Excerpts
On April 28, women voters delivered a major victory for the Liberal party, turning around the electoral fortunes of a party that had been trailing its major opponent by 25 points in the year leading up to the election.
The Liberals succeeded despite only a cursory discussion of gender equality in the Liberal platform, as the Liberals forcefully sought to distance themselves from the Trudeau record. And despite the removal of Minister for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) from Cabinet in March when Mark Carney was elected Liberal leader, a decision that he walked back after the general election in the face of protest.
Questions continue to linger about the new government’s commitment to gender equality. What’s the status of the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence? Where is the new Employment Equity Act? What’s being done to bolster the capacity of gender equality organizations confronting an increasingly violent anti-feminist backlash?
The answer is “not much,” according to the new 2025-26 Departmental Plan. In fact, with the conclusion of current funding programs, WAGE Canada’s budget is set to decline by a whopping 80 per cent between 2024-25 and 2027-28, a much larger cut than the 15 per cent identified in the new Finance Minister’s Champagne “Comprehensive Expenditure Review.”
In the Liberal platform, the government promised to increase support for the Women’s Economic and Leadership Opportunities Fund, but funds for the Women’s Program (including the Opportunities Fund) are being slashed by over 90 per cent from a high of $226.6 million in 2022-23 to $18.9 million in 2027-28 (in constant 2025 dollars).
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Now the government is talking about cuts so deep that they will exceed those that laid waste to the women’s sector during the Harper years. It is the same story playing out in Washington—the only significant difference is that Canadian policymakers are doing it without the hateful rhetoric.
The upcoming federal budget may yet include investments to strengthen vital supports for Canadians and civil society. Banishing women’s voices and concerns in government and closing down gender equality organizations is not the path of a just or prosperous future.