Cabinet sidestep calls to denounce Trump mocking of Blasey Ford

OTTAWA — Two days before an American-imposed deadline to finalize a new trade deal with the United States and Mexico, the Trudeau government wanted to talk about women's equality.

It was also the day after Christine Blasey Ford and U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh offered opposing and emotionally charged accounts of her allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her as a teenager during a widely-watched Senate hearing.

Small Business Minister Mary Ng was in Toronto for a funding announcement the Liberals hoped to use as a kickoff to women's history month, trying to capitalize on Ng's personal story as a businesswoman navigating the world of national politics.

When the question came about how the women's equality movement may be impacted by the Kavanaugh hearings, there was an uncomfortable silence.

"I applaud the leadership of a woman who is speaking out," Ng said in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press.

Blasey Ford has been criticized for coming forward with her allegations, most recently by U.S. President Donald Trump, who mocked her this week for not knowing answers to questions about the incident three decades ago — leading to mounting pressure for Canada's self-proclaimed feminist prime minister and his cabinet to take a public stand against the president's comments. Ottawa-based sexualviolence educator Julie Lalonde says she believes the Trudeau government is treading carefully out of fear of "poking the bear" — a situation she calls unacceptable. Lalonde, who led a workshop on preventing sexual harassment at the federal Liberal party convention in April, said Trump's derision of Blasey Ford's testimony is a form of intimidation towards victims.