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House Hansard - 330

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 12, 2024 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 330 - Jun/12/24
Ms. Rachel Blaney (North Island—Powell River, NDP)
  • Jun/12/24 2:17:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today is an important day, one where Parliament will finally have a report that lays out the issues of women veterans. This matters because it is the first of its kind. Over a year ago, when I put forward a motion to study women veterans, with my friend from the Bloc Québécois adding a section on MST, I found out that there had never been a study focused solely on women veterans before. Twenty-three sessions later, today, that report will be tabled, and the women veterans will be seen. I hope this place is listening to the women who served us and who spoke repeatedly about being made invisible. The recommendation set a baseline that women veterans will be watching closely. This place needs to move forward with action. I want to thank every witness who came forward. I want to thank every person who wrote to the committee. I want to acknowledge the dedication and the solidarity of the women who came to stand with one another. Their strength and dignity has made me a better parliamentarian.
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Context: House Hansard - 330 - Jun/12/24
Ms. Rachel Blaney
  • Jun/12/24 3:54:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent for the Bloc and the NDP to present their supplementary opinion to the report of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs entitled ”Invisible No More. The Experiences of Canadian Women Veterans.”
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Context: House Hansard - 330 - Jun/12/24
Ms. Rachel Blaney (North Island—Powell River, NDP)
  • Jun/12/24 3:56:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on a personal level, the study has been one of the most painful and beautiful studies I have ever been part of, but we have to remember that the study exposes how women are treated by systems they committed themselves to in order to serve us all. When women were finally allowed into the CAF, there was no work done to include them. Inclusion matters, and the lack of inclusion created invisibility, a wound that has not yet been healed. This violated women's safety. It made them targets. They were wearing uniforms and equipment made for men, not for women's bodies. Little access or research for medical care for women was included, and there was no space created for military women to have a safe place to report military sexual trauma. This limited their ability to thrive. I want to be clear that they still fought for Canadians. I hope every Canadian reads the report, listens to the voices and makes visible what was invisible for so long. I call on the government to complete all recommendations. We cannot squander the hope of the beautiful women who reported to us in this place.
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