Music

Toronto music fest cancelled after being linked to a men's rights group

by Mark Teo

In a week where men’s rights groups dominated U.S. headlines—thanks, in large part, to Elliot Rodger’s misogyny-driven massacre—we received an ugly reminder that anti-woman groups exist in Canada, too. CAFE, or the Canadian Association For Equality (a.k.a. men’s rights), have attempted to throw a concert called E-Day on Toronto Island.

More nefariously, though, it seems like the group attempted to obscure its political motives in order to lure people to the event. And they fooled plenty of bands and sponsors: E-Day featured plenty of prominent Canadian musicians, like Ron Hawkins, Dale Morningstar and Spookey Ruben, and it lured high-powered sponsors in Hogtown Brewers, Jagermeister, and Kronenbourg beers.

The event was slated to happen at the Artscape Gibraltar Point, which has hosted beloved Toronto music festivals such as ALL CAPS!. But when the venue learned of the festival’s association with men’s rights activism, they promptly pulled the plug. Here’s what they wrote on Facebook.

So, what kind of political motivations drive CAFE? Be warned: They’re disgusting. As Rabble correctly points out, the group believes that men face the same systemic barriers that women do; they’ve attempted to undermine anti-sexual assault groups, and have been active rape apologists; they’ve been linked to hateful American men’s right site A Voice For Men; and they’ve used the term “equality” as a smokescreen for their agenda, even earning charity status. The group also has targeted young men, and have set up campaigns on Canadian university campuses—targeting angry men similar in age to, you guessed it, Elliot Rodger.

The conflation of “equality” with men’s rights activism mirrors what some Canadian hate groups have done—racist Toronto mayoral candidate Don Andrews, for example, has launched covert white-power events calledEuropean Heritage Week.

CAFE’s anti-woman platform was chosen carefully—their mandate cloaks itself in seemingly moderate verbiage. “The Canadian Association for Equality is committed to achieving equality for all Canadians, regardless of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, family status, race, ethnicity, creed, age or disability,” they write on their website.

But then, they expand their views on gender equality, saying that they focus on the “understudied” corners of gender. It’s a backhanded way of saying they oppose feminism, which they clearly see as, in their own words, a “special interest agenda.”

“This has led us to a current focus on the status, health and well-being of boys and men,” their manifesto continues, “where attention, investment and support for educational and social programs stands at a level that is far from equal to the seriousness of the problem, while also being significantly underdeveloped compared to the resources in other important areas of social improvement.”

As for the musicians? Spookey Ruben’s management told Vice they had no idea about the festival’s political motive. Ron Hawkins, for his part, hasn’t yet made a statement, though it’s fair to assume that most of these musicians aren’t aligned with the men’s right’s movement. Hopefully, at least.