Status of Women Committee on Dec. 3rd, 2025

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 18 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.

I have a few comments for the benefit of our witnesses and members. Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. Since everybody is in the room, if you want to speak, raise your hand. I'll remind you that all comments should be addressed through the chair. Thank you for your co-operation.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Monday, September 15, 2025, the committee will resume its study of the anti-feminist ideology.

Before we welcome our witnesses, I would like to provide a trigger warning. We'll be discussing themes and experiences related to anti-feminist ideology. This may be triggering to viewers with similar experiences. If any participants feel distressed or need help, please advise the clerk. For all witnesses and all members of Parliament, it's important to recognize that these are difficult discussions, so let's try to be compassionate in our conversations.

Now I'd like to welcome our witnesses.

We welcome Marie‑Eve Carignan, a full professor with the communications department at the Université de Sherbrooke and the co-holder of the UNESCO chair in the prevention of violent radicalization and extremism.

We also have Dr. Liza Lorenzetti, who is an associate professor in the faculty of social work at the University of Calgary.

We will begin with the opening remarks.

Ms. Carignan, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Marie-Eve Carignan, Full Professor, UNESCO Chair in the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Extremism, Université de Sherbrooke, as an individual]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank the members of the committee for inviting me today.

I would like to speak briefly about our work at the UNESCO chair in the prevention of violent radicalization and extremism in relation to antifeminism, talk about the role of the media and present some recommendations that I could suggest for the committee’s work.

The UNESCO‑PREV chair focuses on antifeminism, which is a counter‑movement opposing the feminist movement and largely associated with the manosphere. The manosphere includes various antifeminist communities, such as men's rights activists, pickup artists, men going their own way and incels, to name but a few.

The chair is interested in these groups for several reasons. First, communities in the manosphere promote narratives that are sometimes very hateful and violent, and can lead to rape, suicide, murder, increased intolerance, a deterioration of togetherness and acts of terrorism.

Some of our research activities allow us to work specifically on the topic of antifeminism. In recent years, the chair has set up an online monitoring system. We have a dozen research assistants who work each week on monitoring different communities and the links between influencers and the various narratives that are spread with a view to preventing them, informing our partners, working on prevention and conducting applied action research on these issues.

We are also working to better understand the various international initiatives to prevent hate speech, including against LGBTQ+ communities, as there is a link between anti‑LGBTQ+ rhetoric and antifeminist rhetoric.

The chair is also called upon to give many lectures and training sessions to associations, unions and organizations that share their concerns with us on various topics, including the rise of antifeminism. We try to equip them so that they can better deal with these phenomena.

My colleague David Morin told you last Monday that we had presented a study in which we suggested to respondents the statement that feminism is a strategy to allow women to control society. We observed particularly strong agreement among young anglophone men. These results are confirmed by several other studies. In addition, just this week, Sidaction published the results of a study conducted in France that shows that young men are highly influenced by the manosphere and the online discourse of influencers.

I'd like to highlight another element that emerged from that study. While we see that the number of respondents who agree with the statement is fairly stable, we note that the number of those who are hesitant is rising. In fact, the number of people who are hesitant about the statement that feminism is a strategy for control has risen from 6.7% to 11% among our respondents. These results are part of a general trend of mistrust toward official institutions and hesitation in the face of this misinformation narrative, which shows the need to prevent a potential shift toward misinformation among the public.

Digital social networks are particularly important for disseminating these narratives and giving visibility to influencers who argue for highly performative and extremist concepts of masculinity and promote regressive and sexist ideas. Digital social networks create communities that reinforce antifeminist beliefs and perceptions, that can share ideas and narratives, share ways of acting and thus reinforce their beliefs.

We know that young people are widely exposed to these influencers. NETendances reported that 60% of young people often follow at least one influencer online. The extreme ideas that used to be part of marginal communities are now being conveyed on mainstream platforms and are becoming part of a dominant trend.

Given these narratives, traditional media also have a truly important role to play, as they can shed light on these social problems and inform the public, society, policy-makers and parents about the problem.

However, they must do so in the right way, in particular by giving visibility to experts who are interested in the subject and by being very cautious in promoting influencers who want to gain visibility and credibility in traditional media, while avoiding highlighting narratives that risk becoming widely accepted and part of a dominant trend. They must also find the right words, as we are seeing a whole evolution in journalistic discourse on, for example, how to talk about family tragedies that we now refer to as femicides, since these are murders that target women because they are women.

So there is a lot to consider, which leads me to propose the following recommendations.

First, traditional media must be better funded so they can cover these issues more effectively, but journalists must also be trained so they can report on these issues more effectively.

Next, online hate speech must be regulated, young people must be protected from the negative effects of digital social networks, and prevention is needed, particularly through psychological inoculation and prebunking.

We can discuss it again, but these narratives need to be anticipated in advance so that we can better address them. The concept of gender equality should also be included, and teachers should be given the tools they need to help them manage this narrative.

Finally, I believe that it is really important to fund research to monitor online activity, as our team does, and analyze the narrative within these ecosystems.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Thank you.

Now we will go to Dr. Lorenzetti.

You have the floor for five minutes.

[Liza Lorenzetti, Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, As an Individual]

Thank you so much for inviting me.

I am a settler of Italian heritage born on the lands of the Kanien'kehá:ka—Mohawk—people. For 30 years, I have lived on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot and Treaty 7 nations, and I acknowledge the original caretakers of this land.

I am honoured to present on Anishinabe territory, whose kind man initiative, rooted in the seven grandfather teachings, is an inspiring example of men's violence prevention engagement and a blueprint that we can all learn from. The heart of my work is grounded in confronting the ongoing legacies of colonialism, patriarchy and racialized systems that shape the social issues we face today. I am here with the support of my community.

Anti-feminist ideology is not new. A defining moment of my life was as a McGill student on December 6, 1989, when 14 women were separated from men and murdered at École Polytechnique, Université de Montréal, because there was, as there still is, a societal permission to resent women, propel men's victimhood despite rising rates of domestic and sexual violence against women and girls, and a cult-like approval for male authoritarianism.

I was among those who reclaimed the campus, despite threats of harm. However, like many settlers, I was ignorant of the thousands of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and two-spirit people, who receive no justice, no media attention and no acknowledgement that their lives matter. These experiences have marked my understanding of how misogyny and colonialism are weaponized.

Anti-feminism has always included racist, homophobic, transphobic and colonial ideologies and rigid theocratic interpretations of gender roles. Today, this is amplified to our youth through economic insecurity, the climate crisis, political polarization and the digital world, where misogyny generates enormous profits. Young people, particularly young men who feel disconnected, unrepresented or anxious about the future, are targeted.

As a university educator and mentor, I witness gen Z's anxiety and feelings of hopelessness through my students. Their depth is reflected in the words of my 17-year-old, who told me that young people turn to screens because the real world is terrifying. This fear is underscored in Galway and Field's Canadian study on youth and climate anxiety, where 73% viewed the future as “frightening” and nearly half agreed that “humanity is doomed”.

With increasing youth unemployment, now at almost 15%, a recent Ipsos study shows that 80% of Canadian youth view home ownership as only for the rich. As older adults, we must ask ourselves what we are doing to create spaces of hope, compassion, equity, relational accountability and opportunity, particularly for marginalized youth.

Across 35 years of social work supporting women and children impacted by intimate partner violence, war, systemic racism and economic deprivation, I have seen first-hand that anti-feminist ideology is deeply woven into structures that withhold economic well-being, impose gender tropes, police gender diversity and sanction violence. Namely, the most pervasive and least-addressed form, as I've said, is against indigenous women and girls and two-spirit people. Lack of progress on the 231 calls for justice is impacting not only indigenous youth but also non-indigenous youth, and we have some recommendations on that.

My primary prevention research focuses on community-based, culturally resonant, peer-led groups that integrate well-being as a violence-prevention approach in programs with men, women and families. This intersectional research, co-led with ethnocultural communities, is rooted in community strengths.

In 2020, we launched the transforming masculinities international community of practice, now across 11 regions. It amplifies the need for holistic community-based solutions with cultural grounding; the benefits of youth engagement through nurturing fatherhood and role modelling; and the necessity to address systemic issues, not just individual behaviours.

The question of what's happening with gen Z men was explored last summer through a small-scale survey in Alberta, mostly with Alberta men, co-conducted with social work student Charles Panabaker, with some notable findings: 54% receive messages about gender primarily online, but less than 10% feel that influencers are their main resources; 80% report having positive role models, but only 25% have someone they can talk to about their struggles; only 42%—and this is important—support gender equality and only 46% believe in creating safe spaces for women; and 83% say that gender issues are too politicized.

These findings suggest a greater need for connection, belonging, representation and accountability, which can increase the vulnerability to the digital misogyny, extremist narratives and anti-female ideology that are in the manosphere, which is amplified by influencers who, in fact, profit in the capitalist system from fear and polarization.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Thank you.

I'm sorry to interrupt, but that's the end of your time.

The rest I'm sure you will be able to get in with questions. If not, if there's anything you want to send to the clerk, we'd be happy to hear from you.

We will start our first round of questions with Madame Vien for six minutes.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I'd like to thank our witnesses for making themselves available today.

Ms. Carignan, I think you speak French. Thank you for your very good presentation.

Ms. Lorenzetti, thank you as well for being here.

We’re also looking for solutions. You have obviously offered various recommendations.

What specifically can the Government of Canada do to prevent masculinism or antifeminism?

[Marie-Eve Carignan]

I think the government can do many things. What I tried to highlight, first of all, is that action is needed with respect to digital social networks. I think there's a need to look at how online hate speech can be better regulated, since much of this narrative conveys hateful and, in some cases, violent ideas. There is a need to better regulate violent and hateful online discourse in all its forms.

Prevention is also needed. The government could undertake public communication campaigns and support research in order to better understand the types of messages and narratives that precede the emergence of hateful or violent narratives. Strategies such as inoculation and prebunking must therefore be developed to prevent this narrative.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

You mentioned prebunking earlier. Can you explain what that is, in 30 seconds or less?

[Marie-Eve Carignan]

Okay.

Basically, it's about educating people so that they know what kind of misinformation or violent messages they may be exposed to, so that they're already on their guard when they see these messages. They will be less likely to believe them if they know that these messages could be shown to them and that they are problematic.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

I’m a former journalist by training, in my real life.

If I remember correctly, you mentioned in your first recommendation that journalists should be better trained.

Is that correct?

[Marie-Eve Carignan]

The first step would be to fund the media, because I believe they have a role to play in this respect. They can discuss these issues in terms of social challenges.

It would also be a matter of finding ways to train the media and think about how to talk about it in the right way, without perhaps giving visibility to certain actors who want to have that media visibility and—

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Okay.

Do you think that it was a good idea to invite people promoting that message to the show Tout le monde en parle?

[Marie-Eve Carignan]

That's a very good question. We've been asked that many times.

I think that the issue of alpha males and the manosphere should have been discussed. However, I believe that maybe a better balance should have been struck. There was also a lot of social pressure to invite a male researcher.

At the UNESCO chair, we looked at the number of followers of the influencer who was invited on Tout le monde en parle. We found that the number of his followers had increased considerably after he appeared on the show.

It's important to be very careful about the visibility given to these people, who will soften their discourse in traditional media, but who will have a much less controlled narrative on their platform.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Do you think the media should be funded to take on this responsibility? Aren't they capable of learning this for themselves?

[Marie-Eve Carignan]

Right now, I think they need funding to be able to further reflect on these problems and address some of them in greater depth. So that requires resources.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Ms. Carignan, we've been told that teachers were overwhelmed by events. I assume parents are also overwhelmed. These young people often tend to isolate themselves, so there's less control. It's also hard to communicate with our teens.

What advice or insights can you offer us on this?

[Marie-Eve Carignan]

Many teachers have contacted us at the chair to ask us to provide training on the subject. I visited a college last spring, and several teachers told me that men had made very harsh comments in their class. For example, one man told a female teacher that he didn't know why he was listening to her, because she was just a woman. He said that he didn't know why he was listening to her. That's one example of a comment that was reported to me at the college.

There's clearly a problem, in that teachers don't know how to address these topics. This creates tensions between groups of men and women in the classroom. Indeed, I think that something must be done to work with teachers and parents, and try to support them, to see how they can identify these narratives or adherence to them among young people.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

I dared to mention a national crisis, and Ms. Clermont‑Dion told me that she somewhat agreed with me.

Are we just seeing the tip of the iceberg of what is happening right now?

Personally, I'm very alarmed by what I'm hearing in some narratives. I find it terrible.

[Marie-Eve Carignan]

We must be alarmed, that's for sure. We must be concerned about the situation, because we see that there have been terrorist attacks linked to these movements in the manosphere. These are concrete acts of violence. These narratives seem to be more influential than we think.

Regardless, in the training sessions and lectures I've given, I've been surprised by the number of teachers who told me that they were exposed to this rhetoric in their daily work. I think we should be very concerned by that.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Would you say that we're facing a national crisis, given the rise in violence against women?

[Marie-Eve Carignan]

I believe there's a high risk.

I'm an expert in risk and crisis communication, and in that field, the goal is to prevent crises. I think that, right now, there's an opportunity to prevent a more serious crisis. We really must prevent this crisis.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

I don't want to run out of time. That's why I ask my questions quickly.

It seems to me that I read that there are women who support this kind of—

[Marie-Eve Carignan]

Absolutely.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

That, too, is quite disturbing.

[Marie-Eve Carignan]

I currently have a student who's working on female leaders or female influencers who share these antifeminist narratives. They share all kinds of content that's sometimes also related to other violent ideologies. We're seeing that there are women who share these views.