'Is Canada's Prime Minister merely a Facebook feminist': Evaluating the gender sensitivity of Canada's Parliament

Presented at the www.ecpg.eu/2017-conference.html">ECPG (European Conference on Politics and Gender) in Lausanne, Switzerland (June, 2017).

Canada ranks 64 of 193 countries (IPU, 2016) with women making up 26 percent of its members of parliament. Upon winning the 2015 general election Canada’s new Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau made international headlines by appointing the nation’s first federal sex-balanced cabinet; when asked ‘why’ he replied ‘because it’s 2015’, which went on to become the widely trending #BecauseIts2015 and Facebook meme. Trudeau soon declared himself a feminist and his as the party for feminists. Yet Canada’s parliament may not be what it appears. For example, Trudeau’s feminist government recently rejected a private members’ bill designed to incentivize parties to run more women candidates. The media and activists have referred to the bill as the first piece of feminist legislation to be introduced in the current Parliament. Trudeau missed the vote and the Status of Woman minister along with 78 percent of the Liberal caucus voted to defeat Bill C-237 when it came forward after second reading. After a year in office, the Trudeau government continues to describe itself as feminist, but has thus far done little to advance policies that would lead to gender equity. This paper uses interviews with Canadian MPs to explore the concept “gender sensitive parliaments” using Canada as an example of the tension between rhetoric, symbolism, and legislative action.