Thank you to the committee members for inviting me to discuss the 2014-15 main estimates for Status of Women Canada and our priorities over the next fiscal year.
I'm joined today, as was mentioned, by Linda Savoie, our acting coordinator and head of agency for Status of Women Canada, and by Anik Lapointe, chief financial officer and director for corporate services.
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Before going any further, I would like to highlight for the committee that the has recently named Meena Ballantyne to become Head of Status of Women Canada, effective May 12, 2014. I look forward to working with her collaboratively on issues affecting Canadian women and girls in the weeks and months ahead.
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I'd also like to thank Suzanne Clément, the former coordinator of Status of Women Canada, on the occasion of her upcoming retirement for all of her achievements and service to Canadians over the last 37 years. She had an outstanding career in the public service and has done an outstanding job for Status of Women Canada.
Since I last met with your committee, I've continued to reach out to Canadians from coast to coast to coast. What I've heard from Canadians is that they want jobs, growth, and long-term prosperity, and they want us to continue our efforts in building a society where women and men are equal participants in the social, economic, and democratic life of our country.
In 2014-15, Status of Women Canada will continue to focus its efforts in a number of key areas: creating economic opportunities for women, including increasing representation as entrepreneurs and in skilled professional trades; ending violence against women and girls; promoting women in leadership and decision-making roles, including increasing representation of women on corporate boards; and strengthening implementation of gender-based analysis.
As members of the committee, you know our government's annual support for community-based local projects has nearly doubled since 2006-07, with a substantive increase from the $10.8 million under the former Liberal government to just under $19 million today—its highest level in Canadian history. These funds have supported over 720 new local projects that continue to improve the lives of women and girls across Canada and have done so since 2007.
A key component of the women's program is an investment of over $54 million since 2007 to increase the economic security and prosperity of Canadian women. We've just recently announced a new call for proposals for local community projects that will advance economic opportunities for women in three key areas: entrepreneurs and professionals; to support mentorship and sponsorship, helping them find their champion; and to advance Canadian women's financial preparedness. By developing and investing in local partnerships, these projects will help identify and address the unique challenges women face when seeking out promising economic opportunities.
Economic action plan 2014 included a number of benefits for Canadian women. We know that mentorship can mean the difference between a promising business and a successful business. Announced in the budget was a new initiative to increase mentorship among women entrepreneurs, and I'm excited to be leading this effort on behalf of the Government of Canada because the facts are very clear. Women-led businesses employed 1.5 million Canadians last year, and women majority-owned businesses generated $148 billion in the Canadian economy in 2011 alone. They punch well above their weight.
Madam Chair, our government also recognizes that women's economic security and prosperity go hand in hand with their safety. That's why we've placed a very high priority on addressing violence against women and girls. We all know the enormous impact it has on victims, families, and their communities. As a government, we also understand the complex nature of this issue and we're taking a multi-faceted approach to addressing it. Examples of initiatives we've spearheaded include passing the Safe Streets and Communities Act to improve safety for all Canadians, launching a national action plan to combat human trafficking, increasing penalties for violent crimes, and introducing legislation to give police and prosecutors new tools to address cyberbullying.
In addition, just a few weeks ago, the government announced the long-awaited victims bill of rights, a significant piece of legislation that will create clear statutory rights at the federal level for victims of crime, for the first time in Canadian history.
Since 2007 we've invested $69 million through the women's program for local community projects to end violence against women and girls.
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Some of these projects have focused on engaging men and boys in ending violence, addressing violence against women and girls in rural and remote communities, and supporting the reduction of violence in post-secondary campus communities.
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Our government also understands that communities need to be engaged in order to succeed in combatting violence against women. Our government is strongly committed to promoting and protecting the rights of women and girls internationally. I was honoured to lead Canada's delegation to the 58th meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York just a few weeks ago, where we continued to advance Canada's priorities at the United Nations General Assembly, such as the elimination of child, early, and forced marriages.
This devastating issue and the effects of child, early, and forced marriage are indisputable. I'm very proud to say that Canada has taken a strong stance against the practice and is leading international efforts to address it. We participated in a cross-regional group to develop a procedural resolution to address the issue at the 24th session of the Human Rights Council, and Canada co-led the first-ever stand-alone resolution on child, early, and forced marriage at the UN General Assembly last year.
In addition, we've recently announced $5 million to tackle the causes and consequences of child, early, and forced marriage in countries around the world. These funds are being used initially in programs in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Ghana, Somalia, and Zimbabwe. We strongly condemn this practice.
The practice of child, early, and forced marriage is a violation of basic human rights. It is a form of violence. It jeopardizes the physical and mental health of girls and it prevents them from getting an education. It touches their families, communities, and the world in which they live. Our government places a high priority on the full participation of women and girls in all aspects of society, and as I say, we condemn this practice.
We are also convinced that a significant reduction in the number of child, early, and forced marriages will result in a healthier and more secure society, increase development, and therefore lead to more prosperous societies. I'm proud of Canada's commitment to this cause and the unwavering leadership to eradicate this practice, which harms women and girls around the world.
In closing, whether it be a region of our country or around the world, our government will continue to take decisive action to help create positive, concrete changes for women and girls. That is our commitment. That is my commitment.
Thank you very much for having me here today. I'd be happy to take any questions.
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Thank you for that question.
Status of Women Canada has several funding opportunities, and probably one of the more substantive is our regular call for proposals that is done on a thematic basis, a theme that is carefully considered to make sure that it's meeting one of the three core priorities of Status of Women Canada.
Whether it be a focus on economic security for women, making sure that they are developing new skills so that they can acquire the jobs that are available in our economy, whether it be to end violence against women and girls—something I spoke of just a few moments ago and something that I think all Canadians put top of mind as something that has to be eradicated—or whether it be providing women leadership skills, whether that's in a parliamentary domain, like this, or in their local community, these are our three priorities. We do that by creating funding opportunities for local community projects through a call for proposals, which are carefully considered.
But in addition to that—and I want all Canadians to be aware of this—we have one of the few departments that has a continuous intake program, an opportunity for anyone across the country who's interested in focusing on these issues that create equity for women to apply any day of the year. They can do so in an effort to make sure that they are representing their community and providing a local project.
One of those projects that I'm delighted that we have, which focuses on that issue of making sure that we're dealing with violence against women and girls, is our most recent project with the Toronto Argonauts and the White Ribbon campaign. It's one that we're supporting to end violence against women and girls. It is a 36-month project called Huddle Up & Make a Call, a mildly amusing name. But that being said, it's providing opportunities to educate young men and boys with respect to appropriate behaviours, so that we can end and eradicate violence against women and girls. I think it's exceptionally important.
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Again, thank you for the question.
I was delighted to see this opportunity that was presented in economic action plan 2014. It was very forward-looking, I think, for the former minister of finance, Jim Flaherty, as well as the to be focused on women entrepreneurs and their enormous potential.
As I mentioned just a few minutes ago, we know that Canadian women-led businesses employ 1.5 million Canadians. We know that they actually hire more women into their firms. We know that they generated $148 billion in economic wealth in our country just a few years ago, and that continues to rise. These firms, these women, punch well above their weight. The investment that we're making is in developing a mentorship and sponsorship program so that more women can be supported to make sure that not only do they begin and start up their business but they can maintain it and grow it, employing more Canadians and providing an excellent quality of life for their families.
I'm delighted with this new program. I encourage all parliamentarians and other Canadians to please suggest to us who we should talk to in order to build a robust and focused program. I've been hearing from women and men across the country on how to develop the best mentorship program we can have in the country. If you have suggestions or ideas, I welcome them at any time.
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The round table discussions with regard to women's leadership was something I began well before the budget. The issues that came up and that were top of mind were about the items that will allow a woman to be the most successful.
Mentorship is the number one item that comes up again and again. Hence, I'm pleased that it's supported in economic action plan 2014. The other item is having a champion, having someone who actually speaks to supporting you at the table. Hence, the sponsorship component part of this program.
The other component parts, which are supported by our most recent call for proposals, are making sure that women are financially literate, that they are financially prepared, so that they can maintain their business and grow it. That's why our most recent call for proposals includes a component part of allowing organizations across the country to apply for support for financial preparedness.
It's also making sure that women entering into skilled professional trades are supported. Many of the women who are entrepreneurs actually are skilled professional tradespeople. They are out there doing an outstanding job getting their apprenticeship and then making sure that they're starting their own small firm, whether as an electrician or a carpenter, and being involved in their local community.
Our new call for proposals approach I think covers the facets of what Canadian women and Canadian men across the country have said are the best ways for getting women involved in the economy.
We have very specific criteria with respect to the programs and proposals that are presented to Status of Women Canada. In fact we receive hundreds of them. The criteria are very clear and they are made out to all Canadians. But I am delighted with the programs that have been supported in local communities that aboriginal women are supporting.
By way of example one of our best programs, I think, and one thing that I think many people are very proud of is the aboriginal women's leadership program in Saskatchewan. This is an indigenous leadership development program that received $325,000 for a 30-month project. The end result of this was not only that many aboriginal women were trained and able to take on leadership roles but that the first woman vice-chief in the history of the Federation of the Saskatchewan Indian Nations was actually elected—proven results for an excellent program put together, developed, and implemented in a local community area.
So do I encourage as many women from aboriginal populations, Inuit, and Métis across the country to apply? Absolutely. In fact I was in Thunder Bay on Thursday, Winnipeg on Friday, and Kenora on Saturday meeting with a wide range of Canadian women including indigenous women. I talked to them all about the program. I encouraged them all to apply.
But I will be frank. We do have very strict criteria and all Canadians need to meet that criteria. Our staff and the public service work extremely hard to make sure that all Canadians have access to this program.
We have heard of the program in Saskatchewan, which is definitely positive. We'd certainly love to see it extend across the country. We were heartened to hear from Status of Women officials a few weeks ago that in fact there is an examination into why the criteria isn't being met by the vast majority of indigenous women's organizations. We certainly encourage that process because clearly two out of 62 organizations is unacceptable.
Minister, I have had the chance over the last number of weeks to hear from service providers, advocates, lawyers, shelter and transition house workers, all who work in the area of violence against women. Most recently I had a chance to be in British Columbia to hear from people on the ground there.
What I've been hearing from people across the country is very similar in messaging, a kind of frustration the people at the front lines are facing as a result of cutbacks, particularly from the federal government. In fact in the NGO community we are hearing from people that are saying they are effectively subsidizing the work of government and that when it comes to their priorities, accessing short-term project funding does not give them the kind of security and stability to deal with critical issues in the area of violence against women.
My question is about how you would respond directly to these service providers who are telling us that the granting programs of your department do not meet their needs.
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Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for being with us today. We certainly realize you have a busy schedule and we appreciate the time you have taken to be with us here today. As well, I want to thank and welcome Anik Lapointe and Linda Savoie for being with us.
I know you are here to speak about the main estimates and how they fit into the larger picture of our government's economic action plan.
As we all know, Canada has enjoyed great success internationally, and this year the IMF declared that it expected Canada to be the strongest-growing economy in the G-7 over the next two years. Our economy continues to grow, as do our various industries and commerce sectors. In fact both the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development expect Canada to be among the strongest-growing economies in the G-7 over this year. The next three major credit-rating agencies have reaffirmed their top ratings for Canada.
This is very good news, Minister, as you know and we all know. It is expected that Canada will maintain its AAA rating in the year ahead.
We have seen investments in Canada through Status of Women Canada, and as you indicated, in the last seven years alone the Government of Canada has provided over $53 million for projects to promote women's economic security and prosperity. Of this amount, more than $9 million has gone to projects that address women's entrepreneurship. That alone certainly brings a lot of money into our Canadian economy.
I'm interested in hearing about our economic action plan for 2014, and specifically about the increasing role of women in Canada's business sector. Does action plan 2014 offer support to women in areas where it had been lacking before? Why is this such an important issue for all of us?
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I thank you for the question.
Economic action plan 2014, as have the other budgets, is very focused on job creation and making sure that our economy is sound and growing, and that Canadian families have jobs. One of the main focuses, one I mentioned already in my remarks that I'm very pleased with, is this new investment for women entrepreneurs. There's a $150,000 initial investment in order to develop a robust mentorship program to allow women to be supported, whether in a start-up business or in growing and expanding the business they already have.
A lot of women are only now realizing that there are great economic opportunities for them and their families to have a great quality of life by entering into skilled professional trades. One of the things I have heard since the announcement of the budget this year, which has been so powerful, is the new apprenticeship grant program and loan program. This is an over $100-million investment to make sure that interest-free loans are available, for the first time in Canadian history, for young apprentices. We had heard that a barrier to entry into apprenticeship, whether that be for women or men, was the financial hardship. Now these individuals, just like university students, have an opportunity to access an interest-free loan, and I think this would be very encouraging to young women who are interested in the skilled professional trades.
I was at Durham College about five weeks ago, where I met three outstanding young women: one wants to be a carpenter; another wants to be an electrician; and the other wants to be a pipefitter. I'm a cross between all of those as an orthopedic surgeon. It was outstanding. Not only did they know where their placement was, where they already know a job is available for them, they will also now be financially supported in doing that, and they may go out and run their own business in the future.
I'm delighted with these two substantive initiatives, and I'm hopeful that Canadian women will take full advantage of both.
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It's because I believe action is needed, not more talk.
This is very simple. These families that I have been speaking with have said to me unequivocally, “Please act.” In fact, this extremely articulate young woman came to me in Kenora on Saturday. She was outstanding. She had lost a family member. What she said to me was, “I want action now”, and on a number of different specific items.
That's why I'm out speaking to families. It's not about all of us having a conversation about this, or quite frankly, others having a conversation about it. It's about taking action. Now this government is taking some action, and we need to take more. We recognize that. That's why in economic action plan 2014 there's an additional $25 million placed in the budget, based on what the special committee had done, so that we can focus on what families believe is most appropriate. That's why I'm out speaking to families.
I do speak to them confidentially. The reason I do that is that as a physician I think it's exceptionally important that we treat them with respect and that they get to choose what is divulged to the public or not. That's not for me to choose. That's for a family to choose.
So whether it be the things we've already done, such as the national centre for missing persons or actions that we've taken with the Canadian Police Information Centre, or whether it be our national website or even the website that we have at Status of Women Canada to deal with violence against women and girls, these are some actions that have been taken. But we have allocated in the economic action plan $25 million more in order to specifically deal with the issue of aboriginal murdered and missing women, because it is a top priority.
:
Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Dr. Leitch, for being with us today to talk to us about the estimates.
I had a few questions for you, but Mr. Casey's questions were also of interest to me as the chair of the Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women, which I was honoured and privileged to take part in.
I'm sure you'll agree, and perhaps you could tell us about that committee and briefly, whether the government plans to respond to the recommendations. Minister, with the 40 studies that have been done in the last number of years on this issue, do you think those are what the families were referring to when they said, “Enough study, now it's time”?
This committee, which was formed to look into murdered and missing aboriginal women, was struck by a unanimous vote of the House of Commons. It was the 41st study of its kind. Just a brief answer because you've obviously answered a lot of questions about this issue, and it's not really what we're here to talk about.
Do you think that committee did some good work on behalf of parliamentarians here in Canada toward finding the answers? Do you think that those answers were good ones and that the government will likely follow the recommendations made by that committee?
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Thank you, and I'd like to say thank you to you as well for taking the issue so seriously as minister. We do appreciate the work that you've done and the consultation that you have done with aboriginal groups and the families, the victims and the families of the victims as well. On behalf of the Government of Canada you have made us proud in that regard. We appreciate that.
I'd like to talk about the commemorative days because I had some good personal experiences this year with women's history month and the recently celebrated international women's week, March 2 to 8, with International Women's Day falling on Saturday, March 8. I attended a couple of events commemorating these special days. On Friday, March 7, I went to a fundraising dinner event coordinated by the Peel Committee Against Woman Abuse, which is a group of women I know well in my community who do terrific work on behalf of vulnerable women in Peel. The next day, on March 8, I was in Thunder Bay to speak to FCM, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, women's political panel. They have a standing committee, the purpose of which is to increase women's participation in municipal government. It was a great meeting, very well attended, and I met dozens of bright, ambitious women from across Ontario who are running for office.
I guess I'm wondering what you did to celebrate women's accomplishments, and what the ministry did to highlight women's issues during the International Women's Day and week this year.
I'm sure I don't have to tell you, but the theme was strong women, strong Canada. That's how the running-for-office theme fit in. It highlighted women entrepreneurs, Canadian women creating jobs, one business at a time.
Maybe you could tell us a bit about your experiences there.
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Thank you, Madam Chair.
Madam Minister, thank you for being with us. I also thank the officials from your department.
You probably know that we are currently focusing on a study of the economic leadership and prosperity of Canadian women, as well as their successes and the challenges they face.
You referred to the 2012 Economic Action Plan and women who occupy important positions in enterprises. That plan mentioned the creation of a working group to increase the number of women on the boards of directors of companies.
During our previous meetings, we welcomed two representatives from Status of Women Canada. We asked them what the conclusions of that working group were and if the objective had been attained. Unfortunately, they were unable to answer us. I would like to put the same question to you, Minister.
Can you share with us the results obtained by the working group set up in 2012? Also, can you tell us what funds were allocated to it?
:
Thank you very much for the question.
First off, just with respect to our most recent call for proposals on cyberviolence and sexual violence, I'm delighted that we've had numerous projects that had been recommended by local communities. I even had the good pleasure in Winnipeg on Friday of doing a project announcement at the Klinic, as it's called, to support a wide range of organizations throughout rural and remote Manitoba and their shelter system to make sure that victims of sexual assaults are supported.
With respect to men and boys, the issue that has come forward is making sure that young men are well educated on what is appropriate behaviour. Status of Women Canada receives a number of proposals, but two that actually have had a substantive impact, and continue to, are those linked with what I think young men are interested in, individuals who they want to emulate in society. Whether that be a person who's an athletic giant or whether that be an elder in their community, these are the most effective organizational proposals.
One that I've been involved in I'm delighted is having a great impact. I've been out to see exactly what they're doing. It's one with the Toronto Argonauts. It's called, as I mentioned before, Huddle Up & Make the Call. The Toronto Argonauts, with the White Ribbon campaign, are working in high schools across Toronto to make sure that young men understand what appropriate behaviour should be so that they treat women appropriately.
We see the BC Lions doing exactly the same thing. They have some extremely effective videos that I have to say truly, I think, will change behaviour. In addition to that, we've most recently seen the Winnipeg Blue Bombers step up to the plate. They are developing their own new program, implementing it on the ground in Winnipeg and across Manitoba.
So I think there are great opportunities. We're open to other ideas of what would be opportunities to have a men and boys engagement campaign to reduce violence against women and girls. This is a whole society approach. It's not just about saying that this attitude, this process, was bad; it's about making sure that these young people who may be perpetuating crimes actually understand what appropriate behaviour is.
:
Thank you very much for the question.
Our new call for proposals does focus on the three areas that Status of Women Canada...and what we heard across the country about where it is that women thought we should focus.
The first is mentorship. That is what I hear the most about, making sure there's an individual there to aid you in starting your company, maintaining your company, and growing your company, not just domestically but also internationally. In addition, champions, sponsors.... There is a difference between the two and I can say this, having been championed in my two professional careers by two different people—the last time I checked, Dr. John Wedge was not a parliamentarian and Jim Flaherty was not a surgeon. Having a champion at the table who is willing to put your name forward and provide you with opportunities is extremely important. So that's the intent behind our call for proposals and also the economic action plan 2014's program.
As I mentioned before, we're open to ideas and I'm doing cross-country consultations on building the most robust program on this. It's making sure that we are providing women with that mentorship and sponsorship.
The second is the focus on financial preparedness and it's not just financial preparedness for the woman who's starting her business or the woman who might not know the basics of financial preparedness. I've heard from many women across the country that they have a small business with eight or 10 people working for them and there is great potential for expansion but they don't necessarily know what all those component parts are that are required for financial literacy and where to focus for growth. So we are making sure that those tools are made available to them to help them grow their businesses, which I think provide great opportunities for Canadians across the country. It will increase the number of jobs available.
Also, and I think importantly, we know that women-led businesses employ more women, disproportionately, and that provides a great opportunity for more women to be employed in the economy in areas that they may find of substantive interest.
Our last area is focusing on professionalism and various professions, including as I mentioned the skilled professional trades, and making sure that women who are interested in those areas have the skill sets they need to be successful. So looking forward to this, I encourage all parliamentarians and Canadians across the country to please apply. This should be an excellent opportunity for Canadians to benefit.
:
Thank you for the question. I would say that, in fact, this is not unrelated to your previous question about women-specific funding across the federal government. In fact, just let me give you a tiny example where it might be a bit difficult to do exactly this, which would be addressing violence.
For example, you mentioned Public Safety's national crime prevention strategy. They will obviously fund projects that intervene with girls as well as boys, men as well as women, so it would be very difficult in many regards to try to distinguish where the specific funding goes, whether it's actually specific to women or not.
That said, in regard to the gender-based analysis across the federal government, as you will remember, there was a 2009 action plan. Status of Women Canada fundamentally plays a capacity-building role. We are knowledge brokers. We help departments develop the capacity. It's fair to say that over the years of implementing this action plan we've seen good and positive results across the board, whether it be in the health sector, for example, or more recently in the science and technology sectors.
Clearly, gradually through the various initiatives undertaken by Status of Women Canada we do see successes being achieved across the federal government.
:
You're right to say that it is both internal to the federal government, and external with stakeholders.
For example, with the provinces and territories, through the FPT ministers' round table, we will in fact have a discussion of this very issue. We will take stock of progress made using GBA in provincial and territorial governments this coming June, and with academics, taking stock of the latest knowledge in how to implement gender-based analysis in the mainstream. We similarly involve these external stakeholders, and within the federal family, we aim toward a more in-depth way with specific sectors, for example, as I mentioned earlier with the science and technology sector.
GBA is a tool for good public policy. In this regard, if we are able to mainstream GBA within these sectors that are so vital to Canada's economic prosperity, then presumably this will also lead to increasing women's economic security as well as contributing to Canada's overall economic prosperity.
That's also why we work with these clusters of departments, including in this case, as I just mentioned, science and technology. NRCan is one good example where we have certainly made progress in the past year.
:
Thank you, Cousin Young.
It's me again. Sorry about that. It's just because we kind of got cut off a little earlier, so I do appreciate my colleague sharing his time.
We talked a little bit earlier about capturing programs and services that support women, and children and youth, obviously, in the different departments. But I want to just touch a bit about international work as well, as some of my colleagues have here.
I was very fortunate in that I was able to travel to Cambodia a couple of years ago and see one of the maternal and child health clinics that our government is funding under the 's maternal and child health initiative that he did with the G-7 in 2009, I believe it was. That, as you know, is a $2-billion project and program with international funding. It's specifically targeted to women and children, and we all know that it's saving something like 6.6 million lives around the world. So there's that.
The second component of this is the human trafficking national action plan, which was headed up by one of our members of Parliament, , and outlines our plan internationally as well to work with and support women—mainly women, obviously—who are being trafficked. It was heartbreaking, but I also had the ability to go and see some of those programs that were funded through World Vision in Thailand and in India just recently, with the Governor General as a matter of fact.
I also wanted to talk to you about the fact that we are currently in the middle of doing a study, obviously, as was mentioned previously, on the economic prosperity and leadership of women. Under that we had somebody come in from the federal Business Development Bank who said that they also had a program helping women get set up to do business, whether it was a small business or a medium business, etc. So there again, there was another program specifically targeted for women.
Of course we all know about the International Day of the Girl that developed and led internationally with the United Nations and the impact that is obviously, hopefully, having around the world.
So I guess my question to you good people is how are we capturing those international, really important, significantly impactful programs that this country, our government, is leading, and not just in Canada because some of these programs, obviously, are happening here too. We have the human trafficking one, for example. We have actually, as you know, busted groups and people who were trafficking, and there's a lot of work happening in that area.
So how are you capturing those things, and how is it that we can then learn from that?
Thank you.