By Jeanette Ashe, King’s College London, Fiona MacDonald, University of Northern British Columbia, The Conversation
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has unveiled his federal cabinet in his first major opportunity to define the newly elected Liberal government’s direction.
For academics and activists concerned with gender equity, the cabinet announcement was a crucial litmus test for Carney’s approach to inclusive governance. Overall, Carney demonstrated a significant course correction with cabinet appointments that reflect a clear commitment to gender parity going forward.
Carney entered office amid mounting scrutiny. His first cabinet, swiftly formed following his swearing-in as prime minister to replace Justin Trudeau, broke with his predecessor’s near decade-long tradition of gender-balanced cabinets.
Controversially, Carney also eliminated the Minister for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) upon taking office in March. This decision prompted sharp criticism from feminist organizations, including the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, Women’s Shelters Canada, YWCA Canada and Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights.
Demanded a reversal
They wrote and signed an open letter to Carney in March at the annual gathering of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
These groups viewed the removal of WAGE not only as a symbolic loss but as one with tangible, negative policy implications for millions of women and gender-diverse individuals across Canada. They argued: “Gender equality is not an afterthought; it is the backbone of a strong economy and resilient society.”
Investing in feminist policies, including health care, childcare and pharmacare is, in other words, good for business, they said.
In response to this organized feminist pushback, Carney has revised his approach. His cabinet comprises 28 full ministers: 14 women and 15 men, including the prime minister. In addition, Carney appointed 10 junior ministers as secretaries of state: four women and six men. WAGE has also now been restored as a full ministry.
Men hold the most substantive posts
While reinstating gender parity in cabinet marks an improvement, it is not without caveats. While women now make up almost half of both cabinet tiers, it’s not sufficient. Substantive representation, in which women hold influential decision-making positions, is lacking.
A closer look reveals Carney’s appointments may be seen as a form of gender-washing — symbolically inclusive, but not substantively so.
Notably, men hold five of the six most powerful positions in his core cabinet: finance, justice and attorney general, government House leader, president of the King’s Privy Council and president of the Treasury Board. Only one of these key roles — foreign affairs — was awarded to a woman, Anita Anand.
This reflects persistent gender trends identified by scholars like Roosmarijn de Geus and Peter Loewen, who found in 2021 that women are under-represented in Canada in the more influential or “masculine” portfolios such as finance and defence, and over-represented in those perceived as caring or social in nature.
While women are at Canada’s cabinet table, most do not have seats with the greatest views. Equity in numbers does not yet translate to equity in influence.
Formalizing gender parity
Overall, Canada’s broader trends in political representation remain troubling. The 2025 election saw a decrease in both the proportion of women candidates and elected MPs.
Canada has now slipped to 70th in the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s global ranking for women in national parliaments. With only 30.9 per cent of parliamentary seats held by women, Canada falls well below peer countries such as the United Kingdom (40.5 per cent) and New Zealand (45.5 per cent).
Relying on the electoral fortunes of a single party to push for and uphold gender equity in Canada’s Parliament is unsustainable.
Carney has now shown responsiveness to feminist public critique — a pragmatic move given the high number of women who supported the Liberal Party. If he wants to demonstrate ongoing commitment, his next step could be institutionalizing gender parity in ways that outlast any single leader or party. Such a change would ensure equity in politics is justice-based, not leader-based.
More specifically, Parliament could amend the Parliament of Canada Act to require gender-balanced cabinets. Legislated gender quotas for political parties would also help ensure a minimum baseline of equitable representation in the House of Commons.
More than 100 countries have adopted such quotas. Canada could join them given most Canadians support their use.
The Speaker of the House of Commons could also be tasked with producing annual gender-sensitive assessments of Parliament, policy outputs and government structures.
Overall, Carney’s new cabinet is a win for feminist advocacy, but it cannot be the final word. Canada needs legal mechanisms, cultural shifts and institutionalized reforms to ensure its democratic institutions are truly representative.
Jeanette Ashe, Visiting Senior Research Fellow, King’s College London and Fiona MacDonald, Associate Professor, Political Science, University of Northern British Columbia
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
