If I were Mr. Trudeau I would increasingly be worried that Minister. Duncan's viewpoint is going to come to symbolize the Liberals' approach to science in general.  If so, it will be a simulcra of the Conservatives abandonment of the long form census. While one could in theory have made arguments that a different census approach made sense, in the end what the Conservative's stance did is allow opponents to strongly argue that the PC's were against evidence-based decision making in general. And indeed that became a significant election issue - for some at least. My guess is that a No Gender Politics In Canadian Science is going to become another symbolic issue and that Minister Duncan will become the centre of a campaign to change that attitude.
Finally, the question of women out numbering men on most universities across the country may also become an issue. It's not the elephant in the room so much as the empty room inside the elephant.