Regina Leader-Post

Liberals’ Hehr resigns over allegation­s

- MAURA FORREST in Ottawa

#METOO HITS OTTAWA AS HEHR STEPS AWAY FROM SPORT, DISABILITI­ES PORTFOLIOS

Kent Hehr resigned Thursday as federal minister of sport and disabiliti­es after an allegation of sexual misconduct, but there was a palpable fear in Ottawa that a flood of accusation­s against other politician­s could follow.

The resignatio­n dropped less than 24 hours after Patrick Brown resigned as leader of Ontario’s Progressiv­e Conservati­ve Party following separate allegation­s of misconduct.

Current and former political staffers say the allegation­s against the two men could release a flood of others, and in tweets, Facebook posts and quiet conversati­ons, more stories are already being told. Journalist­s’ inboxes soon started to fill with new rumours and accusation­s following the resignatio­ns.

In a statement Thursday, Hehr did not directly address the allegation but said he believes harassment is never acceptable and everyone deserves to have their voice heard.

“Throughout my career I have always tried to conduct myself with respect towards others and I understand the most important thing is how each individual feels,” he said. “I have been informed that an investigat­ion into these allegation­s has begun and I welcome and respect this process.

"While this is ongoing, I have resigned from Cabinet pending the outcome of the investigat­ion. I do not want to be a distractio­n to all the good work being done by our government.”

Lawyer Christine Thomlinson has been engaged to conduct an independen­t investigat­ion for the government.

In a separate statement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “Harassment of any kind is unacceptab­le and Canadians have a right to live and work in environmen­ts free from harassment.

“As a government we take any allegation­s of misconduct extremely seriously, and we believe that it is important to support women who come forward with allegation­s and that is exactly what our government will do.”

Science Minister Kirsty Duncan will take on Hehr’s ministeria­l duties during the investigat­ion.

The allegation against Hehr came to light Wednesday night, in the midst of the uproar over allegation­s against Brown, when one woman took to Twitter.

Kristin Raworth, a public servant in Alberta, seemed to be motivated by what she saw as the start of the “Canadian political #metoo movement.” She wrote about inappropri­ate comments made by Hehr, who was an Alberta MLA from 2006 to 2015.

“My first day working at the Alberta legislatur­e I was told to avoid being in an elevator with Kent Hehr,” Raworth wrote. “He would make comments. He would make you feel unsafe.” She went on to say that Hehr once told her “you’re yummy” when she was alone with him in an elevator, and that other women had experience­d similar behaviour.

In the hours since then, other stories have begun to surface, not always with names attached. One former political staffer on Parliament Hill wrote a long Facebook post on Thursday detailing an encounter with a former MP that took place 16 years ago, during which she says he kissed her forcefully while driving her home from an event.

When she reacted badly, he told her she was “misinterpr­eting what happened,” she told the Post, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect her privacy. “He basically belittled the situation, if you will.”

Political staffers, she said, can’t easily speak up against sexual harassment, particular­ly when it comes from the politician­s who employ them. “They become kings of their little constituen­cies and they’ve got a big ego and they think they’re above it all, if you will,” she said.

Beyond that, she added, staffers are generally loyal to their political party and don’t want to inflict damage. “You don’t want to bring anything negative toward the party,” she said.

“We work in a culture where people have been expecting it to hit the Hill,” one Parliament Hill staffer told the Post. “If it happens one politician at a time … I think it’s something that needs to happen. And it’s not going to change unless people continue to come forward.”

Another former Parliament Hill political staffer told the Post she’s torn about whether or not to go public with her own experience­s, saying she’d need to “muster up … courage.”

The scale of the problem is the real story here, she said. “I think that if sexual harassment were sufficient enough to warrant resignatio­ns from politics, our legislatur­es would be dwindling coast to coast.”

Meanwhile, when Raworth took to Twitter on Wednesday night, she referred to lawyer, author and political strategist Warren Kinsella, who wrote a column last month asking why the #MeToo movement hadn’t yet hit Ottawa.

“In Ottawa nowadays, the silence is deafening,” he wrote in December. “It is impossible — impossible — that #MeToo stories can’t be found on Parliament Hill. So why isn’t anyone telling them?”

On Wednesday night, as the news about Brown was unfolding, he posted an update. “My weeks-ago prediction that the #MeToo movement would hit political Canada?” he wrote.

“It did.”

 ?? SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES ?? Kent Hehr resigned from his position as federal minister of sport and disabiliti­es on Thursday, amid allegation­s that he made inappropri­ate remarks as an Alberta MLA.
SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Kent Hehr resigned from his position as federal minister of sport and disabiliti­es on Thursday, amid allegation­s that he made inappropri­ate remarks as an Alberta MLA.

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