MPP forced out over harassment claims: Wynne
Premier reveals Kim Craitor was asked to resign in 2013 following investigation
Breaking her silence on Liberals disciplined for sexual harassment, Premier Kathleen Wynne says that was why former Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor suddenly quit in 2013.
“When I have been faced with the issue of sexual harassment, I have led by example,” Wynne said Friday in Ottawa, refusing to reveal punishment in other cases.
The departure of Craitor, now a city councillor in Niagara Falls, followed an independent investigation that found “sufficiently serious” misconduct, the premier added.
Craitor could not be reached for comment but was quoted in Friday’s Niagara Falls Review as saying he was forced to resign over “unfounded and unsubstantiated” allegations of sexual harassment.
“They were not true,” the newspaper said, quoting an email from Craitor. “The sexual harassment com- plaints took me completely by surprise and caught me off guard and shocked me.”
Wynne said her party’s human resources department received complaints against Craitor and hired an investigation firm with expertise in sexual harassment cases. “When the issues were first brought to Mr. Craitor’s attention, he indicated his willingness to resign his seat if his conduct was found to have been sufficiently serious,” Wynne told reporters at an Ottawa hospital where she was making a funding announcement.
“When the results of the independent investigation were received, I determined that action needed to be taken and Kim Craitor was asked to resign.”
Craitor told his hometown newspaper in Friday’s edition that “the party said that it was their job to protect the premier and that to do that I had to resign. There was never any complaint to the police, just to the party and they took care of it in their own way.”
He would not reveal who made the accusations but said, “I do know the party paid to keep the allegations quiet.”
That is “false,” said Wynne spokeswoman Jennifer Beaudry, adding that if employees do not want to continue in their jobs after being harassed that “any severance agreement will reflect those circumstances.
Wynne’s announcement capped a week of criticism from opposition parties that accused her of hiding behind a “double standard” in calling for Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown to kick out one of his MPPs, Jack MacLaren, for vulgar sex jokes about a federal Liberal MP.
At that point, the premier had refused to reveal any details of discipline she had taken in her party, but made a point of stressing Friday that forcing Craitor to resign “is how these issues are dealt with under my leadership.”
Brown banished MacLaren to his riding with orders to get “substantive” sensitivity training and stripped him of internal positions in the Tory caucus, but he remains the Conservative MPP for Carleton-Mississippi Mills.
After Craitor was forced out, the Liberals paid an electoral price, losing his riding to New Democrat MPP Wayne Gates, who still holds the seat.
Wynne said her party’s policy is to keep details of sexual harassment secret to protect victims, but noted that Craitor was named publicly after a woman “identified herself to the media.”
The premier did not provide any other information and the Star was unable to find any published accounts of a woman coming forward about Craitor.
Wynne, who also revealed earlier this week there have been “a couple of instances” of Liberal MPPs taken to task over sexual harassment, said Friday, “I’m not going to comment on any other situations.”
She first mentioned sexual harassment problems in the party in No- vember 2014, but did not specify whether they were MPPs or staff. The admission came after Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau suspended two caucus members accused of sexual harassment.
Craitor, a three-term MPP first elected in the 2003 Liberal sweep that brought Dalton McGuinty to power, was known as a maverick and frequently clashed with his own government, fighting against hospital closures in the riding.
When Wynne announced his resignation in late September of 2013, she made no mention of anything untoward, saying “I thank him for his service and wish him good luck in his future endeavours.”
Craitor, who had battled cancer during his term at Queen’s Park, would not comment to reporters at the time but released a statement saying he enjoyed his “immensely satisfying job.”
That statement did not give a reason for his resignation.
Craitor later ran for city council and told the Review he left Queen’s Park because he was exhausted and mentally tired.