Senior politicians step aside after allegations about sexual impropriety
OTTAWA — The swift sidelining of two prominent politicians jolted MPs into reflecting Thursday on the societal shift in attitudes about allegations of sexual impropriety, and how to ensure their parties handle the issue in the best possible way.
Patrick Brown, 39, resigned as leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives after CTV News reported that two women have come forward with sexual-misconduct allegations against him — allegations he denies.
The Brown case prompted a woman who once worked at the Alberta legislature to state publicly that Liberal MP Kent Hehr made sexually suggestive comments about her when he was an Alberta MLA a decade ago — an accusation that cost him his job as sport and disabilities minister, pending the outcome of an investigation.
In Brown’s case, CTV did not name the women, who alleged the incidents happened at his home in Barrie, Ont., after they had been drinking in his presence. Brown was not drinking at the time, the women said.
The report said one of the women, who is now 29, claimed she was still in high school when Brown allegedly asked her to perform oral sex on him.
The other woman said she was a university student working in Brown’s constituency office when he sexually assaulted her at his home after an event she helped organize, CTV News reported. The woman said she did not report the alleged incident to authorities.
CTV News said it had viewed records of correspondence between Brown and the women. None of the allegations has been proven in court.
In the case of Hehr, 48, the accusation of misconduct was first disclosed on social media by Kristin Raworth, who spoke out about her interactions with Hehr in an interview Thursday.
The former employee at the Alberta legislature said when she started her job, she was warned against being alone with Hehr but ended up in elevators with him because they worked in the same building.
“My very first experience with him was in an elevator when he called me yummy,” she said.
“And at the time I was 25 years old. I was very naïve about that and I didn’t know how to react. I didn’t know how to respond when someone is saying this to you.”
Raworth said subsequent encounters included similar remarks or efforts to brush up against her. Upon talking with female colleagues, she realized others had experienced similar things.
In a statement Thursday, Hehr did not directly address the allegations but said he believes harassment is never acceptable and everyone deserves to have their voice heard.
“Throughout my career I have always tried to conduct myself with respect towards others and I understand the most important thing is how each individual feels,” he said.
“I have been informed that an investigation into these allegations has begun and I welcome and respect this process.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau characterized Hehr’s resignation as a “leave of absence” and said that in the meantime, his duties will be performed by Science Minister Kirsty Duncan.
Harassment of any kind is unacceptable, Trudeau said in a statement.
“As a government we take any allegations of misconduct extremely seriously, and we believe that it is important to support women who come forward with allegations and that is exactly what our government will do.”
Earlier Thursday, Trudeau applauded the courage of those who levelled allegations of sexual misconduct against Brown.
“My thoughts turn immediately to the women who came forward, knowing how difficult it can be, to salute them for their courage and their leadership,” the prime minister said at a news conference wrapping up his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Brown was a Conservative backbencher under Prime Minister Stephen Harper from 2006 to 2015, when he stepped down to run for leader of the Ontario PC party.
With the Ontario PCs enjoying healthy leads in provincial polling and an election expected in about six months, many thought Brown was on his way to becoming the province’s next premier.
Even before Brown’s decision to resign, speculation began swirling as to who might replace him as PC leader. Lisa MacLeod, Christine Elliott and Caroline Mulroney were mentioned as possible candidates to take on Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne in June. Mulroney is the daughter of former prime minister Brian Mulroney.
In Victoria for a national caucus meeting, federal Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer said the allegations against Brown must be investigated fully.
Scheer said he never heard any allegation of any kind about Brown, until now.
“I certainly invite anybody who feels that they have been a victim of these types of things in the past to reach out to our office.”
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also said Brown was right to resign, based on the serious nature of the allegations.
“With Mr. Hehr, I don’t know. I don’t know the details to that extent. What I do know is you have to believe survivors.”
Meanwhile, political leaders in Nova Scotia said the provincial Opposition leader’s resignation on Wednesday after sexualharassment allegations suggests a positive shift from times when mistreatment of female staff was swept under the rug.
Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie was forced to quit after an investigation found he acted inappropriately and breached the legislature’s policy on workplace harassment.
The PC caucus backed the party’s decision to seek Baillie’s resignation — though few details have been provided to the public about what happened.