‘I HUMBLY APOLOGIZE’
Former New Democrat MP Peter Stoffer issued a series of public apologies Friday for behaviour he acknowledged was perceived as demeaning or inappropriate, saying he never intended to insult anyone or make them feel uncomfortable.
Stoffer’s acknowledgment came a day after the National Post reported on allegations of inappropriate touching and kissing that were levelled against him by women who worked with him on Parliament Hill between 2006 and 2009.
The popular former politician and well-known veterans’ advocate held a news conference in Halifax, where he said he was “deeply apologetic and regretful” for what happened when he was the member of Parliament for the suburban riding of Sackville-Preston-Chezzetcook.
Stoffer, who served as a Nova Scotia MP from 1997 to 2015, specifically denied sexually assaulting or physically abusing anyone. However, he admitted that his actions as a “touchy” and “very gregarious, fun-going person” may have led to behaviour that was perceived as inappropriate.
“By some of the comments that I’ve heard recently, from some people in the past, they’re saying that some of my demeanour, some of my comments were inappropriate,” he said.
“For that I humbly apologize without reservation. If there is any man or any woman that at any time felt uncomfortable ... because of my demeanour in any way shape or form, for that I apologize and I humbly regret that I put them in that type of situation.”
In all, Stoffer apologized five times. In allegations made public Thursday, one of the complainants, Lauren Dobson-Hughes, accused him of grabbing and kissing her without her consent on two separate occasions in 2006 and 2009.
Dobson-Hughes, who was an NDP staffer at the time, told the National Post that several MPs and senior staff were present at the second alleged incident “but nobody batted an eyelid.”
She said she eventually complained to her boss at the time, former MP Dawn Black. Black told the newspaper she took the complaint to then-NDP Leader Jack Layton, but was “disappointed” that Layton delegated the task to then-NDP caucus chair Judy Wasylycia-Leis instead of taking it up with Stoffer himself. See STOFFER on NP2
EX-NDP MP STOFFER SAYS HE’S SORRY AFTER REPORTS OF INAPPROPRIATE TOUCHING