TORONTO — Being a feminist is not an easy job.

Just ask Justin Trudeau. A day after his non-apology for the political crisis engulfing his government, with accusations that he bullied his female justice minister on a criminal case, the Canadian prime minister met with young women in Toronto to celebrate International Women’s Day.

But women around the country are grumbling.

“You can’t just add women and stir,” said Lise Gotell, professor of women’s and gender studies at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. “Strong feminist leadership is principled, the antithesis of back-room party politics.”

The prime minister is arguably not just Canada’s most feminist leader, but also one of the world’s must public proponents of gender equality.

He appointed the country’s first gender-balanced cabinet and passed its first gender-equality budget. He increased international aid directed specifically at women, introduced policies to protect women from violence and sexual harassment at work and at home, and unlocked funding for grass-roots feminist organizations across the country.