Cabinet minister resigns over alleged inappropriate comments
Woman says Kent Hehr made sexually suggestive remarks while he served as Alberta politician
OTTAWA— Kent Hehr, the minister for sports and people with disabilities, has resigned from cabinet pending an investigation into accusations he made sexually inappropriate comments to women during his time in the Alberta legislature.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the decision Thursday afternoon, saying that “harassment of any kind is unacceptable.”
“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,” Trudeau said in a statement.
Trudeau said he accepted Hehr’s resignation, adding that Toronto MP Kirsty Duncan will take on the portfolio of sports and persons with disabilities in addition to her duties as science minister.
The move came after Kristin Raworth, an Alberta civil servant, posted concerns on Twitter Wednesday about the conduct of Hehr, who was an Alberta politician before being elected as a federal MP.
“My first day working at the Alberta legislature I was told to avoid being in an elevator with Kent Hehr. He would make comments. He would make you feel unsafe,” Raworth said on Twitter.
“There is literally no woman who worked in the annex who didn’t experience this. He made verbally sexually suggestive comments to all of us, who in an elevator with me and only me said ‘you’re yummy,’ ” she said.
“My story and most of our stories (thankfully) don’t end with assault but they end up in fear,” said Raworth, who could not be reached Thursday.
Calling it her “political #MeToo” movement, Raworth posted her comments af- ter Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown held a late-night news conference Wednesday to deny allegations of sexual misconduct that were to later force his resignation.
Hehr said he welcomes the investigation now underway into his conduct and said he resigned from cabinet because he did not want to be a “distraction.”
“The conversation our society is having is a very important one. I encourage all women who have felt uncomfortable or who have experienced harassment of any kind to continue to come forward. It is never OK,” Hehr said in a statement.
“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.
“Harassment is never acceptable, and everyone deserves to have their voice heard.”
It appears that Hehr will remain in the Liberal caucus for now, but losing his cabinet post will hit him financially — cabinet ministers get another $80,000 on top of their MP salaries, plus a car allowance.
Trudeau said his government has “rigorous processes” in place to address such allegations. But there was no hint of how long an investigation might take nor any promises that Hehr could resume his place in cabinet if cleared of the allegations.
The allegations left the government scrambling. Hehr had been scheduled to make a funding announcement in Toronto on Thursday morning, but the event was abruptly cancelled.
And it put Trudeau on the hot seat on an issue that is shaking up society, from politics to the entertainment world and business circles.
The prime minister had used his Tuesday speech at the World Economic Forum to tell business elites that sexual harassment is a “systemic” problem. “As leaders, we need to act to show that truly, time is up,” he said.
Speaking to reporters Thursday before his departure from Davos, Switzerland, he spoke about the allegations that brought down Brown at Queen’s Park, saying, “the world has to change.”
And then he was forced to confront alleged misbehaviour by one of his own ministers.
“As people know full well, we and I personally have zero tolerance for things like harassment or sexual assault,” Trudeau said.
“That is why we have taken actions over the past years and why I always repeat that it’s important to believe and support those women who come forward to make such allegations,” the prime minister said.
Just before Christmas, news broke that Claude-Éric Gagné, a senior member of his staff, was being investigated over multiple allegations of “inappropriate behaviour.”
Calgary MP Darshan Kang left the Liberal caucus last September after allegations of harassment and inappropriate behaviour.
Hunter Tootoo quit as fisheries minister and left the Liberal caucus in 2016, saying at the time he was seeking treatment for an alcohol ad- diction. He later revealed that he had been involved in what he called a “consensual but inappropriate” relationship.
Before his party took government, Trudeau booted Liberal MPs Scott Andrews and Massimo Pacetti from his caucus for alleged personal misconduct, later revealed to be complaints from two female New Democrat MPs that were sexual in nature.
Hehr was already on thin ice after facing criticism that he was uncaring and insensitive in his roles as veterans affairs minister and more recently in his new cabinet portfolio.
In a meeting with thalidomide survivors, they complained that he “managed to insult and degrade” four members of the delegation.
It was also alleged he touched one of the women near her breast “in a way that was inappropriate and unwelcome.”
“I think that was a shock to us all, too,” said Fiona Sampson, according to a CBC News report on the meeting.
“It was an unwelcomed physical contact that violated her personal space,” Sampson said.
Hehr was first elected to the Alberta legislature in 2008. Hehr — who uses a motorized wheelchair after being paralyzed in a 1991 shooting — made the jump to federal politics in 2015, when he was elected as MP for Calgary Centre.