Canada to bring feminism to NAFTA talks in seeking new chapter on gender

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OTTAWA – Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says the Liberal government wants to see gender rights in the new North American Free Trade Agreement.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump set up an initiative to support women entrepreneurs earlier this year, which Freeland says shows the White House is willing to play ball on this issue.

She also points out that Canada has done this before, when the Liberal government added a chapter on gender to its free trade deal with Chile.

That pact had both countries agree that working to include women and girls is key to long-term economic development.

Freeland says including gender, Indigenous peoples, the environment and labour standards in the new NAFTA is part of a “progressive” agenda that ensures a free trade deal is also a fair one.

Angella MacEwen of the Canadian Labour Congress says she believes the Liberal government is serious about pushing this issue as part of its commitment to a feminist foreign policy, but it remains to be seen whether the Trump administration will be willing to give it any teeth.

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