetings.
Is there any discussion?
(Motion agreed to)
The next motion is on the time for opening remarks and questioning of witnesses. This is the standard round. Do I need to read it into the minutes? It says:
That witnesses be given five (5) minutes for their opening statements; that whenever possible, witnesses provide the committee with their opening statements 72 hours in advance; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six (6) minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows:
First Round:
Conservative Party
Liberal Party
Bloc Québécois
For the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning be as follows:
Conservative Party, five (5) minutes
Liberal Party, five (5) minutes
Bloc Québécois, two and a half (2.5) minutes
Conservative Party, five (5) minutes
Liberal Party, five (5) minutes
Is there any discussion on this motion?
(Motion agreed to)
All right. The next motion is on document distribution. It reads:
That only the clerk of the committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the committee and only when the documents are in both official languages; and that all documents submitted to the committee in both official languages that do not come from a federal department or members' offices, or that have not been translated by the Translation Bureau, be sent for linguistic review by the Translation Bureau before being distributed to members, and that the witnesses be advised accordingly.
Is there any discussion on this?
(Motion agreed to)
The next motion is on working meals. This is terrifically important. It reads:
That the clerk of the committee, at the discretion of the Chair, be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the committee and its subcommittees.
Is there any discussion on this, and are there any recommendations of your favourites?
Tamara, go ahead.
I'm sorry. I just have a question about whether or not dietary restrictions will be solicited and accommodated.
That's a great question. Absolutely, we will. For example, in the past, we have provided gluten-free meals, vegan meals and vegetarian meals. As long as the clerk knows your preferences, that's good. My preference is lasagna with caesar salad, and I really like the red pepper soup.
Is there any discussion?
(Motion agreed to)
The Chair: The next motion is on travel, accommodation and living expenses of witnesses. It says:
That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses, not exceeding two representatives per organization; and that in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the Chair.
Is there any discussion?
(Motion agreed to)
The Chair: The next is on access to in camera meetings. For those who are new, “in camera” really means that you're not in the public realm. It's opposite of what you'd expect. It says:
That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be allowed to be accompanied by one staff member at in camera meetings and that one additional person from each House officer's office be allowed to be present.
That, during in camera meetings, committee members may be informed by the committee Chair of the MPs who have been designated as substitutes for permanent members, in order to know which MPs are authorized to speak and vote during these committee meetings. That only those who have been recognized and identified as such be authorized to speak, in keeping with the usual agreed rules of order and decorum.
Is there any discussion?
(Motion agreed to)
The Chair: You guys are so easy to get along with. You're doing great work already.
This next one is a motion on technical tests for witnesses. It is that the clerk inform each witness who is to appear before the committee that the House administration support team must conduct technical tests to check the connectivity and the equipment used to ensure the best possible sound quality; and that the chair advise the committee, at the start of each meeting, and any witness who did not perform the required technical tests—
A voice: [Inaudible—Editor]
The Chair: Did we do this one?
The next is on the transcript of in camera meetings. It reads:
That one copy of the transcript of each in camera meeting be securely retained by the committee clerk for consultation by members of the committee or by their staff; and that the analysts assigned to the committee have access to the in camera transcripts.
Is there any discussion?
(Motion agreed to)
The Chair: Now we have the notice of motion. This is very important. It reads:
That a 48-hour notice, interpreted as two nights, be required for any substantive motion to be moved in committee, unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration, provided that:
(a) the notice be filed with the clerk of the committee no later than 4:00 p.m. from Monday to Thursday, and no later than 2:30 p.m. on Friday;
(b) the motion be distributed to members and the offices of the whips of each recognized party in both official languages by the clerk on the same day the said notice was transmitted if it was received no later than the deadline hour;
(c) notices received after the deadline hour or on non-business days be deemed to have been received during the next business day.
Is there any discussion?
(Motion agreed to)
The Chair: The next motion is on orders of reference from the House respecting bills. It reads:
That, in relation to orders of reference from the House respecting bills:
(a) the clerk of the committee shall, upon the committee receiving such an order of reference, write to each member who is not a member of a caucus represented on the committee to invite those members to file with the clerk of the committee, in both official languages, any amendments to the bill, which is the subject of the said order, which they would suggest that the committee consider;
(b) suggested amendments filed, pursuant to paragraph (a), at least 48 hours prior to the start of clause-by-clause consideration of the bill to which the amendments relate shall be deemed to be proposed during the said consideration, provided that the committee may, by motion, vary this deadline in respect of a given bill; and
(c) during the clause-by-clause consideration of a bill, the Chair shall allow a member who filed suggested amendments, pursuant to paragraph (a), an opportunity to make brief representations in support of them.
Is there discussion?
(Motion agreed to)
The Chair: Now we move to administrative support and technical tests for witnesses. It reads:
That the clerk inform each witness who is to appear before the committee that the House Administration support team must conduct technical tests to check the connectivity and the equipment used to ensure the best possible sound quality; and that the Chair advise the committee, at the start of each meeting, of any witness who did not perform the required technical tests.
Is there discussion?
(Motion agreed to)
The Chair: On whips' access to the digital binders, the motion says:
That the clerk of the committee be authorized to grant access to the committee's digital binder to the offices of the whips of each recognized party.
Is there discussion?
(Motion agreed to)
The Chair: On the maintenance of order and decorum, it reads:
That, during meetings, the Chair, if necessary, use his or her prerogative to suspend the meeting to maintain the order and decorum necessary to ensure the application of the House of Commons' policies on workplace health and safety.
Is there discussion?
(Motion agreed to)
The Chair: All right, so those were the routine motions.
Before we adjourn the meeting, I was wondering whether we could get the analyst, since she was with status of women last time, to tell us about the last three studies that have not yet had a report.
Can you do that?
I'll give just a brief summary of the work that the committee conducted in the last sitting that was not completed. There were, in fact, four studies that were started but not completed. There was coercive behaviour, for which the committee provided drafting instructions to the analysts. There was breast cancer, the response to the task force of breast cancer for women over the age of 40 but under 50, for which the committee provided drafting instructions. There was a study on gender-based violence and femicides, which the committee also provided drafting instructions for. The final study that was started but not completed was on 2SLGBTQ violence, but the committee did not provide drafting instructions for that final study.
Excellent. For those ones they did provide drafting instructions on, are the draft reports available, or are you intending to do those over the summer? What's the situation?
Actually, I have a motion ready for one of the studies that had drafting instructions given but was not completed.
I'll read it into the record:
That, given the crucial work that was done by members of the committee on gender-based violence, including hearing from 38 witnesses and receiving 29 briefs, and the committee’s inability to complete the report and table it due to the dissolution of the 44th Parliament, the committee order that, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2)(e), all witness testimony and briefs from the committee’s 44th Parliament study on gender-based violence and femicides against women, girls and gender diverse people be adopted for use in the 45th Parliament, and that the analysts be instructed to use this evidence, briefs, and drafting instructions from the previous members of the committee in drafting a report so that it may be tabled in the fall; and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request a comprehensive response from the government.
[Translation]
I would like us to adopt good habits. The interpreters said that they didn't receive the text of the motion beforehand, which would have made their work easier. I wanted to let you know. Those are my thoughts on the procedure.
In principle, I support the inclusion of these testimonies.
[English]
[Translation]
Madam Chair, don't we have to wait 48 hours after a motion has been put forward before we can take it into consideration?
[English]
No, not if it's the topic that we're discussing. It's what we were discussing, so it's in order.
Are there any other comments?
Go ahead, Emmanuella.
Considering that the language was brought up, I do have it in both official languages if the clerk would like to distribute it to all members of the committee.
Give it to the translators as well. I think that would be a good idea.
Are there any other comments about this before we put it to a vote?
Go ahead, Madame Larouche.
[Translation]
[English]
I have a question about whether or not digital copies will normally be distributed. I'd just like to minimize the amount of paper in my life.
Normally, the ones that come with 48 hours' notice will come to you electronically. The other ones that come up during the discussions we're having will sometimes have been given to the clerk in advance and distributed electronically. If they're read out and they're not available as a paper record, the clerk sometimes gets them in two languages and sends them out to your P9s. That's the typical order of operations.
Are there any other questions? All right. Let's call a vote on the motion.
Do you want a recorded vote? It doesn't matter. Okay.
Is everybody ready to vote?
[Translation]
[English]
Given that there were four reports—three that were drafted when instructions were given and one that was not—why are we only doing one of them?
Are there going to be four motions? Okay.
If that's the will of the committee, I'm happy to do that. I asked Madame Larouche to propose the one on coercive behaviour because she was the one who presented that study in the last Parliament. That's why I wanted to give her the opportunity to do it.
The breast cancer study was very time-sensitive at the time because it was before the task force made its new recommendations. I'm not sure if it's still relevant, but we can discuss that.
Basically, this is the standard language that comes when you bring these things forward from one session into another, which I have seen done.
There is another motion coming on the second report that we would want to bring forward. Let's deal with this one first.
Madame Vien, do you have an amendment that you want to move?
[Translation]
I would like to make a small amendment to the motion so that it accurately reflects our colleague's intention. This amendment would replace “adopted” by “permitted for use in the 45th Parliament”. It would then read as follows:
…all witness testimony and briefs from the committee's 44th Parliament study on gender‑based violence and femicides against women, girls and gender diverse people be permitted for use…
[English]
I think you need to make a change in English because “adopted for use” doesn't mean that you're going to continue to study. It means—
[Translation]
[English]
In that case, it would say that the analysts be “permitted” to use this evidence, as opposed to the instruction in the English...to have the language mirrored in both.
Is it agreed, then, that we can change those words like that?
(Amendment agreed to)
(Motion as amended agreed to)
The Chair: I love this committee. That's great.
Emmanuella, do you have a second one?
Madame Larouche.
[Translation]
It concerns two studies that we've already worked on. Ms. Lambropoulos put forward the first motion, and I'll introduce the second. I did propose this study. It reads as follows:
That, given the vital work that was done by members of the committee on coercive behaviour, including hearing from 41 witnesses and receiving 35 briefs; and the committee's inability to complete the report and table it due to the dissolution of the 44th Parliament; the committee order that pursuant to Standing Order 108(2)(e), all witness testimony and briefs from the committee's 44th Parliament study on coercive behaviour be permitted for use in the 45th Parliament; and that analysts be instructed to use this evidence, briefs and drafting instructions from the previous members of the committees in drafting a report so that it may be tabled in the fall; and that pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request a comprehensive response from the government.
Can you give the document to the Conservative members?
Thank you.
[English]
Is there any discussion on the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
The Chair: That's good work to keep the analysts busy over the summer.
Before we adjourn, the only thing I want to say is that you'll see—
[Translation]
In preparation for the fall, I would just like to introduce a notice of motion. We can discuss it when we get to committee business, but I would like to get it on the record now. It reads as follows:
That the committee study how section 810 of the Criminal Code could be improved to ensure the safety of women and children;
that the committee ask the Minister of Justice and his officials to appear before it;
that it then hold at least two further meetings with witnesses and that it report back to the House.
[English]
Excellent.
I was going to suggest to the committee that the subcommittee meet to pile on all the ideas and try to sort out what we will study in the fall. Is it too soon to do that on Wednesday? That's my question.
We're talking about getting the subcommittee together on Wednesday, in the 3:30 to 5:30 spot, to put together all these suggestions on what to work on and try to figure out what order we would do them in. Is Wednesday too soon?
[Translation]
Madam Chair, are you talking about all the motions that could be put forward or just the creation of the subcommittee? I'm sorry. I'm a bit confused.
[English]
No new motions have been put forward so far. I thought those could be brought, then, to the subcommittee, or do they need to come here first? Would we be able to have a meeting on Wednesday and have everybody present their motions for the things they want to bring forward?
I'll call it committee business. I just want to make sure that we think we're ready to do that.
I'm not sure we're ready to do that in terms of new studies. I think we would appreciate a bit of extra time. I'm sure that if it absolutely had to happen, we could come up with some great studies, but I would appreciate the extra time.
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