Witness fears MP’s treatment will prevent other survivors from speaking out – National
A witness who left a House of Commons committee hearing on violence against women In tears this week after the meeting descended into arguments, she said she fears the incident will make it harder for other survivors to come forward.
In a series of conversations with Global News, Cait Alexander, who testified before the status of women committee that she narrowly survived a violent and abusive relationship, said her experience on Parliament Hill broke her heart and left her furious that the message she came to Ottawa to deliver had been overshadowed.
“It takes courage to speak out,” she said. “It takes courage to confront someone when you don’t know how they’re going to react to your situation. And the way that situation was handled was exactly the fear that every survivor and every victim feels.”
“That’s why I call it ‘abuse’…because it’s the same mental manipulation and minimization of our experience that keeps us from coming forward.”
Emergency Committee Meeting on Wednesday was called by the Conservatives in the middle of the parliamentary summer recess to hear from advocates for victims of domestic violence and a deputy police chief from Peel Region, in light of several recent high-profile cases and crime data recently released by Statistics Canada.
But the meeting derailed shortly after opening statements, with Liberal and NDP members accusing the Conservatives of rushing the meeting for political purposes and failing to include witnesses from at-risk Indigenous and LGBTQ2 communities.
Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld told the committee meeting that she and all committee members care about the issue of gender-based violence, then asked for debate on a motion related to abortion rights, which the Liberals say would be in jeopardy under a Conservative government. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre denied the accusation.
NDP MP Leah Gazan, who is Indigenous, then raised several points of order to speak and, after being allowed to do so, spoke at length about abortion access and the lack of marginalized voices at Wednesday’s meeting, reading from prepared remarks.
Vandenbeld’s motion set off a lengthy back-and-forth on the proceedings, leaving Alexander and Megan Walker, an advocate for ending gender-based violence, sitting silently at the witness table.
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As the debate on procedure continued, Alexander and Walker turned their backs on the committee and stormed out of the room.
“I think it was very childish, on all sides,” Alexander said Thursday. That includes the Conservatives, she said, who have since repeatedly attacked the Liberals and the NDP over what happened.
“I don’t have a partisan agenda. I’m very upset that this issue has been turned into a debate about this topic when it shouldn’t be.
“Our trauma will not be used for political purposes.”
The meeting heard some enlightening testimony before deviating from the subject.
Nick Milinovich, deputy chief of Peel Regional Police, said in his region alone, data shows “one woman is strangled every day.” He detailed some of the victims of recent femicides in Peel, who he said account for nearly 20 per cent of the 114 homicides so far this year.
Alexander shared graphic photos of the abuse she suffered during her opening statement and read a list of related cases, including that of Breanna Broadfoot, 17, was killed in what Ontario police say was a domestic violence incident.
Alexander, a Canadian citizen who lives in Los Angeles, told Global News that she immediately began reaching out to survivors and victims’ families to get permission to share their stories as soon as she received the invitation to appear before the committee from her staff.
Statistics Canada’s latest annual report on police-reported crime, released last week, shows the number of female homicide victims last year was almost identical to that of 2022 — 205 women killed — despite a 14% drop in the total number of homicide victims during the same period.
Homicides against women increased by 31% compared to 2019, compared to 12% for all sexes.
The new data also shows that reports to police of unwanted sex, touching and sexual assault with a weapon have increased by 75 and 96 percent, respectively, since 2015.
A survivor advocate from British Columbia said the way the meeting unfolded showed that committee members did not fully appreciate the testimony presented, nor the importance of survivors and advocates appearing in person.
“We need to honour these stories,” said Dalya Israel, executive director of the Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre in Vancouver.
“We need to be aware of the realities and horrors that people are experiencing, regardless of what government they support or represent or where they come from.”
Vandenbeld and the Liberals did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Global News. An NDP spokesperson said Friday that Gazan was unavailable for comment after multiple requests to his office and the party.
Vandenbeld said in a statement to The Canadian Press on Thursday that she deeply regretted the “distress this meeting caused witnesses.”
“This is not an apology,” said Alexander, who demanded one.
She said she has not heard directly from Mr. Vandenbeld, but has spoken privately to other MPs, both on and off the committee – including Conservatives, Liberals and the Bloc Québécois – who have offered their own apologies and regrets for what happened Wednesday.
Conservative MP Michelle Ferreri said Thursday she had brought forward a motion to the committee for four additional meetings on the issue of violence against women.
Despite what happened, Alexander said she would still accept a future invitation from the committee to testify, and hopes other survivors will not be deterred from doing the same.
She said her experience and the advocacy it inspired leave her no choice but to continue speaking out.
“If (my attacker) had picked up the meat tenderizer and not the rolling pin, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now,” she said.
“I will not be silent.”
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