The feminine side of trade

Canada’s Chief Justice says trade negotiators should consider undertaking “gender-impact statements” as part of their international dealings to measure the effect that they have on the lives of women.

Beverley McLachlin, the first woman to lead the Supreme Court of Canada, cautioned that she is not a “trade policy person” and that she is not telling governments how to do business, but she said that formally assessing how trade impacts gender issues could be an idea whose time has come.

“We have to look at the actual situation on the ground,” she told a conference at the University of Ottawa on Thursday.

“It strikes me that if we look at impacts on the environment when we’re going to take on an environmental project, why wouldn’t we look at gender impact when we’re drafting a new trade regime or working on a particular trade problem?”