PC MPP says Horwath ‘pushed’ her
NDP leader says claim ‘despicable,’ says it was only a ‘tap’ on Skelly’s shoulder
TORONTO — The Speaker of the legislature is investigating a complaint by Progressive Conservative MPP Donna Skelly that NDP Leader Andrea Horwath allegedly physically assaulted her.
“I was having a discussion on my side of the house with a colleague and Andrea Horwath crossed the floor and came up to me, yelling and screaming, and pushed me,” the Flamborough-Glanbrook MPP told reporters Wednesday.
Horwath, who represents Hamilton Centre, denied the “despicable” accusation.
“This is nothing more than me going over to tap an old colleague on the shoulder. I mean I’ve known this woman for 20 years,” she said of her fellow Hamilton representative. “I am absolutely saying this is not true.”
But the rookie Tory MPP raised a point of privilege with Speaker Ted Arnott the morning after the Tuesday incident, claiming Horwath “initiated unwanted and intentional physical contact with me.”
“Am I physically harmed? No. Andrea Horwath does not intimidate me, I can tell you that,” Skelly, a former TV reporter, said of the alleged shove to her left shoulder as she sat in the chamber.
“But it is absolutely inappropriate behaviour. Nobody should feel threatened where they work. Could you imagine if a man had done that?” she said, calling Horwath “an angry woman” who needs “anger-management” counselling.
The NDP leader countered that Skelly “went ballistic” when she approached her. “You can ask her why she decided to make this into a hyper-partisan angry affair. It was simply me going over to talk to her about something that had been happening,” said Horwath. “This is silliness.”
Energy Minister Greg Rickford, who witnessed the kerfuffle, said he was taken aback by the NDP chief’s “aggressive and unacceptable” posturing.
“It was right in front of me. The bells were ringing at the time. I saw her storm over with a red face and accuse (Skelly) of something,” said Rickford.
Because the encounter occurred when the bells were summoning MPPs for a vote, it was not captured on legislative cameras and there is no audio recording. NDP house leader Gilles Bisson said Horwath had gone to complain to Skelly about Conservative MPPs holding up papers earlier in the afternoon to block the cameras while she was making a speech.
“They were trying to block a speech by our leader on a very important issue,” said Bisson. “All Andrea was trying to do is tell the other person: ‘Listen … that’s not a way to behave in the house.”
Bisson stressed Horwath is “not a physical person.”
The Speaker said he would “consider the matter that has been raised.”
“I’ll report back to the house in due course,” said Arnott.
Things have been raucous in the legislature since it resumed after the June 7 election won by Premier Doug Ford’s Conservatives. With 73 first-time MPPs in the 124-member chamber — including Ford — most are still learning the ropes and seem preoccupied by scoring partisan points. In July, the premier accused Bisson of mimicking Mississauga EastCooksville PC MPP’s Kaleed Rasheed’s Pakistani accent.
“He’s imitating him. It’s racist,” Ford heckled, before shouting at Brampton Centre New Democrat MPP Sara Singh. “Do you enjoy your MPP imitating the Indian accent?”
Bisson, who speaks with a Franco-Ontarian accent, denied the slur.
But there was no audio or video to substantiate Ford’s claim and the Speaker — and three Star journalists who were in the chamber — did not hear the alleged mockery.