Hehr facing heat after new complaint

Disabilities Minister Kent Hehr admitted to sometimes being “brash” and “inappropriate” after a fresh complaint of disrespect surfaced Thursday — this one from a Calgary woman engaged in a class-action lawsuit against the federal government.

Jennifer McCrea, who has been fighting on behalf of a group of mothers who say they were denied benefits while on maternity leave, contacted Hehr’s office in October 2016 after being encouraged to speak to local Liberal MPs.

Hehr, who was shuffled into the Sport and Disabilities portfolios by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this past summer, was veterans affairs minister at the time.

“(He was) very condescending,” McCrea said of the October 2016 interaction, noting she was able to secure less than two minutes of his time.

She asked him pointedly why Ottawa continues to fight sick women — a “loaded question” to which he allegedly replied, “Well, Ms. McCrea, that is the old question, like asking ... ‘When did you stop beating your wife?’”

“I didn’t respond (with) anything because my jaw was on the floor,” McCrea recalled.

“I had never really actually heard of the term that it is a ‘loaded question’ ... I was just literally (wondering), ‘Who talks like that, let alone ... a minister or a member of Parliament?”

McCrea said she decided to come forward about Hehr’s comments after hearing a group of thalidomide survivors describe earlier this week how they felt belittled by Hehr’s bedside manner during a meeting earlier this year.