NDP Women and Gender Equality Critic Leah Gazan calls out Prime Minister Carney for silencing women and gender diverse people

WINNIPEG - On Wednesday, MP Leah Gazan, the NDP’s critic for Women and Gender Equality, is condemning Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to move the women and gender equality portfolio under Minister Steven Guilbeault. While the prime minister eliminated a cabinet position for women and gender equality in his recent cabinet shuffle, his office has confirmed Guilbeault will be responsible for this file, normally looked after by a woman minister.

“Carney is telling women and gender diverse people that our experience doesn’t matter, and that we’re better off being represented by a man,” said Gazan. “At a time when we need representation the most, the Liberals have abandoned us.”

Since the prime minister’s cabinet announcement last week, various advocacy groups have voiced concern that groups like women and gender diverse people, seniors, youth, and people with disabilities have lost their voice in government. Nearly 300 women’s organizations and other advocacy groups have signed a joint statement issued by the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women condemning Prime Minister Carney for neglecting Canada’s international human rights obligations on gender equality and calling on him to reinstate a Minister for Women and Gender Equality.

“At a time when misogynistic and anti-2SLGBTQQIA+ politics are on the rise, more than ever we need to work to close the wage gap, end gender-based violence and protect reproductive health care. I stand alongside all women’s organizations calling on Carney to reinstate a Minister for Women and Gender Equality and prioritize real representation of women and gender diverse people.”