Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was joined by Peter Boehm, Deputy Minister for the G7 Summit and Personal Representative of the Prime Minister (Sherpa) on Facebook LIVE today to reveal the themes Canada intends to take on when the G7 is handed over on Jan. 1.
While there were five main themes announced, Trudeau made it clear that the fight for gender equality would play a role in every aspect of the agenda.
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The themes outlined were:
- Investing in growth that works for everyone: Trudeau stated that it’s important to make sur that everyone can benefit from created wealth.
- Preparing for jobs of the future: The focus here will be on helping train people for the jobs of the future, as Trudeau pointed out how much technology changes the world.
- Advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment: "This isn’t just the right thing to do," he said, "It’s also the smart thing to do for our economies." Under the Feminist International Assistance Policy, Canadian aid focuses on initiatives that address the needs of women and girls. Trudeau explained that all components of the G7 plans will underline this important concept.
- Working together on climate change, oceans and clean energy: "It’s more urgent than ever that the world come together to fight climate change," he said.
- Building a more peaceful and secure world: Trudeau pointed out that as the nature of conflict of changes, it is essential that partners work together to bring about sustainable peace.
Trudeau and Boehm announced that the G7 ministerial meetings will take place leading up to the summit, but details on those meetings are still to come.
"Advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment will be a part of every ministerial meeting, it’ll be a part of the broader G7 agenda, and it'll be considered every step of the way," Trudeau reiterated.
Boehm and Trudeau took questions from the Facebook feed, including one about Canada’s commitment to girls’ education.
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Asked if Canada will help ensure that girls education is a priority on the G7 agenda, Boehm answered.
"Yes we will, Malala has come to Ottawa, other high profile advocates around the world have told us that they would like to see girls education on the agenda," he said.
The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) was created in 2002 to help bring education to children out of school. Its next replenishment will take place in February 2018 and Canada’s commitment is still unclear.
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Another question touched on climate change and Trudeau said that ensuring environmental commitments to the Paris Agreement are met will be a focus, confirming that it is important to confront the effects of climate change.
"Canada is proud to put forward a progressive agenda for the 2018 G7. The themes we have chosen for the year will help focus our discussions on finding real, concrete solutions to promote gender equality, women’s empowerment, clean energy, and economic growth that works for everyone," he said in his official statement.
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