Toronto mayoral prospect John Tory took to his radio show Monday afternoon to defend himself after earlier comments over wage inequality landed him in hot water online.

“The number of men who came to negotiate with me when I was running a law firm or a company was much higher than the number of women,” Tory told CP24 host Stephen LeDrew. “The women don’t come as often to complain. The men do, so my experience is a little different in that I do think that more men put a fuss up about their money.”

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The comment came after Tory raised the issue of women earning less than men in Canada, saying he had read several articles on the subject in recent days that cited studies showing men had a more “active” negotiating style.

The comment had Twitter users predicting the death of Tory’s fledgling mayoral campaign even before its official launch.

Tory, who is chair of CivicAction and a NewsTalk 1010 host, devoted part of his show later to discussing what he dubbed a “manufactured controversy.”

He told listeners his personal experience “frankly may be out of date” and that he doesn’t agree with studies suggesting, in part, that women are socialized not to ask for raises.

“I’ve never heard of parents telling young women or young girls that they don’t ask … that part is not my experience,” Tory said, adding he finds women “every bit as formidable and active as the men.”

But Tory fanned the flames of the controversy when he encouraged women to learn golf to forward their careers.

“Young women, right now, learn how to play golf,” Tory said. “It’s immensely advantageous to your career … you can say that’s ridiculous, but it puts you in places … The world still works on the basis that if people see you and hear you and talk to you, they’re going to know you better than people they don’t hear or see or talk to.”

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