OTTAWA — A parliamentary committee meeting descended into a procedural dispute this week after Conservative MP Vincent Ho asked Canada’s chief science adviser to define the word “woman,” prompting objections from Liberal MPs.Appearing before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Research, Chief Science Advisor Mona Nemer was answering questions when Ho referenced her background as a molecular geneticist.“Before you became chief science advisor, you were a molecular geneticist by training, right? So you know a thing or two about X and Y chromosomes,” Ho said.“I wanted to ask you, what is the definition of a woman?”The question immediately drew objections from Liberal MP John-Paul Danko, who raised a point of order.“It is pride month,” Danko said, arguing the line of questioning was “highly offensive” and asking Ho to withdraw his comments..Committee chair Salma Zahid interrupted, telling members the discussion was “getting into debate” and asking Ho to remain respectful.Ho responded that he was asking the question in the context of government data collection, noting that Statistics Canada’s census asks respondents to identify their sex and gender.Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed then raised a second point of order, arguing that Nemer was appearing in her official capacity as chief science adviser and that her personal views were not relevant unless connected to her mandate.After several minutes of exchanges between committee members, Nemer was permitted to answer.“Genetically speaking, we define female as, in the animal kingdom, as someone with two X chromosomes,” she said.Ho later said the question was relevant to discussions about women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.“It’s important that we know what the definition of a woman would be because we’re celebrating the achievements of women in STEM,” he said.The exchange continued to generate debate after the meeting ended.In a post on X, Danko accused Ho of engaging in “absolutely disgusting anti-trans behaviour” and of “deliberately generating hatred, division and bigotry.”The committee meeting took place one day after government and opposition representatives joined Prime Minister Mark Carney for the Pride flag raising ceremony on parliament hill to mark the beginning of Pride month.
