Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under fire after claiming he has no recollection of a story alleging he inappropriately touched a journalist 18 years ago.
Then-28-year-old Trudeau was accused in August 2000 of groping a young reporter at the*annual*Kokanee Summit*musical festival in*Creston,*British Columbia and
reportedly only apologized*for the act after learning she worked a community newspaper the*Creston Valley Advance.
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Didn’t he learn through his vast experiences in public life, that groping a strange young woman isn’t in the handbook of proper etiquette, regardless of who she is, what her business is or where they are?”
In an opinion*column*by CBC’s*Robyn Urback titled, “
Trudeau has boxed himself in with his own zero-tolerance policy on sexual misconduct,” the Canadian prime minister is skewered for his response to the allegation.
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In the current climate, denying the claim is akin to saying, “She’s lying,” which is a taboo phrase for the leader of a government that has made believing women central to its approach to sexual misconduct allegations.
If the allegation is true, on the other hand, Trudeau can’t simply explain, apologize and attempt to move on. It would look like he*afforded himself*leniency that he’d denied to members of his caucus who were accused of misconduct.
So the prime minister is stuck: he can’t confirm or deny. As a result, his office opted for the most unsatisfactory of all possible responses, telling the National Post that Trudeau does not*recall any “negative interactions”*in Creston during that time. In other words, Canada’s highest-profile women’s rights advocate has been stricken by a convenient bout of amnesia.
“Either Trudeau groped this woman and he needs to own up to it and live up to his own standard , or he didn’t and he should state that,” Bergen tweeted with a link to Urback’s column. “
Saying he doesn’t remember doesn’t pass his own test.”