OTTAWA — Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says she hadn't planned to confront a reporter from the Rebel during a news conference last week, but when the right-wing website posed the first question following a meeting with her provincial counterparts in Vancouver, her pent-up frustrations at the outlet's "climate Barbie" tag just came out.
The ensuing feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, says McKenna, adding she wants the Rebel to stop using sexist names for all women, not just her.
She says there are still some on social media using the phrase to berate her for everything from the colour of her hair to the tone of her voice, but she hopes her comments last week may help give other women and girls the courage to fight back too.
The "climate Barbie" tag was coined by Rebel media almost as soon as McKenna was named the environment minister in November 2015.
The term gained more mainstream awareness in September when Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer was forced to condemn its use by one of his MPs.
The Liberals issued a fundraising letter following that event, which McKenna says doesn't undermine the anti-sexism message but underlines that not only do more women need to be persuaded to run for office, but parties need to have money to help them do it.
