(Ottawa) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accuses Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre of knowingly cultivating ties with misogynistic groups in an effort to win his party’s leadership race.
Posted at 2:46 p.m.
Updated at 3:27 p.m.
Mr. Trudeau made the accusation in the House of Commons after an explosive exchange with the Conservative leader in the wake of revelations from Global News that the numerous videos on Mr. Poilievre’s YouTube channel included a hashtag drawn of an internet movement associated with misogyny for SEO purposes.
The hashtag in question, #MGTOW, is an acronym for the group “men going their own way” and has ended up as an “embedded tag” in the more than 50 videos Mr. Poilievre has produced over the past four years. and during the Conservative Party leadership race. This tool increases the visibility of videos by targeting individuals who share the same interests.
PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
The Canadian Intelligence and Security Service (CSIS) claimed in its annual report published in 2021 that these groups pose a real threat. “Ideologically-driven violent extremism (DVE) is a major challenge and a societal problem that requires a whole-of-government strategy,” the report reads.
“DVC people are driven by a series of influences rather than a single belief system. Racist, misogynistic and anti-authoritarian extremist views combined with personal recriminations can give someone the will to mobilize others, incite them to commit acts of violence or empower them to move on. stock. CSIS and its partners in the intelligence and law enforcement apparatus play a leading role in the government’s fight against the DALV threat,” the report also adds.
Pierre Poilievre chose to seek out anti-woman, misogynist, right-wing extremist groups to advance his political agenda. It is absolutely unacceptable. He must not only explain himself, but apologize to Canadian women.
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
“It is completely unbecoming of any Canadian politician and I hope he will apologize. I hope he will understand that this is unacceptable in Canada, ”he also dropped.
Poilievre’s office said the Tory leader was unaware the hashtag was associated with his You Tube videos. He added that he had been removed from his videos.
But that didn’t stop Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from attacking the Conservative leader during Question Period in the Commons.
“Were it not for Global News, we would never have learned that the Conservative leader knowingly used his videos to woo right-wing extremist and misogynist groups on the web. These are anti-women movements and they have devastating consequences in the lives of women. I urge the leader of the Conservative Party to stand up in this House, take responsibility and apologize,” Trudeau said.
Mr. Poilievre countered that he strongly condemns any organization that preaches hatred against women. And he went on the attack. “I condemn this organization. I fixed the problem as soon as it was brought to my attention. But I condemn any form of misogyny, including when the Prime Minister fired the first Indigenous woman from his cabinet. I also condemn him for mistreating women from cultural minorities in his own party. And I also condemn him when he dressed up in racist costumes so many times that he forgot how many times.
“The choice made by the Conservative leader in extending poles to extremist groups on the web, groups that are against women and misogynists for political gain, he will have to explain himself. Women across the country want to know why he let this happen. He must take his responsibilities,” said the Prime Minister.
Before question period, Liberal MPs also strongly denounced this situation, calling on the women of the Conservative Party to hold their new leader to account.
Bloc Québécois MP Christine Normandin also deplored the tactic. “It’s quite telling, the use of this hashtag. We can’t really talk about an accident, ”she dropped in the interview.
In his opinion, we cannot give the benefit of the doubt to Pierre Poilievre: “I would have difficulty doing so given the importance he has given to his web campaign. He must have known at least.
And if he was not, aware, “let him explain himself”, she adds.
Justice Minister David Lametti said he was outraged that such tools were used by the Conservative leader to promote his candidacy during the party leadership race.
The Global News Network has used sophisticated software that checks the source code of video web pages to discover a hashtag taken from an internet movement associated with misogyny for SEO purposes.
With the collaboration of Mélanie Marquis