SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Gender Equality Advisory Council

Honourable senators, I rise today on the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the great Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation.

As you know, Canada is hosting the G7 leaders’ summit in Kananaskis, Alberta in the coming days.

In advance of the summit, I am pleased to draw your attention to the recommendations of the 2025 G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council, or GEAC. As vice-chair of the council, I have been working with my colleagues over the past several months on recommendations to ensure that G7 leaders take a broad and inclusive approach to gender equality.

Women are significantly under-represented in every sector that G7 leaders seek to promote this year, from artificial intelligence and quantum technologies to critical minerals, private capital mobilization for infrastructure and wildfire management, as well as in peace talks supported by G7 members.

To meet its commitments and achieve better outcomes for all, GEAC calls on G7 leaders to take action in a number of ways: protecting women and girls from AI-facilitated violence and harassment by promoting global standards, adopting legislation and enforcing human rights laws; in the area of critical minerals, investing in capacity building for government and other actors to deliver gender-responsive impact assessments and improve systems for prevention and response to gender-based violence; strengthening strategies to counter transnational repression, or TNR, through the inclusion of gender dimensions in the definition of TNR, highlighting that it affects people differently depending on their gender identity and sexual orientation.

Finally, I would like to focus on our recommendations related to wildfires, particularly as Canadians are once again witnessing the massive devastation and upheaval caused by wildfires in the lives of thousands of people.

GEAC urges G7 leaders to increase women’s participation and leadership in all initiatives that help prevent, respond to and recover from wildfires, including by addressing the barriers to women’s recruitment and career advancement as firefighters, such as gender stereotypes, equipment designed for men, gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment.

We also recommend learning from Indigenous forest-management practices and including Indigenous practitioners in wildfire discussions and efforts to support all stages of emergency management and facilitate the sharing of Indigenous and other best practices among G7 members.

Honourable colleagues, I encourage you to review GEAC’s recommendations that call for meaningful action to advance gender equality and apply gender perspectives across this year’s G7 priority areas.

It has been my honour to serve on the council this year under Canada’s presidency. I look forward to continuing to push forward these recommendations to advance gender equality across the G7 and certainly in Canada.

Thank you, meegwetch.