Evidence of meeting #22 for Status of Women in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was online.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Marie-Gabrielle Ménard Liberal Hochelaga—Rosemont-Est, QC
Thank you, Mr. Boursier.
Ms. de Repentigny‑Corbeil, you mentioned prevention earlier, and Ms. Haddish then echoed your point. Let's talk about it.
This doesn't necessarily apply to this committee, and that is a credit to its thoroughness, but what I've been hearing in the House since I arrived last April is that if prevention worked, we would know. Maybe the funds are being poorly invested and there's a better way to combat violence, and I'd like to hear your comments on that view.
Executive Director, Les 3 sex*
Yes. Thank you for the question.
I want to say straight away that it does work. Action is being taken. All the prevention efforts currently under way have prevented hundreds of young boys from being drawn into the manosphere, or at least encouraged them to think critically about these ideologies. Prevention works, but it needs to be stepped up because technology is advancing so quickly. Sometimes parents don't even understand the language being promoted; they wonder where it comes from and what it does.
There needs to be even more education at a very young age. As I said, young people see their first sexuality-related content online at the age of nine or 10. We need to educate them early on, but also as adults, because this awareness is ongoing and concrete. The data proves that it works and that we need to do even more to ensure that it keeps working.
Liberal
Marie-Gabrielle Ménard Liberal Hochelaga—Rosemont-Est, QC
Ms. Haddish, with regard to prevention and funding, if you would like to add your voice to that of Ms. de Repentigny‑Corbeil, how can you enlighten the committee on the appropriateness of the government funding prevention?
Members' Coordinator, Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres
Absolutely. It's incredibly relevant. I think our member centres see indicators every day that these programs do work, reduce harmful beliefs, encourage survivors to seek help and engage communities in dialogue about violence.
Chronic underfunding and limited reach mean that the impact is hard to see on a large scale. Data collection and scaling programs are difficult, so consistent investment in these things, coordination and support for community-based prevention efforts are essential if we want to see those long-term reductions in sexual violence and anti-feminist ideology.
Prevention works. It's just not an immediate fix. Changing attitudes, changing deeply ingrained social norms and behaviours takes sustained effort and time—years. If we want to see long-term reductions in sexual violence and anti-feminist ideology, I think we need to see consistent investment across the board.
Liberal
Marie-Gabrielle Ménard Liberal Hochelaga—Rosemont-Est, QC
In 30 seconds or less, Ms. de Repentigny‑Corbeil, do you see a correlation between the rise of antifeminist ideology and the rise of transphobic and homophobic movements, which harm and endanger populations beyond women?
Executive Director, Les 3 sex*
Yes, it's all connected. They're based on the same foundations. It's a criticism of gender and its place in society, which restricts and confines gender to predefined roles. Sexism, homophobia and transphobia are all intrinsically linked.
Conservative
Bloc
Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I want to thank our three witnesses, Mylène de Repentigny‑Corbeil, Dina Haddish and Tristan Boursier, for collaborating on this study. Listening to their opening remarks, I was reminded of the reason I wanted to study this issue.
We'd heard about the rise of antifeminism, of course. Two years ago, around International Women's Day, the Palace de Granby put on the documentary play Projet Polytechnique. I admit that I was deeply disturbed that evening because, beyond the story of Polytechnique Montreal, it was the journey of a victim's cousin, who retraces the events and comes to wonder why, today, we still need to talk about the causes of this antifeminist movement. This play was first staged—I double-checked the dates earlier—in 2023 at the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, then toured throughout Quebec. It is actually based on the discoveries made by the two authors, Mr. Dalphond and Ms. Boucher, who investigated the dark web, the manosphere and these groups, these masculinist movements, these influencers who recruit and feed the beast of the antifeminist movement.
At the end of the play, which was mandatory viewing for students at Granby CEGEP, one of the speakers in the play asked who knew Andrew Tate and who followed him on social media. He asked people not to be shy, that we weren't there to judge them. I was really surprised to see how many of the young men at the CEGEP followed this influencer.
So, we could talk about prevention, and I'll come back to that later.
Ms. de Repentigny, you mentioned the manosphere. Mr. Boursier, you also spoke about the rise of the far right and all the convergences that are occurring within these movements. Now, how do we intervene in this clandestine web, in this manosphere? Should we, as a government, equip ourselves with the tools to ensure that statements such as “It's just a shame that Marc Lépine didn't kill more of 'em” aren't allowed to remain in these spaces? These are serious words in the eyes of the law. What do we do about what is said on these networks? How can we intervene as a government?
I apologize for my long remarks. I will let you speak now. I'm sorry.
Doctor of Political Science, As an Individual
Thank you for the question.
I would like to point out that, unfortunately, you don't need to go to the dark web to encounter this type of content. Several studies show, for example, that if you create a new TikTok account now, the figures vary, but it will take you less than a day to encounter violent and, more specifically, masculinist content if you identified yourself as a man in your profile. It happens extremely quickly. Social networks are very quick to suggest this type of content, and it is very difficult to counter with legal measures because it doesn't always take the form you mentioned, in other words, calls for violence or hatred. Sometimes they use very specific tactics such as humour, victimization or intertwining, meaning blending with other ideologies such as libertarianism, entrepreneurship or philosophical currents such as stoicism. It is this melting pot that allows masculinism and, more broadly, antifeminism to reach and influence a diverse audience among young men.
Bloc
Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC
At this point, shouldn't someone be held accountable for what is said? Shouldn't large platforms be held accountable for hateful content that can be found on social media? Two years ago, following the documentary entitled Je vous salue salope, a petition circulated on this subject, which I supported. Some people are calling on the government to take action on hateful content.
Ms. de Repentigny‑Corbeil, I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.
Executive Director, Les 3 sex*
Thank you for the question and for raising these issues.
I think it's always very difficult to see that we're not always moving forward in the same direction, and then that we're moving backward. I think we need to keep talking about Polytechnique because the reality is that there's still a lot of violence. I would also add that it's always a continuum. We tend to talk about “online” and “off-line”, but everything is connected.
Ms. Haddish will probably agree with me: Online violence will have an impact on in-person violence. We're talking right now from a computer. You have your phones. Everything is intertwined as part of this continuum. When we see this online violence or hear these comments, they have an impact on everyday life.
I do think that the platforms should bear much of the responsibility. We saw it last year: Meta now allows us to say that women are objects and that homosexuality is a mental illness. I think the platforms have a responsibility. Then there's the fact that our power to act against the platforms is fairly limited. I think we need to focus on prevention and awareness, sharing information and encouraging critical thinking about this very insidious content. Think of Andrew Tate and the pickup artists movement, which shares workouts and ways to improve one's appearance, and so on. We need to develop a critical mindset towards this content, which is why awareness and prevention are so important.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Marilyn Gladu
Thank you, Ms. Larouche.
Now we will go to Ms. Cody for five minutes.
Conservative
Connie Cody Conservative Cambridge, ON
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for joining us at committee today. It's greatly appreciated to hear more from everyone.
My questions are going to be directed to Monsieur Boursier.
Can you tell us briefly, in your own words, what feminism is to you and how you would define anti-feminism?
Doctor of Political Science, As an Individual
Thank you for the question.
There are all sorts of feminist movements. There are several ways of looking at it. We also talk about waves when it comes to the history of feminism. In a nutshell, it's just about equality between genders, not just between men and women, but between all genders.
As I said in my introduction, antifeminism is opposition to this value, to this fight for equality. Just as there are a variety of feminist movements, there are also a variety of antifeminist movements. In the discussion, for example, we focused on masculinism, which is a subcategory of antifeminism.
February 3rd, 2026 / 11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Connie Cody Conservative Cambridge, ON
Thank you for that.
Would you agree that the number one job of government is to keep us all safe?
Doctor of Political Science, As an Individual
Yes, safety is an important value in a democracy.
Conservative
Connie Cody Conservative Cambridge, ON
Okay, that's great.
Now, I have here stats that actually show that from 2015 to 2024, intimate partner violence against women increased by 38.64%; hate crimes against women increased by 725%; and total sexual assaults are up by 76%. Would you agree or disagree, based on your definitions and the steady decline of women's safety, that this government has anti-feminist policies? Are these policies doing a good job protecting and standing up for women?
Doctor of Political Science, As an Individual
I haven't assessed the current government's policies, so I can't comment as a political scientist on their effectiveness. However, what I do see is that there's been an increase in various types of violence against women, whether they are crimes or offences, and that there's also been an increase in the acceptance of antifeminist values among the population, particularly among young boys.
Conservative
Connie Cody Conservative Cambridge, ON
Okay.
You've dealt a lot with studying the online harms and what is happening.
This committee has hosted previously a witness who monetizes rhetoric specifically designed to sow division and create conflict. One of the quotes is, “I feel very honoured that I can break awful men's brains (and, apparently, careers) simply by existing”.
Would you agree that female influencers who use their platforms to antagonize others and specifically create gender-based conflict are doing more harm than good to the cause of feminism?
Doctor of Political Science, As an Individual
I don't know who you're referring to and the quote is out of context. This is the kind of issue we need to debate in a democracy, in a calm and non-violent way, and there are different ways to approach it. I can't comment further since I'm not familiar with the context of the quote.
Conservative
Connie Cody Conservative Cambridge, ON
Okay.
My next question is for Dina Haddish.
I want to ask you the same question. Could you tell me briefly, in your own words, what feminism is for you and how you would define anti-feminism?
Members' Coordinator, Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres
Yes, absolutely.
The sexual assault centre movement started with grassroots feminists organizing in the seventies. Feminism is a movement and a set of ideas that seek gender equality and justice, challenging violence, discrimination and barriers that affect women, girls and gender-diverse people.
Anti-feminism refers to those ideas and narratives we've discussed today that oppose or undermine feminist principles that are fundamentally egalitarian, often by dismissing gender equality, questioning survivor credibility in the context of violence and attacking organizations that seek to support gender equity and survivor safety.
In short, feminism works to reduce harms and promote equality, and anti-feminism works to resist that.