Obligations and Omissions: Canada’s Ambiguous Actions on Gender Equality

319 Pages·2017·1.979 MB·English

by  Rebecca Tiessen (editor), Stephen Baranyi (editor)

Obligations and Omissions
McGill-Queen’s Studies in Gender, Sexuality, and
Social Justice in the Global South
Series editors: Marc Epprecht, Rebecca Tiessen, and Habiba Zaman
The twentieth century was a time of intense political, economic, social,
and cultural change in the Global South. Continents were colonized, then
decolonized. Millions of people relocated to cities, sought employment
in new kinds of jobs, and experienced the effects of technological inno-
vations and globalization. These changes have also reshaped the way that
the people of Asia, Africa, and Latin America understand and experience
gender and sexuality. In turn, gender roles and sexual ideologies have
shaped political and economic changes.
The McGill-Queen’s Studies in Gender, Sexuality, and Social Justice
in the Global South series traces the changing conceptions of gender,
sex, and sexuality in the developing world as well as the effects that these
changes have had on politics, society, and social justice. Combining stud-
ies from a historical perspective with works focused on contemporary
issues of social justice, this series welcomes publications from a vari-
ety of academic disciplines and backgrounds. At the heart of the series
is a desire to raise awareness of forgotten histories and a range of top-
ics including the intersections of gender, sexuality, and social justice in
decolonization movements, sex work and questions about autonomy and
agency, how gender constructs are shaped by economic, cultural, and reli-
gious conditions, and societies’ responses to violence, activism, health,
youth cultures, and global change. This series will also illuminate LGBTQ
issues and transgender politics in different cultural contexts and the ways
in which gender roles and sexual hierarchies are produced, reinforced,
and challenged at the state and local level.
1 Obligations and Omissions
Canada’s Ambiguous Actions on Gender Equality
Edited by Rebecca Tiessen and Stephen Baranyi
Obligations
and
Omissions
Canada’s Ambiguous Actions on
Gender Equality
Edited by Rebecca Tiessen and Stephen Baranyi
McGill-Queen’s University Press
Montreal and Kingston • London • Chicago
© McGill-Queen’s University Press 2017
ISBN 978-0-7735-5023-0 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-7735-5024-7 (paper)
ISBN 978-0-7735-5025-4 (ePDF)
ISBN 978-0-7735-5026-1 (ePUB)
Legal deposit second quarter 2017
Bibliothèque nationale du Québec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free (100% post-consumer
recycled), processed chlorine free
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the
Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program,
using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
McGill-Queen’s University Press acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the
Arts for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Govern-
ment of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Obligations and omissions : Canada’s ambiguous actions on gender equality / edited by Rebecca
Tiessen and Stephen Baranyi.

(McGill-Queen’s studies in gender, sexuality, and social justice in the global south ; 1)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-0-7735-5023-0 (hardcover). – ISBN 978-0-7735-5024-7(softcover). – ISBN 978-0-
7735-5025-4 (PDF). – ISBN 978-0-7735-5026-1 (EPUB)

1. Women’s rights – Developing countries – Government policy – Canada. 2. Women’s rights
– Developing countries – International cooperation. 3. Sex discrimination against women –
Developing countries – Government policy – Canada. 4. Sex discrimination against women
– Developing countries. 5. Canada – Foreign relations – Developing countries. 6. Develop-
ing countries – Foreign relations – Canada. 7. Women – Legal status, laws, etc. – Developing
countries. 8. Women – Government policy – Developing countries. I. Baranyi, Stephen,
1962–, editor II. Tiessen, Rebecca, 1970–, editor

HQ1237.5.D48O25 2017 305.4209172’4 C2017-900705-X
C2017-900706-8
This book was typeset by Sandra Friesen in 10.5/13 Minion.
Contents

Tables and Figures vii
Introduction Canada’s Ambiguous Actions on Gender Equality
Rebecca Tiessen and Stephen Baranyi 3
Part One: Themes
1 Did Changes in Official Language Lead to Spending Shifts?
Liam Swiss and Jessica Barry 23
2 Missed Opportunity: A Discursive Analysis of Canada’s Commit-
ments to Maternal Health under the Muskoka Initiative
Julia Keast 49
3 Queer Canada? The Harper Government and International Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Rights
Marc Epprecht and Stephen Brown 69
4 Criminals or Victims? An Analysis of the Harper Conservatives’
Efforts on the Sex Trade and Human Trafficking
Kate Grantham 91
5 Lost without Way-Finders? Disability, Gender, and Canadian Foreign
and Development Policy
Deborah Stienstra 115
vi Contents
Part Two: Case Studies
6 Gold ’n’ Girls: Why Canada Weds Gender Equality with Mining
Capitalism in Burkina Faso
Paula Butler 141
7 Canada, Women, and Artisanal Mining in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo
Julia Hartviksen and Rebecca Tiessen 165
8 Discourse and Whole-of-Government: The Instrumentalization of
Gender in the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team
Sarah Tuckey 189
9 The Gendered Politics of Deceit in Egypt: The Instrumentalization of
Women’s Rights for an International Geostrategic Agenda
Nadia Abu-Zahra, Ruby Dagher, Nicole Brandt, and
Khalid Suliman 211
10 The Erasure of Gender in Canada–Haiti Cooperation?
Stephen Baranyi and Shantelle Binette 237
11 Not High on Our Radar? The Harper Government and Missing and
Murdered Aboriginal Women in Canada
Heather Smith 261
Conclusions Looking Back and Moving Forward
Stephen Baranyi and Rebecca Tiessen 283
Contributors 293
Index 297
Tables and Figures
Tables
1.1 Per cent active projects by CIDA GE policy marker, 2005–2012
(HPD dataset) 33
1.2 Per cent active projects by DAC GE policy marker, 2007–2014
(IATI dataset) 33
5.1 CIDA/DFATD-funded projects relating to disability 125
5.2 Funding by type of project 127
5.3 Handicap International projects funded by CIDA/DFATD 129
5.4 Projects by DPOs funded by CIDA/DFATD 131
10.1 Gender equality focus of CIDA’s aid program in Haiti, 2006–2013
(CAD) 242
10.2 Gender dimensions of START/GPSF projects in Haiti,
2006–2013 249
Figures
1.1 Per cent of active projects by CIDA GE marker category, 2005–2012
(HPD dataset) 34
1.2 Per cent of active projects by DAC GE marker category, 2007–2013
(IATI dataset) 34
1.3 Total annual disbursements by CIDA GE marker, 2005–2012 (HPD
dataset) 37
viii Tables and Figures
1.4 Total annual commitments by DAC GE marker, 2002–2012
(DAC CRS) 37
1.5 Average annual disbursements by CIDA GE marker, 2005–2012
(HPD dataset) 38
1.6 Average annual new project commitment by DAC GE marker,
2007–2013 (IATI dataset) 38
1.7 Mentions of “gender” or “women” in project titles, descriptions, and
results statements, 2007–2013 (IATI dataset) 39
5.1 Approaches to disability in CIDA/DFATD-funded projects 128
5.2 Funding by sector for prevention/recovery projects,
2005–2014 128
5.3 Projects priorities 132
5.4 Is gender included? 133
9.1 Canadian government’s aid to Egypt, 2001–2013 218
10.1 Gender equality focus of CIDA’s aid program in Haiti,
2006–2013 243
Obligations and Omissions