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Last week, Maryam Monsef, the Minister of Status of Women, announced a strategy to address gender-based violence. Two weeks earlier, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland delivered a speech declaring that womens rights are at the heart of Canadas foreign policy, and a few days later, International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced a feminist foreign-aid policy.

Nothing is more regularly the focus in the Liberal governments announcements, and its politics, than gender-equity and policies and symbols about women. On the day he was sworn in as Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau famously named a gender-balanced cabinet. Since then, almost 60 per cent of the judges appointed by the federal government have been women. In the military, women have been promoted to senior, high-profile positions on the Liberals watch, including the appointment of the new Judge Advocate General, Navy Captain Genevive Bernatchez, last week. The March federal budget came with the gender-based budget statement.

We are changing the world with this work, Ms. Monsef said in an interview. She often seems earnest, but theres no doubting she believes in the impact of these things: that girls such as her eight-year-old niece will be inspired by seeing women in positions of power, or that other countries will feel pressure to follow the example. Frances President, Emmanuel Macron, unveiled a gender-balanced cabinet too, she noted.

For subscribers: Its time for our feminist' Prime Minister to walk the talk

In fact, its not easy for the Liberals to show their gender policies will change the day-to-day lives of women here, let alone around the world. And political opponents dismiss a lot of it as branding.

But theres no doubt that this governments focus on women will have a lasting impact on Canadian politics and government. Even the symbols: Its hard to imagine a future prime minister appointing a cabinet where two-thirds of the ministers are men.

Some of the symbols around gender issues that delight Liberals seem to particularly irritate their opponents, such as Mr. Trudeaus repeated assertions that hes a feminist. Pinkwashing, one New Democrat called it accusing the Liberals of mounting a marketing exercise when they wont back substantive policies to address, for example, the gender gap for low-income women. Some Conservatives argue the Liberals spend money on bureaucracy to signal their good intentions, but their plans wont have concrete effects.

But opponents who dismiss it as political marketing tend to admit it probably works. Oh, theyre kicking our ass, said one Conservative. When in power, Conservatives were often reluctant to talk about the representation of women in positions of power; on the left, touting a feminist foreign-aid policy, for example, can help the Liberals compete with the NDP for progressive voters.

And its clearly not motivated by just electoral politics. There are true believers, cabinet appointees such as Labour Minister Patty Hajdu and influential senior aides such as Mr. Trudeaus chief of staff, Katie Telford. The government, under Ms. Telfords eye, has applied gender-equity tools on matters so boringly inside the machinery of government, such as gender analysis in every department and on all initiatives before cabinet, that it cant possibly be aimed at voters. Its hard to say if that will really have an impact, but in theory, the government will know if infrastructure funds for hockey arenas or daycares are going to create jobs for men or women, or benefit one gender more.

When an investigation by The Globe and Mails Robyn Doolittle found that one in five sexual-assault complaints was dismissed as unfounded, and that the rate of this finding varied dramatically from place to place, it sparked an immediate e-mail chain between Ms. Telford, Ms. Monsef, and Ms. Hajdu. A month later, the budget set aside $100-million for a gender-based violence strategy.

The thing is, gender-based violence is a big, complex problem. Ms. Monsef called it the greatest barrier to gender equity in this country. The centrepiece of the governments new strategy is collecting data, and there have been questions about whether thats really an adequate response.

Ms. Monsef noted that figures havent been collected since 1993 We have cyberviolence. That didnt happen in 1993, she said. Data will help design effective prevention programs. But a key reason she offers is that they will honour the stories of survivors by collecting evidence for policies. Another Liberal government insider suggested that with solid numbers, its harder to argue about the scale of the issue.

Its unclear what impact the strategy will have. But the Liberals have done a key thing to the politics: Theyve raised demand, and expectations.

Follow Campbell Clark on Twitter: @camrclark

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The Liberals are talking about gender, and that will change Ottawa - The Globe and Mail