I asked when #MeToo would hit Ottawa, and then it did

— 12.14.2017 08:31 AM

A few days ago, I wrote a column – which the Hill Times published, but HuffPo refused to, because they didn’t want to do anything that might identify the sexual harasser – about why #MeToo hadn’t hit Ottawa yet.  Because, God knows, there’s plenty of wrongdoing taking place up there, too.

Well, last night – as Justin Trudeau was about to speak at his annual Christmas party – this hit:

A staff member in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office is on leave from his position as deputy director of operations and a third-party investigation has been launched after allegations of inappropriate behaviour were made against him.

TVA, a French-language television network, first reported that Claude-Éric Gagné, the deputy director of operations in the PMO, is being investigated for inappropriate behaviour and has been on forced leave since early November while the investigation takes place.

The PMO is refusing to identify the staffer involved or provide any details of the allegations being made against them but a source confirmed to CBC News that the allegations are against Gagné and involve inappropriate behaviour.

So, there you go: the highest office in the land has apparently got this problem, too.

If you read on in the story, a PMO spokesperson says an “independent investigator” is looking into this.

Forgive me for being a lawyer and all that, but (a) we don’t know who the investigator is (b) we don’t know his or her mandate (c) we don’t know who is paying him or her and (d) we don’t know what powers the independent investigator actually has.  We need to.

A principle of natural law is that you cannot investigate yourself. For this probe to be meaningful, the independent investigator needs to truly investigate – and truly be independent.  That is particularly the case when the office being investigated has virtually unlimited power.

P.S. There were two men referred to in my column. Many people seemed to figure out who the journalist was. But I only heard from one person who knew who the other guy was.


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About those by-elections

— 12.12.2017 09:52 AM

The Newfoundland-Labrador one, no big surprise.  (But the NDP result? Ouch.)

The Ontario one, also no surprise. (But congrats to Ms. Yip – Arnold is smiling, today.)

The Saskatchewan one, no surprise.  (The slide in LPC vote, not so great, true.)

But the B.C. by-election? That was big, folks.  That was huge.  The Liberals – for the second time this Fall – have flipped a seat from blue to red.  (Congrats to Mr. Hogg, who I have had the pleasure to meet a few times, back in my B.C. Liberal days.)

It sure would be fun to be a fly on the wall at that federal Conservative caucus meeting, tomorrow morning, wouldn’t it?  Few will say it out loud, but I know they are thinking it:

Andrew Scheer was the wrong pick.  He is more than a dud – he’s a disaster.

And, if anyone is going to guarantee Justin Trudeau a second big majority win, it’s him.  (Oh, and followed closely by Jagmeet Singh, who has entered into a witness protection program.)

A good year, politically, for Liberals.  Not so much for the other guys.


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Some of her best friends are Jews

— 12.12.2017 08:40 AM

If B.C. Green Party advisor Mr. Spector was still alive, we would send him this about the Trump Party that he, you know, defended.

Child molester Roy Moore’s wife:

“Fake news would tell you that we don’t care for Jews. I tell you all this because I’ve seen it all, so I just want to set the record straight while they’re here. One of our attorneys is a Jew. We have very close friends that are Jewish and rabbis, and we also fellowship with them.”


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Dear Davide Mastracci: does HuffPo protect sexual abusers?

— 12.11.2017 10:56 AM

Get this: I sent that column below – the one the Hill Times printed, about sexual harassment on Parliament Hill – to HuffPo.

Here’s the response I got from one Davide Mastracci, a student at Ryerson:   “DECLINED…[this] is not the forum for investigative reporting…Although you omitted names, the CBC employee you describe is easily identifiable.”

So Huffington Post will therefore assist in protecting that harasser.  Because theirs “is not a forum for investigative reporting.”  And because he’s “easily identifiable.”

Listen, Davide Mastracci: you are full of shit.  It isn’t investigative journalism – it’s an opinion column, based on verifiable fact.  Ryerson, I’m confident, teaches you the difference.  If not, I’ll send you one of my books to help you out.

But if the victimizer is “easily identifiable,” as you claim – and I’m not so sure about that, but let’s just say you are right – then why are you conspiring to ensure he is not identified? What about HuffPo’s pious editorials, demanding that we all take these stories of abuse seriously?  Oh, wait.

HuffPo protects sexual harassers: that’s the only conclusion that can be drawn from your actions, today.

 

 


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Toronto Star on Recipe For Hate: it’s “of interest to anyone interested in punk culture!”

— 12.11.2017 10:36 AM

Hey! The good folks at the Star wrote about Recipe For Hate – thank you, Sarah Murdoch!  My punk rock credentials are estimable – which, my dictionary tells me, means “worthy of respect!”

Recipe For Hate, Warren Kinsella, Dundurn

Warren Kinsella is known mostly as a political operative and pundit, but he also has estimable punk-rock credentials (as punk historian and as bass player in SFH, which bills itself as Canada’s best-loved geriatric punk band). This YA novel is “loosely” based on real-life events, and concerns the murder of two teenagers in 1979 in Portland, Ore., then the epicentre of the punk scene. It will be of interest to anyone interested in punk culture — not just the music, but the fanzines, art and writing of the period. Bonus: The author has curated a Recipe For Hate online punk playlist for uneasy listening.


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