MPs Clash in Committee Over Tory MP’s Request That Witness Define ‘Woman’

Conservative member of Parliament Vincent Neil Ho asks a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Nov. 28, 2025. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Liberal and Conservative MPs sparred in a House of Commons committee meeting after a Conservative MP asked Canada’s chief science advisor to define what a woman is.

During Chief Science Advisor Mona Nemer’s appearance before the parliamentary science and research committee on June 8, Tory MP Vincent Ho confirmed with Nemer that she had previously been a molecular geneticist.