Feminists have applauded Canada’s efforts to “break the bias”—the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day—working against women in global trade. However, many also wonder if there are deeper biases that need to be addressed before we can call Canada’s trade policy feminist.
The way the Canadian government evaluates and measures the gendered impact of trade and trade agreements has received little attention relative to other aspects of the inclusive trade agenda. As feminist analysts have argued, measurement is not a neutral process. What indicators we choose, what methods we adopt, who is included in consultation processes, and what assumptions we make when undertaking our analyses all affect the outcomes.