Hajdu proud to fund opposing voices on women’s issues, but not for anti-abortion

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Bluesky
• Share on X
• Copy Link

“So, it would have to still fall within the realm of feminism.”

LOCAL TALENT

'A big summer ahead of us': Sask. Indian Relay team charges toward Calgary Stampede and Muckleshoot Gold Cup

8h ago

Bang for your buck

Consumers aren't ditching beef due to high costs, they're just 'trading down'

8h ago

'WE ARE SO GRATEFUL'

BATC donates $20K to support Battlefords Ag Society renovations

9h ago

The funding as of July 1 essentially reversed a controversial policy the previous Conservative government brought in nearly a decade ago, when it decided Status of Women Canada would no longer fund projects that involved advocacy work, lobbying governments or general research — a decision critics have argued had a chilling effect on the work of feminist organizations.

“I think that is a very important part of public policy — hearing from people that don’t necessarily share your perspective or want change to happen more quickly or have innovative ideas that governments are not considering,” Hajdu said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also gave Hajdu the mandate to make sure the government applies a gender-based analysis — a tool that helps government study how policy, legislation and program decisions might impact women and men in different ways — to proposals before they get to the cabinet table.

Some advocates have also pushed to include gender-based analysis in the environmental assessment process for natural resource development projects, arguing that women are disproportionately affected by the increased cost of living and the mostly male transient workforce associated with resource extraction.

Hajdu would not disclose whether the Liberal cabinet weighed the impact on women and girls before approving the Pacific NorthWest LNG project or a decision by the federal Fisheries and Oceans Department to grant permits to allow the B.C. Hydro Site C dam and hydroelectric generating station.

“Gender-based analysis is an evolving process,” said Hajdu, who within the next few weeks will formally respond to a Status of Women committee report that urged the government to make the tool mandatory across all departments and agencies.

She said she cannot discuss what happened around the cabinet table, but added: “My job, though, broadly, is to speak on behalf of women and I can guarantee you that I always do that.”

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency did not include a gender-based analysis in its report on the liquefied natural gas project, but Caitlin Workman, a spokeswoman for Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, confirmed the topic did come up in discussions.

Jane Stinson, the director of the FemNorthNet project at the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, said making gender-based analysis a necessary part of the environmental assessment agency’s reports would not only ensure it happens, but that everyone knows what it revealed.

“It also then provides guidelines to the proponent, it alerts the community as to what are the issues that people should be anticipating, planning for and attempting to mitigate,” said Stinson.

Hajdu also spoke about how important it was to include indigenous women and girls — including the late Shannen Koostachin, the young activist who demanded a new school in her home community of Attawapiskat, Ont. — in the list of female Canadian trailblazers Status of Women Canada is highlighting this month.

“I think the challenge with the way that history has been presented in Canada for a very long time is that it hasn’t been balanced.”

— Follow @smithjoanna on Twitter

Joanna Smith, The Canadian Press