Alleged ‘groping’ by Trudeau resurfaces
18-year-old accusation by reporter deserves clear answer from prime minister
When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was a 28-year-old school teacher he was accused of groping a young female reporter at a summer music festival in Creston. B.C.
The incident allegedly took place in 2000, long before Trudeau entered politics.
Trudeau was in Creston to collect a donation for the Avalanche Foundation, a charity he became involved with after his brother Michel died in an avalanche. The reporter was covering the festival for her community paper the Creston Valley Advance as well as The National Post and Vancouver Sun.
At the time, the Advance published an editorial criticizing Trudeau’s alleged misbehaviour. The editorial censured him for “inappropriately ‘handling’” and “groping” the reporter, noted he apologized a day late, and quoted him as saying, “I’m sorry. If I had known you were reporting for a national paper, I would never have been so forward.”
That editorial lay dormant for 18 years until it resurfaced in Frank magazine this spring and then gained media momentum earlier this month when it was posted on Twitter by political commentator Warren Kinsella.
Whether or not you’ve heard the story depends on what news sources and social media forums you use. For example, the Toronto Sun and National Post have written about it. To the best of my knowledge, the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail haven’t yet. This is the first time it’s appeared in The Spectator.
The National Post has done the most thorough reporting on the issue. That includes tracking down the reporter involved (who declined comment) and the then-publisher and -editor of the Advance, who both recalled the reporter telling them about her alleged experience. The Post believes the reporter wrote the editorial herself.
In response to several questions I emailed about the allegation, the Prime Minister’s Office responded with the same canned statement provided to other media outlets:
“As the prime minister has said before, he has always been very careful to treat everyone with respect. His first experiences with activism were on the issue of sexual assault at McGill, and he knows the importance of being thoughtful and respectful. He remembers being in Creston for the Avalanche Foundation, but doesn’t think he had any negative interactions there.”
That’s hardly a convincing denial. The statement by press secretary Eleanore Catenaro, among other unanswered questions, didn’t address whether Trudeau did in fact apologize or if he’s willing to co-operate in a third party investigation.
This story is politically relevant for several reasons. Obviously it needs to be seen in the context of the #MeToo movement, which has repeatedly shown there is no statute of limitations for powerful men accused of sexual misconduct or inappropriate behaviour toward women no matter how long ago the alleged incident(s) took place.
But it’s especially pertinent given Trudeau’s own actions and pronouncements. This is, after all, the same prime minister who proudly proclaims himself a feminist and places a gender filter on everything from choosing cabinet members to international treaties.
This is also the same prime minister who back in January told CBC Radio that women who complain of sexual assault and harassment must be supported and believed. Ironically, he also said he was confident no one will be able to accuse him of such misbehaviour; but if allegations did surface the same standards would apply to him.
Those standards include suspending and subsequently expelling two Liberal MPs from caucus and accepting the resignations of Kent Hehr from cabinet and PMO staffer Claude-Eric Gagne.
Yes, it’s true Trudeau wasn’t a politician at the time of the Creston allegation. But we all know what word springs to mind when a person’s actions contradict what he or she claims to believe. The reality is, to maintain his credibility and feminist credentials Trudeau needs to address the allegation directly, not through a carefully-worded PR statement. If he doesn’t, we can only hope he’s forced to at a future press scrum or town hall meeting.