Former Quebec Speaker fights back against sexual harassment claims
Retired politician Jacques Chagnon is fighting back against allegations of sexual harassment by a former Belgian member of parliament.
Chagnon, 67, the former MNA for Westmount–saint-louis and former speaker of the National Assembly from 2011-2018, has served a legal notice to former politician Emily Hoyos, asking her to retract allegations that he touched her inappropriately during a trip to Quebec City in 2011, Presse Canadienne has learned.
Hoyos, who quit politics in 2015, made the allegations in an interview with a master’s student writing a thesis on sexism experienced by female politicians. Belgian TV journalist Johanne Montay reported the allegations in an article summarizing the research on May 5. Chagnon is not named in it, but the details make his identity clear.
Hoyos, 43, was Speaker of Belgium’s Walloon Parliament from 2009-2012.
In addition to seeking a retraction from Hoyos, Chagnon wants Google to erase articles on the allegations from its search engine.
In a telephone interview, Chagnon said he was outraged and hurt by the allegations. He suggested they might be an attempt to discredit him professionally.
Since retiring from politics in 2018, he said he has held various mandates with foreign governments, including New Caledonia, where he is helping the parliament review its rules of governance.
He said that countries will not want to hire him if his name is associated with the allegations. “My reputation is all I have,” he said.
In May 2011, Chagnon hosted a delegation of seven Belgian parliamentarians, including Hoyos.
In the interview, Hoyos said that during the visit to Quebec City, the speaker of the Quebec National
Assembly touched her on the buttocks while a group photo was being taken on the grand staircase of the National Assembly.
During a meal after the photo session, he touched her thighs, she said.
Hoyos did not file a complaint over the incident.
Contacted by different media outlets after the May 5 article, she refused to elaborate or comment further, saying she wanted to “turn the page.”
Chagnon said he had no knowledge of the allegations before reading the article.
“I was really shocked,” he said. “I was never alone with her” during the visit, he noted, adding that it is not his style to behave inappropriately.
Chagnon noted it was during his tenure as speaker that the National Assembly adopted a policy against psychological and sexual harassment in 2015.