Consent implied: Pacetti colleague
A former Liberal MP says people should be open to the possibility that Massimo Pacetti’s late-night hotel-room encounter with an NDP MP could be a misunderstanding, not an assault.
Alexandra Mendes, who worked closely with Pacetti when they both represented Montreal-area ridings from 2008-11, said Thursday that if a process eventually clears Pacetti of wrongdoing, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau should consider letting him back into the caucus.
Trudeau expelled Pacetti and Newfoundland MP Scott Andrews after a female NDP MP told Trudeau that the two men had harassed her and another female MP.
Pacetti and Andrews both say they have done nothing wrong.
The MP who spoke to Trudeau has since spoken to several media outlets on condition of anonymity, explaining that she went to Pacetti’s hotel room for a nightcap in March after a social outing, after which he had sex with her “without explicit consent.” She said that she didn’t want to have sex but froze when he grabbed her, leading to a painful sexual encounter. But she has acknowledged that she didn’t say no, and that she did provide him with a condom.
Mendes said people should keep in mind that Pacetti may have honestly believed that the encounter was voluntary.
“When you provide a condom, what do you expect him to do?” she said. “How do you expect the man to interpret it? You went willingly up to the room with him. You were not forced. You end up sitting on the bed and providing him with a condom. What is the message?”
Mendes has no inside information but says that when she read about the condom, it gives her “the idea that there was some consent.”
Mendes said she always knew Pacetti to be a gentleman, although he is also flirtatious at times.
“I’ve always seen him to be a bon vivant, a very nice guy,” she said. “I’ve never had any trouble with him at all.”
She said she can’t imagine Pacetti assaulting someone.
“I don’t know what was going through the woman’s mind, or emotions, but there is my difficulty in believing Massimo would use force,” she said. “That I would have a lot of trouble believing.”
Mendes got to know Pacetti well when she was president of the Quebec wing of the Liberal party and he was Quebec caucus chair. They often attended parties together.
Mendes is the nominated Liberal candidate in Brossard-La Prairie. She was defeated by New Democrat Hoang Mai in 2011 and will face him again in 2015.
She wants to speak up for Pacetti but is afraid she will be accused of victim blaming.
“I’m not blaming anybody,” she said. “From what we know, she didn’t even want this to be brought out. It’s a huge mess, a very very emotional thing. I can just imagine what she’s going through right now.”
On Thursday, the NDP MP said she regretted talking to Trudeau about her experience with Pacetti and wished he had not gone public with the allegations.
She has said she may participate in an investigation if the process would respect her desire to keep her identity confidential.
MPs on an all-party committee are working on establishing a process to investigate and deal with al- legations of wrongdoing between MPs, although there are legal challenges, including the special legal status of Parliament Hill, where the Ontario Labour Code and Canada Human Rights Act don’t necessarily apply.
Mendes says that if such a process decides that Pacetti isn’t responsible for wrongdoing, Trudeau will have to carefully consider that.
“I do not envy my leader’s position at all,” she said. “It must be an incredibly difficult situation to go through with one of your MPs. I do believe he will feel morally obliged to give due consideration to whatever report comes out.”
She said she imagines this has been very difficult for his wife and children.
“I’m not excusing Massimo here,” she said. “I don’t approve of infidelity — clearly not. But, again, that’s not for me to judge. He’s never been anything but a gentleman with me.”
She said, though, that many MPs may have made similar mistakes.
“I would say that quite a few, both sexes, would probably be guilty as charged.”