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“The Men’s Issues Awareness Society is saying their freedom of expression and freedom of association rights are being violated by the student union,” John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. “The student union has repeatedly accused the Men’s Interest Awareness society of being linked with or associated with… a group called a Voice for Men, and it’s quite radical and vociferous”

“In fact the Men’s Issues Awareness Society does not have any links with this group.”

The leaders of MIAS say they are focused on discussing issues specifics to men and masculinity, whether it’s higher rates of suicide and homelessness or the declining performance of young boys in academic settings.

President Kevin Arriola says those groups, and the student union, have misrepresented his club’s goals. He said their membership is diverse and discussion topics and events include LGBT issues, among other “intersectional” causes.

“We’re a group that pretty much accepts everybody of all different backgrounds, but we also accept different ideologies as well,” he said. “We don’t allow hate speech or anything like that, but we do allow people to come and talk about (issues) even if they’re controversial.”

“There’s a whole slew of issues that arise because of society’s expectations of men and we’re here to talk about them.”

Feminist groups on campus have said the “men issues” club has ties to anti-feminist groups and its language about misandry — the notion of discrimination against men, the flipside of misogyny — means it has no place on a modern campus, even if there are many women in the group.