The announcement of Canada’s second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (the C-NAP) on November 1 came with much excitement and fanfare, with several federal ministers there in support, along with a room bursting with diplomats, civil society representatives, and rows of videographers, reporters, and photographers documenting the event. The announcement was also livestreamed online, capturing more than just the large audience in the room. With this announcement, the new C-NAP has been placed squarely within a new feminist foreign policy movement in Canada, but how well does it hold up to feminist scrutiny?

In Canada, it seems that to be a feminist and to enact policy based in feminist theory and research is becoming increasingly more visible at the highest levels of government. In addition to the C-NAP launch, this year Canada announced its Feminist International Assistance Policy on June 9, and on November 15, the Prime Minister announced the Elsie Initiative on Women in Peace Operations. This is not to forget the earlier references to feminism from Canada on the world stage, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declaring himself a feminist early in his tenure, and creating gender parity and recognizing diversity in the Cabinet.

The history of the C-NAP extends back to the first United Nations Security Council Resolution on Women, Peace and Security on October 31, 2000. Resolution 1325 affirmed the important role of women in peacekeeping, conflict resolution, peace negotiation and post-conflict reconstruction, and with a call to action by the UN in 2004, has since been integral to member nations increasing the participation of women and incorporating gender perspectives into their peace and security operations. Seven more Security Council Resolutions have bolstered 1325 and have become what is known as the WPS Agenda, recognizing sexual violence as a weapon of war, encouraging collaborative approaches to peacebuilding with civil society, and supporting training for peace operatives on issues of gender and women’s empowerment.

Canada quietly released its first C-NAP in 2010, with few supporting documents, six years after the UN called on member states to act. This first C-NAP expired in 2016, and following this the Canadian government conducted a two-day consultation this past April to build a new, more comprehensive and better-informed document. The second iteration of the C-NAP utilizes gender inclusive terminology, cites informative academic research, and outlines its whole-of-government usefulness for the broadened list of implicated government departments through implementation plans and a published theory of change. These efforts distinguish the second C-NAP from the first, but do they indicate a real willingness by the Canadian government to take a feminist stance on issues of global peace and security?