Speaker: Ms. May
Time: 30/05/2022 15:12:20
Context: Question
Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP): Mr. Speaker, understandably, Russia’s assault on Ukraine has dominated our foreign policy agenda, but we know it is not the only crisis. The Taliban has declared war on women and girls. They are not allowed to go to school, they are not allowed to walk down the street and their male family members have become their jailers. This is a regime of gender apartheid.
Will the government confirm that, with a feminist foreign policy, the policy is not to stand back and do nothing? What does “feminist foreign policy” mean for women and girls in Afghanistan?
Hon. Mélanie Joly (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the situation Afghans are facing, in particular Afghan women and girls, is absolutely terrible. Canada condemns the Taliban’s oppression of women’s liberty in Afghanistan. As the Taliban continues this act of discrimination, the prospects for a better life are being denied to girls. Access to education is a human right to which every woman and every girl is entitled, and the Taliban will be judged by its actions and not by its words.