International Women’s Day, which takes place Friday, is usually Justin Trudeau’s time to shine — a day our self-proclaimed feminist prime minister pulls out all the stops to champion gender equality.
In 2016, riding high on the viral validation of his because-it’s-the-current-year shrug with regards to his new gender-balanced cabinet, Trudeau wrote a Globe and Mail op-ed, stating: “Equality is not a threat, it is an opportunity.”
In 2017, he was interviewed by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg about how men need to be partners in the fight for gender equality — a post his team was trying to promote in hopes, perhaps, of eclipsing his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau’s International Women’s Day post, which caught a lot of flak because it was … about her husband.
Last year, Trudeau even accepted an award for his record on feminism — the 2018 Catalyst for Change Award — at a lunch hosted by Equal Voice Canada, an organization that boosts women in Canadian politics.
But here we are, on the cusp of International Women’s Day 2019. Which happens to be an election year. Whatever celebratory activity Trudeau has planned will be cast with a pall of controversy, his feminist cred called into question based on his alleged treatment of key women in his formerly gender-balanced cabinet. This pall imperils not only his carefully crafted feminist brand, but also the hard work his government has done to make life better for Canadian women.
WATCH: Wilson-Raybould — I was pressured to ‘help out’ in SNC case
No, Trudeau’s International Women’s Day will instead be overshadowed by the departures of two powerhouse women from his cabinet and, of course, by the appearance of his former principal secretary, Gerald Butts, before a justice committee responding to allegations that the Prime Minister’s Office inappropriately pressured then-attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to intervene in the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. Wilson-Raybould had stepped down from cabinet before giving her testimony last week — describing in detail, with timestamps and everything, the patronizing way in which the Trudeau government allegedly tried to wear her down.
On Monday, another star minister, Jane Philpott, exited as well, saying in a statement that she could not remain in cabinet because she had “lost confidence” in how this matter was handled. Just a day earlier, outspoken Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes said she was not going to run for the Liberals again this fall.
It’s a bad look for the Liberals, and it gets worse with every beat of silence and every well-meaning defence of the government. Unhelpfully, Trudeau’s other purportedly feminist high-profile cabinet member, Finance Minister Bill Morneau, refused on Monday to take his former colleagues’ strongly worded statements at face value, dismissing their departures as if they were high school girls in a loyal clique. But perhaps his words were illuminating of how Trudeau and his fellow higher-ups really feel about women standing up for their right to be respected, to support one another within a government that claims to support women but perhaps doesn’t much like that happening within its own ranks if it isn’t in service to the prime minister.
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WATCH: Politicians react to resignation of former Treasury Board president Jane Philpott
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Former deputy PM Sheila Copps criticizes Wilson-Raybould, Philpott for not being team players -
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Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef on Jane Philpott resignation -
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reacts to resignation of MP Jane Philpott from cabinet -
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Yes, loyalty is important, and another star minister, Chrystia Freeland, is out there defending the PM. But if any of the tension at all within the ranks of government was gendered, it doesn’t make the prime minister a “fake feminist,” as his detractors are gleefully accusing him of being. But it does risk making this government — which has so loudly and so proudly stood for women — appear hypocritical. I wonder, for example, if there would have been the same lengthy and numerous attempts to grind down a male attorney general as there were to try to get Wilson-Raybould to change her mind.
There is no such thing as a perfect feminist. But when the most powerful person in the country has staked his name on it, the expectations and costs are ultimately higher.
In his many public discussions about feminism, Trudeau himself has pointed out the problem of retention of women in the workplace — about how to keep women in their roles and how to even advance them to positions of leadership where they get to call the shots. Clearly, he knows exactly how difficult this task can be.
Which is why this is all so unfortunate. Trudeau’s government has walked the talk, at least where policy is concerned. It’s all put at risk because he allegedly could not be the kind of feminist who respects fellow powerhouse feminists who happen to be women.
READ MORE: Gerald Butts says ‘grey area’ between political staff, Wilson-Raybould on SNC-Lavalin affair
Before all of this hit the fan, Oxfam Canada prepared a scorecard on Trudeau’s feminism and released it this week. The organization gave the Trudeau government major props for representation, leadership and global development (thanks, in large part, to the decision to convene a G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council, create the Department for Women and Gender Equality, and fund the Feminist International Assistance Policy). It also said the government’s feminist efforts have “undoubtedly started to pay off,” with meaningful funding for grassroots feminist groups — particularly those trying to end violence against women — and tabled pay equity legislation.
The 2018 budget was the first one to apply a gender lens, analyzing how policies impact women differently from men on everything from job creation to climate change. And so on March 19, all eyes will be on budget 2019 — which will essentially serve as the Liberals’ campaign platform. Oxfam says more investment is needed — real money — to bolster those policies and make better, tangible change on the ground. That can’t happen if the Liberals get voted out in favour of the Conservatives or even the NDP, which has perhaps intentionally not talked about gender issues to the same degree, given that it’s been such a key part of the Liberals’ brand. Will they be any better?
This controversy — if it lingers and continues to do damage to the Liberals — will all, ultimately, come at a cost to Canadian women.
Trudeau is winning no awards this International Women’s Day. It remains to be seen if he can repair this damage and win the election.
Sarah Boesveld is senior writer at Chatelaine.
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