Melissa Lukings was in the middle of sharing her expertise in cybersecurity and her lived experience as a former sex worker during a Commons committee hearing earlier this month when the meeting suddenly devolved into a confusing melee of partisan bickering.
Instead of focusing on Lukings’s testimony and asking her questions, Liberal MP Brenda Shanahan instead used her allotted time with the witnesses to table a motion.
The motion, ironically, called for the committee to “hear from further witnesses at its next scheduled meeting for a minimum of two hours.”
“What kinds of witnesses?” Lukings asked from her seat in the virtual meeting.
But she no longer had permission to speak and said her video link was muted.
After a 40-minute adjournment, during which time Lukings said MPs were shouting at each other, the meeting abruptly ended.
“You’re sitting there in front of all these people who you know are in Parliament who can mute you, who can all of a sudden say, ‘No more talking. We have to cut off the feed … No, you don’t get to ask any questions, no, you don’t get to know why,’ ” she said in an interview.
“It was ignorant and rude and pretty offensive, honestly.”
The meeting was one of several Commons committees that have been calling witnesses — mainly women — who have been victims of sexual assault, exploitation and trauma, and inviting them to share their experiences and recommendations for change.
Let me explain something to you, my dear:
After weeks of discussion about the Kokanee grope, where Trudeau groped a female reporter and then apologized for being “so forward,” the PM kinda skated past the issue last July.
“I am confident that I did not act inappropriately,” Trudeau said at the time.
“I’ll be blunt about it — often a man experiences an interaction as being benign or not inappropriate, and a woman, particularly in a professional context, can experience it differently.”
Then he called the whole affair a “learning experience” for everyone in society.
Well, not everyone in society was accused of groping a reporter covering him, but Trudeau was.
**
According to a Globe and Mail article, the MP informed Trudeau that she would not be seeking re-election around the same time as Jody Wilson-Raybould’s resignation.
She allegedly told the PM that political life had seriously harmed her family life, and in response, according to Ms. Chavannes, the Prime Minister grew hostile and yelled at her. Specifically, he allegedly claimed that the MP did not appreciate him, especially when he had provided her with so much.
“He was yelling. He was yelling that I didn’t appreciate him, that he’d given me so much,” Caesar-Chavannes said.
(Sidebar: usually female Liberal MPs tow the line because b!#ches ought to know their place. Right, Chrystia and Patty?)
**
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that as leader of the Liberal Party, he is “continually informed” of internal party investigations into allegations of sexual harassment or misconduct.
The remarks came during a daily briefing with journalists in which Trudeau faced questions about whether he was aware MP Marwan Tabbara, facing criminal charges, was at the centre of an investigation by the Liberal Party into allegations of sexual harassment when the MP was approved to run for the Liberals in the 2019 federal election.
This Marwan Tabbara:
Member of Parliament Marwan Tabbara — who had a court hearing today on assault and criminal harassment charges — was approved to run for the Liberals in the 2019 federal election despite a party investigation into allegations of sexual harassment made against him during his last mandate, CBC News has learned.
**
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other Liberal MPs, including one accused of sexual harassment, took part in a closed-door workshop on creating safe workplaces at the Liberal convention in Halifax.
The session, called "From #MeToo to never again: creating safe work environments," was closed to the media so delegates can share personal stories. Liberal MP Kent Hehr, who stepped down from his cabinet post in January pending an investigation into complaints of sexual harassment against him, attended the session along with his fiancée Deanna Holt.
Leaving the hour-long session, Trudeau called it a "great ongoing part of an important conversation."
**
PMO Director of Operations Claude-Éric Gagné
Former PMO staffer Claude-Éric Gagné was forced to resign from his position after being under investigation for inappropriate behaviour.
The staffer involved in the accusation was not identified and the PMO refused to provide details on the incident at the time.
Despite his resignation, Gagné denied the accusations made against him.
MP Darshan Kang
On August 31, 2017, Kang resigned from the Liberal caucus after he was the subject of several sexual harassment allegations. The allegations dated back to his term as an Alberta MLA.
Two female staffers came forward with information about Kang’s alleged inappropriate behaviour. According to the Hill Times, Kang was under investigation by the House of Commons Chief Human Resources Officer.
One of the accusers claimed that Kang had forced himself upon her, kissing her and grabbing her breasts without consent. Shortly after the accusations became public, Kang resigned from the Liberal caucus. ...
MP Hunter Tootoo
Former Liberal cabinet minister and Nunavut MP Hunter Tootoo apologized publicly in 2016 after reports revealed he had been in an inappropriate relationship.
As a result of the scandal, Tootoo resigned from his cabinet position and the Liberal caucus to serve as an independent MP.
“I made a mistake and regrettably engaged in a consensual but inappropriate relationship, and that is why I resigned,” said TooToo.
MPs Massimo Pacetti and Scott Andrews
In 2015, shortly before Trudeau was elected Prime Minister, two Liberal MPs faced a flurry of allegations from a number of women.
Both Pacetti and Andrews were suspended from the Liberal caucus pending an investigation into sexual harassment complaints made by two female NDP MPs.
**
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan refused to say whether he was aware of the sexual nature of the misconduct allegation against Gen. Jonathan Vance that was brought to his attention in 2018.
(Sidebar: I'm sure that this is nothing, too.)
**
Conservative defence critic James Bezan said the move is an attempt to avoid debate on the motion proposing to call Telford to testify.
“After shutting down committee with a filibuster on Friday to avoid a motion calling the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Katie Telford to Defence Committee, the Liberals have outright cancelled the meeting today,” he said in a statement.
“The Liberals have shown how far they will go to continue this cover-up and stop Canadians from learning the truth. It’s clear that the Liberals are more interested in protecting Katie Telford than the women and men in the Canadian Armed Forces.”
Are you seeing a pattern here?
I am.
It's the pattern of a weak man who exercises what little power he has over someone who either won't fight back or will not be taken seriously. It is the pattern of eunuchs who champion personal license of their favoured prey but will never empower them with things that actually involve personal liberty. It's better to embrace a cause they consider settled, even lie about it, than admit no real woman would have anything to do with them. It's the pattern of liars and crooks who would fall on their swords before letting the tribe down.
And people let them get away with it.
No comments:
Post a Comment