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Myra Tawfik, a law professor at the University of Windsor, said while a dedicated chapter would have “much more impact and much more symbolic effect,” Canada had made a good first step.

Tawfik compared it to the language dealing with environmental issues contained in the original NAFTA deal, an 11th-hour addition to that deal which in the USMCA is now the subject of a dedicated chapter. Indigenous issues could follow a similar trajectory, she said.

Gender rights didn’t get quite the same attention that Indigenous rights did, however.

Photo by Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press

In the past, language in trade deals regarding gender has been mainly political in nature, and thus “probably the first to be dropped” in a tough negotiation, said Maria Panezi, a research fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. “It’s unfortunate, but it’s true,” she said.

What ultimately ended up in the USMCA deal amounts to a “vague encouragement to be nice,” said Panezi.

Despite disappointment over gender not being the subject of a dedicated chapter, Panezi said the Trudeau government’s commitment to the issue “is definitely genuine,” and lauded the progress made so far. Provisions Canada’s recent free trade deals with Chile and Israel, along with the government’s adoption of gender-based analysis, show a concerted effort, she said, but concrete provisions in trade deals would go a long way.

A trade-deal agreement to improve data collection related to gender would be a simple but important initiative that could make a big difference, Panezi said.

What recognition there is in the USMCA, though, leaves Panezi feeling more optimistic than pessimistic.

“Could this agreement be better? Absolutely. But I want this to work,” she said.

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