Justin Trudeau has said there is "still much work to be done" to achieve gender quality and that men need to be comfortable calling themselves feminists.
The Canadian Prime Minister walked on to the stage at the Waldorf Astoria New York hotel hand in hand with his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, to receive a special commendation at an awards ceremony on gender equality.
“As many of you know I’m a feminist and am proud to call myself one,” he said to loud applause.
“Men need to speak out in support of gender equality. And men, we need to get comfortable with identifying ourselves as feminists,” he added.
The youngest ever Canadian Prime Minister was the man to establish the country’s first ever 50 per cent female cabinet since he was voted into power last October.
'Trudeaumania' has since taken hold. He pulled Canadian air strikes from Syria, has welcomed refugees, is reputedly a good dancer and has called himself a feminist. This week, in front of a group of 1,600 of the most powerful business leaders and executives in North America, he used the opportunity at the annual Catalyst conference on gender equality to praise his wife.
“Sophie inspires me every day to be better. I wouldn’t be here tonight if it weren’t for her leadership and her example,” he said. “Merci mon amour.”
Flanked by Canadian Ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, and Patricia Hajdu, Minister of Status of Women, Mr Trudeau spoke of the hard work and dedication that took place every year since 2012 – the year he first ran for leadership of his Liberal Party – to establish a gender balanced cabinet.
“When we ask a man: “Do you want to run for office?” his first question is: “When do I start?” The woman would ask: “Why me? Are you serious? Why am I qualified for the job?”
The 44-year-old added that there is a “tremendous amount of work” to be done to establish pay equality, equal representation in parliament as well as the cabinet, access to quality childcare and to stamp out violence against women.
“It’s a massive mountain to climb. But we are determined to make significant steps towards that,” he said. “For anyone who says there isn’t much more to do, just tell them to ask any women they know.”
His comments come the same week that Phumzile Mlambo, executive director of UN Women, awarded Mr Trudeau the status of “HeForShe”, an ambassador for women’s equality, the same campaign that actress Emma Watson has supported.
