联邦议会今天复会 会不会有更多的MPs掉链子

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A staff member in the Prime Minister's Office has resigned after an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour, though he continues to deny any wrongdoing.

Claude-Éric Gagné, formerly the deputy director of operations, had been on leave from the office since November. An independent investigation into his alleged conduct concluded on Friday.

In a statement, Gagné said he denies the allegations against him and that he resigned of his own accord.

"I collaborated entirely with investigation into the complaint about inappropriate behaviour. I strongly deny the allegations that have been brought to me," he said.

"A few days ago, with no news from the person in charge of the investigation for a number weeks, and without further facts, I made the decision to resign. This process has been extremely stressful personally. To preserve my health and to prevent becoming a source of distraction for the team that I respect, I decided to resign."

His departure from the PMO was first reported by HuffPost Canada.

Meanwhile, a woman who was not part of the complaint has come forward to say she had an "unpleasant" interaction with Gagné. Myriam Denis said she will have more specific allegations about Gagné and others on Monday.

"Based on my personal experience with Gagné, I am relieved to hear he is no longer working in the top political office of our country. Specific details of my experience with him and other Liberal Party of Canada staffers will be made public in a blog post on Monday."

Rubin Thomlinson LLP, an employment law firm in Toronto, was hired to investigate the allegations.

"I take the issues of allegations of misconduct extremely seriously and that's one of the reasons why one of the things we did when I became leader of the Liberal Party [was] we put in place rigorous processes to actually engage and deal with allegations," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in December when asked about Gagné.

"That's something that people expect. It's something that we're seeing a need for in workplaces across the country and indeed around the world. And because of obviously the need to respect the rigour and integrity of the processes going underway I won't be making any further comments on this situation."

All parties impacted
Gagné's departure comes with all three major federal parties dealing with misconduct allegations.

On Thursday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced an investigation into concerns raised about NDP MP Erin Weir. A day earlier, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said an independent investigation would look into a report that Rick Dykstra was allowed to stand as a candidate for the Conservative Party in 2015 despite an allegation of sexual assault.

A week ago, Kent Hehr resigned from Trudeau's cabinet pending an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against him.

 

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https://nowtoronto.com/news/ontario-pc-scandal-andrew-scheer/

 

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https://www.thestar.com/news/canada...allegations-against-tory-mp-rick-dykstra.html

By Alex BoutilierOttawa Bureau
Fri., Feb. 2, 2018

MONTREAL—Stephen Harper and some of his top aides knew about sexual assault allegations against former Conservative MP Rick Dykstra while allowing him to run for the party in 2015.

The former prime minister made the stunning public admission late Friday evening, just as Maclean’s magazine published email exchanges between Harper’s inner circle discussing Dykstra’s candidacy.

Harper said when he learned of allegations against Dykstra in 2015, he understood that police had investigated and had closed the file against the then-Conservative MP for St. Catharines. Given that understanding, Harper said he “couldn’t justify” removing Dykstra as a candidate.

“Recently, much more information has come to light, including information to the effect that the original (police) investigation may not have been complete. In my view, it is essential that criminal allegations, including this one, be fully investigated and prosecuted if warranted,” Harper wrote in a statement posted to Twitter.

“I have never hesitated to remove candidates or caucus members. My standard has been that either there are facts that justify such removal or allegations that trigger investigation … Any allegation of this nature must be taken seriously, forwarded to the police, investigated and prosecuted.”

Dykstra resigned as president of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives last week, hours before Maclean’s published a report detailing an alleged assault against a young Conservative staffer in 2014.

According to that report, a young female staffer accused Dykstra of forcing her to perform oral sex on him at his apartment after a night of drinking at a post-budget party in 2014. The woman filed a report with Ottawa police and informed the Conservative whip’s office about the incident, but later requested the police close the file.

Dykstra was not charged, and the allegations have not been tested in court. Dykstra has denied the allegations.

Despite knowing about the allegations, the Conservative party allowed Dykstra to stand as their candidate in St. Catharines in the 2015 election. He lost, and went on to become president of the provincial Progressive Conservatives, who are currently embroiled in scandal after the departure of leader Patrick Brown amidst his own sexual misconduct allegations.

Email exchanges published by Maclean’s, which have not been independently verified by the Star, suggest a number of Harper’s inner circle were at least aware of the nature of the allegations.

In September 2015, the Conservative campaign was embarrassed by GTA candidate Jerry Bance being caught on video urinating into a cup and dumping it down a client’s sink while working as a repairman.

An email from longtime Harper confidant and chief of staff Ray Novak asked other key Conservative campaign officials — Giorno, Jenni Byrne, and Lynn Corbett — if there was any reason not to recommend Harper drop Bance from the campaign.

“We’re all sitting with the knowledge that one of MPs is a —,” wrote Byrne, using a word Maclean’s refused to publish as Dykstra has not been charged with a crime.

“As much as this is disgusting and embarrassing — Jerry is not the biggest candidate concern we have.”

In a separate statement Friday night, Novak said the campaign asked the party’s lawyer to investigate the issue, but few facts were available. He said any suggestion the campaign took the allegations lightly is “misleading and false.”

“This was an extremely difficult decision and ultimately turned on whether a closed investigation without charges was sufficient grounds for firing,” Novak wrote in a statement on Twitter.

“Certainly, with the benefit of hindsight and additional information, Rick Dykstra should have been fired as a candidate … To this day I have hoped, particularly in light of recent media reports, that the alleged victim presses charges so this matter can be fully investigated and prosecuted by the police and the courts.”

In an email to the Star, the Conservatives’ 2015 campaign director, Guy Giorno said the candidate should have been removed.

“Others have stated that a decision was made and on what basis. They are capable of speaking for themselves,” he said.

“I can only speak for myself. The candidate should have been dropped. I regret that my lack of recollection led me to speculate about what occurred when the emails indicate that my position and recommended course of action were clear.”

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, who was not involved in the larger 2015 campaign and has denied any knowledge about the allegations against Dykstra, ordered an independent investigation into the incident on Wednesday.

“Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer indicated the Conservative party plans to have an independent third-party inquiry into Rick Dykstra's continued candidacy during the last federal election,” wrote Byrne in a statement. “I look forward to participating in the process.”