A Conservative MP has a plan to help prevent more #MeToo allegations — he thinks the barriers preventing underage Canadians from accessing porn need to be beefed up.

“We see how online sexual content is influencing what kids think is normal, what kids view as being acceptable behaviour and things like that. We’re seeing how they’re being groomed, essentially, to be more accepting of sexual abuse,” said Arnold Viersen.

The Alberta MP’s comments were made following a press conference in advance of the Parliament Hill screening of Swift Current, a film about the abuse of former NHLer Sheldon Kennedy by his coach Graham James. MPs will watch the film and hear remarks from victims of abuse. The AFN’s National Chief Perry Bellegarde will also speak.

During the press conference Monday, Kennedy said the government needs to do more about the issue of sexual abuse.

“We need action. We need to look at this, and it needs to be a priority — and not just for children,” said Kennedy. “Abuse is abuse. It’s about abuse of power,” he added.

Viersen says he believes that a large part of the abuse problem stems from underage access to pornography. Viersen said he believes that the sexual harassment and assault allegations that have emerged in recent years are clear examples of this.

“When you read about the Jian Ghomeshi case or even the allegations in the Patrick Brown case or the Dykstra case … it follows a porn script,” said Viersen.

Liberal MP Pam Damoff said Viersen’s focus on “online sexual violence” ignores the fact that sexual harassment and abuse has existed for much longer than the internet.

“The sexual harassment and sexual assault of women is not something that is new. It hasn’t begun because of the advent of easier accessibility to pornography,” said Damoff.

“I was subjected to it in the early ’80s … certainly pornography was not as readily available then as it is now, and the problem was pretty much exactly the same,” she added.

Damoff also took to Twitter to say that Viersen “just doesn’t get it.”

Conservative MP @ArnoldViersen just doesn’t get it. Sexual harassment is about power, not sex. We need to change the “old boys” culture that has existed for decades. https://t.co/iQSFwBccZz @caroloffcbc @rachaiello @atRachelGilmore #MeToo — Pam Damoff 🇨🇦 (@PamDamoff) February 5, 2018

Damoff’s challenge of Viersen’s crusade was backed up in 2016 testimony by Soraya Chemaly of the Women’s Media Centre. Chemaly told MPs on the Status of Women committee that of some 300 studies she’s read dealing with the impact of pornography on children and teenagers, “there is nothing conclusive” about pornography’s link to violence against women.

For Viersen, however, the link is clear.

“In 2016, 500,000 years worth of (pornographic) content was consumed. 80 per cent of our population admits openly to watching (pornography) on a weekly basis. Then we wonder why we see people acting these scripts out,” said Viersen.

Viersen has attempted to bring his concerns to light before. In a 2016 motion he asked that the Commons Health committee to undertake a study on the public health impact of viewing “online violent and degrading sexually explicit material.”

The committee undertook the study and released a report with four recommendations, most of which focused on sexual health promotion — including applying a gender-based analysis to any sexual health promotion strategy. One recommendation urged the Public Health Agency of Canada to help parents and families protect children from “online sexually explicit material” through providing resources and tools. The report also urged the tech industry to create better content filters.

The government committed to enhance sexual health promotion efforts in response. They also pointed to a number of government initiatives that help parents to guide the online safety of their children.

However, Viersen was not satisfied with the recommendations from the committee. he said after their release that the recommendations “will do little to prevent youth from accessing violent and degrading material.”

Viersen said Monday that he hopes his motion at least started a conversation on the link between pornography and sexual abuse, but he’s “not sure” it did.