A Liberal motion will be moved later today to create a new ambassador for woman, peace and security.
Cheryl Gallant, M.P. for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, says that it’s just for show. “It’s more to make it look like Canada is doing something, rather than actually do something,” she says. She went on to say, “what he’s doing is more for show than for reality.”
The motion states that it will reaffirm Canada’s commitment to “enhance our leadership role in advancing the cause of peace domestically and throughout the world.” Gallant says that Professor Bipasha Baruah spoke during a defence committee meeting about Canada’s shortsighted commitments on woman in peacekeeping. Baruah says woman are put on peacekeeping missions to calm the men. Gallant added that there haven’t been enough woman peacekeeping missions to have the evidence that proves they have a calming affect.
Gallant went on to say that before money is put into figurehead positions like the one being put into motion, the government needs to work on resolving the sexual assault problem in the military. “What we really need to do is put the resources into having genuine attitudinal behavioural change to make it safe on military bases and in the military for woman,” she says.