Trudeau makes right call in Kang case

Atotal of four male Liberal MPs have been accused of inappropriate sexual conduct since Justin Trudeau became party leader, two involving staffers who worked with them.

While that would pose a problem for any political party, it’s particularly stinging that they’re among the supposedly most progressive in the land — as the self-described feminist Prime Minister Trudeau has summarized his crop of Liberals.

Trudeau no doubt understood the optics when he was quick to boot two MPs from caucus in 2014 before any formal investigative process concluded.

Now there are sexual harassment allegations against Alberta MP Darshan Kang concerning his conduct with a female staffer in his constituency office. Kang denies wrongdoing and was on medical leave for stress before resigning from the Liberal caucus Thursday.

The NDP wanted Kang booted immediately from caucus, as happened in past cases.

“This is not the leadership of a feminist prime minister,” Sheila Malcolmson, the NDP critic for the status of women, said in a release.

“Until such time as a full investigation can be completed Mr. Kang should not sit as a member of the governing party.”

Trudeau responded Tuesday saying there’s a new system in place to deal with such complaints and that he will wait for due process to unfold before acting.

Specifically, the House of Commons chief human resources officer will investigate the Kang allegations, a different process from what unfolded in 2014.

But the PM is right to let officials determine what happened.

Perhaps if Kang was in cabinet dealing with issues related to the accusations he faces it would make sense to temporarily remove him from that post. But there is no serious conflict with him remaining in the Liberal caucus as an MP.

Sexual harassment is a serious allegation that must be scrupulously dealt with. At the same, it is imperative we ensure those accused of wrongdoing receive a fair hearing.

Too often we see, particularly from the left, demands that execution precede the trial.

There have been too many examples of hasty judgments that undermine the presumption of innocence — ranging arguably from the Mike Duffy case to a number of campus sexual assault cases in the United States.

The facts, in this case, will determine Kang’s fate. That’s how our system is supposed to work.