National Post (National Edition)
The shaming of Liberal MP Will Amos.
Will Amos is owed an apology
I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THE … HUMILIATION AMOS AND HIS FAMILY MUST FEEL. — MARSHALL
Imagine for a moment if a female MP had been seen on camera breastfeeding during a parliamentary session, and images of her naked breasts were gleefully shared all over the internet?
The reaction would be extremely different from the situation involving Will Amos, the Liberal MP who was caught unknowingly in the buff during a Zoom parliamentary session this week. Images of his naked body are now all over the internet, where they will remain forever.
In the hypothetical scenario I have described above, I am certain that anyone publicly shaming her or sharing images of a breastfeeding woman would have been at the receiving end of a barrage of well-earned outcry. Everyone would have immediately recognized how wrong it is to share a nude image of someone clearly engaging in a private moment. The media would not have printed the photo and it wouldn't have been a story, full stop.
So why is there a double standard for Will Amos? He has explained, with great embarrassment, that he didn't realize his camera was on while he was changing into his work clothes following a run. The incident was actually not even exhibited to the public because it was a virtual sitting of Parliament and only the person speaking is seen by the public. Amos was not speaking at the time, obviously. Thus the only people who saw were his own parliamentary colleagues.
It is clear that this was an honest mistake on the part of Amos, which could frankly happen to anyone. People sometimes change clothes in their offices — it happens. People do have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their office. However, what we are not used to is having our computer cameras turned on for almost all meetings these days. Zoom mishaps are bound to happen.
As soon as I saw the photo being shared around Twitter, I felt a pit in my stomach for Amos. It is unquestionably wrong that an image of his naked body, taken without his consent and unknowing to him, was being passed around and laughed at.
Except it isn't a joke. This is an egregious violation of another person's privacy in the worst kind of way. I can only imagine the pain and humiliation Amos and his family must feel. Further, it is under some circumstances actually a criminal offence to share a naked photo of a person when you know that person didn't consent to the image being distributed.
Equally concerning is the fact that the photo must have been taken by one of Amos' parliamentary colleagues, solely for the purpose of embarrassing him. Further, the fact that Amos' own parliamentary colleagues engaged in sharing the photo around the internet and mocked him is conduct that should be called out for what it is: workplace harassment and bullying.
If this incident had occurred in any other workplace in this country, I can assure you that the people who took the image and shared it would immediately have been fired for cause.
The Government House Leader has now asked for an investigation to get to the bottom of who took the photo and leaked it to the media.
While I think it is rather rich for the government to demand an inquiry into this incident while shutting down an inquiry into sexual harassment in the armed forces, I don't think that the anger is unwarranted.
This incident should be addressed but rather than an investigation, what is really needed are some rules of conduct for Members of Parliament. This type of bullying and harassment should never have occurred.
Further, any MP who shared this image and mocked Amos should do the right thing and apologize to him privately and retract publicly.