In June 2017, Canada introduced its Feminist International Assistance Policy and began to refer, in official documents and speeches, to its foreign policy more broadly as ‘feminist’. Despite these numerous references, a full feminist foreign policy was never set out by the government. After the election of 2019, and the shuffle of FFP-champion Chrystia Freeland out of foreign affairs, many wondered if feminist foreign policy had staying power. However, in a speech in February 2020 at the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, new minister François-Philippe Champagne promised a white paper on Canada’s feminist foreign policy, stating that Canada is ‘proud to have a feminist foreign policy, not because it looks good, but because it produces tangible and measurable results.’ Less than a month later, Canada was locked down due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the federal government was suddenly fully focused on responding to this unprecedented crisis. By August, parliament was prorogued, with the government promising a new mandate to be presented in September. There has been no public statement about the promised white paper since February.
With this context in mind, these two joint panels consider the future of feminist foreign policy in Canada. These panels address policy concerns and prescriptions as well as theoretical, ethical and political considerations. What should a Canadian FFP look like, going forward? What kind of ‘tangible and measurable results’ can or should be expected? What understandings of gender and race inform feminist foreign policy, and what are the implications of these? Can FFP be truly intersectional? How, if at all, should our understanding of FFP be influenced by the socio-political and economic effects of the global pandemic?
Participants/Presenters
Stephen Brown (University of Ottawa): Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Canada’s ‘Feminist’ International Assistance
Marsha Henry (London School of Economics and Political Science): On the Necessity of Critical ‘Race’ and Feminist Theory for Peacekeeping Contexts
Margaret Jenkins (Central European University): What Should Canada’s Feminist Foreign Policy Aim to Do
Laura Macdonald (Carleton University): Trading on Inequality? Evaluating Canada’s Approach to a Feminist Trade Policy
Fiona Robinson (Carleton University): The Vulnerable, Virtuous Woman: Reflections on Neoliberalism and Colonialism in Canada’s FIAP
Rebecca Tiessen (University of Ottawa): Whose Feminism (s)? Overseas Partner Organization’s Perceptions of Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP)
Beth Woroniuk (Policy Lead, Equality Fund): Canada’s Feminist Foreign Policy: A View from Civil Society