Ex-volunteer ‘disappointed’ in Weir
Krystal Lewis says she is more concerned about Erin Weir’s actions since the Regina-lewvan MP was expelled from caucus, saying his actions have been “disappointing ” and “frustrating.”
She was one of about 30 volunteers, employees and constituents living in Weir’s riding who say they are “disgusted by Erin Weir’s behaviour,” in a letter attached to a petition calling for the MP’S resignation.
Many of the signees self-identify as people who volunteered during Weir’s successful 2015 campaign.
“More than 900 volunteers participated in our 2015 election campaign,” Weir wrote in a brief emailed statement sent late Friday afternoon.
“Over the past eight months, hundreds have reached out to express concern about (national NDP Leader) Jagmeet Singh’s deeply flawed investigation of me and to support my continued service as the member of Parliament for Regina-lewvan,” he added.
Singh has banished Weir from the federal NDP caucus and barred him from running under the federal party banner in any election.
The party launched an investigation after a complaint was made against Weir earlier this year. It found one claim of harassment and three claims of sexual harassment against Weir were sustained — all of which were deemed to be “on the less serious end of the spectrum,” involving the MP standing too close or failing to read nonverbal cues in social settings.
This week, Weir called for an external appeal of Singh’s harassment investigation, citing a “lack of due process.” He wants an outside authority to review the investigation process launched by Singh.
Lewis said her reasoning for signing the petition is “less so about the actual harassment, because I totally believe people can learn to be accountable for their behaviours and change.”
Instead, she is upset with how Weir has handled himself since being expelled from caucus.
“It has been frustrating to see a lot of misconceptions about what harassment is, and letting that frame the conversation — ‘oh, it wasn’t that bad,’” she said.
Singh said in May he had been prepared to take a “rehabilitative approach” to keep Weir in the fold, but suggested comments made by the MP, in which he criticized the investigation and one complainant, “made it clear he did not accept responsibility for what the inquiry found to be a fact.”
At the time, Weir responded to his expulsion by calling it a “massive overreaction.”
“I certainly didn’t want to bring this debate into the public realm, but once the complaint was put out there into the public domain, it did merit a public response,” he said.
Regarding the separate complaints of sexual harassment, Weir has said he apologizes “to anyone that I made uncomfortable by standing too close to them at a social event, or speaking with them more than they wanted to talk with me.”
He added his behaviour “is pretty far from what most Canadians would think of as sexual harassment.”
Weir has since completed sensitivity training “to help me be more attentive to non-verbal cues.”
Lewis said she’s been left disappointed and frustrated by Weir’s response.
“As someone who wants to see accountability, it has been frustrating to see his behaviour, and I’m mad that I put the time into helping to get him elected and that he has been acting this way,” she said.