(OTTAWA) Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are calling for a “thorough investigation” into the use of a hidden hashtag referring to misogynist movements in Pierre Poilievre videos.
Posted at 1:24 p.m.
In a missive detailing this request addressed to the speaker of the House of Commons, Anthony Rota, the deputy Jennifer O’Connell affirms to seek to know if parliamentary rules have been violated.
“I therefore request that your office, in conjunction with the Board of Internal Economy, conduct a thorough investigation into Mr. Poilievre’s long-standing use of misogynistic keywords on social media and any potential violations of the Allowances Handbook. and resulting services to Members, including determining whether Mr. Poilievre and his staff used parliamentary resources to record, upload and distribute these disturbing videos,” it read.
Liberals say the use of the hidden hashtag #mgtow – an acronym for “Men Going Their Own Way” – was done deliberately by Mr. Poilievre.
“Canadians deserve answers about the true extent of this deliberate online campaign,” said Ms.me O’Connell in his letter.
The #mgtow coding helps promote the videos in the networks of this movement made up of anti-feminists who want to remove women from their lives. The Global Network recently revealed that the hidden hashtag was attached to the new Conservative leader’s last 50 YouTube videos.
Mr Poilievre’s office claimed the party leader was “unaware of the existence of these embedded tags”. He said they had been “implemented and automated” to accompany each video “over the past four and a half years”.
“The embedded tags were immediately removed as soon as his office became aware of them. It is clear that Mr. Poilievre condemns misogyny and all forms of hate online,” it added in a written statement provided to The Canadian Press when the case surfaced.
With Michel Saba, The Canadian Press