This article originally appeared in the National Post.
By Lisa MacLeod, January 2, 2026
Canada is drifting into a dangerous contradiction: we speak the language of women’s equality but tolerate legal, judicial and diplomatic outcomes that steadily erode women’s actual standing under the law.
This is not rhetorical overreach. It is the observable reality of judicial rulings, policing outcomes, and a foreign policy posture that accommodates regimes where women are formally subordinated.
A state that cannot or will not protect women’s safety, dignity, and equality is not merely failing a constituency. It is undermining its own legitimacy.
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Lisa MacLeod is a former Ontario cabinet minister and six-term MPP, and is an ambassador for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s Promised Land project.
