https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/woman-accused-trudeau-breaks-silence-1.4737511
Woman who accused Trudeau of groping breaks her silence
John Paul Tasker, Lisa Laventure CBC News
Posted: Jul 06, 2018 5:48 PM ET | Last Updated: July 6
'I am confident that I did not act inappropriately,' Trudeau says of groping allegation
"Over the past weeks, since this news resurfaced, I've been reflecting, we've all been reflecting, on past behaviours," he said.
Not on our own past behaviours, "we all" haven't been. On his, and his more recent ones, and his fitness for office - yes.
"And as I've said, I'm confident I didn't act inappropriately, but I think the essence of this is people can experience interactions differently
Yes, a sexual assault victim's opinion of the "interaction" always differs from that of the assaulter.
and part of the lesson we
That should have been "I", because most people already know this stuff.
need to learn in this moment of collective awakening
That should have been "personal" awakening.
Use of "we" and "collective", of course, is a weak attempt to normalize his actions and deflect his guilt.
And use of "interactions" is an attempt to trivialize a sexual assault.
... people in many cases, women, experience interactions in professional contexts and other contexts differently than men.
Especially in cases of sexual assault.
"I apologized in the moment because I had obviously perceived that she had experienced it in a different way than I acted or I experienced it."
He "apologized", if one could call it that, the following day rather than "in the moment", in which he implied that, had his victim been anybody other than a journalist reporting for a major newspaper, the assault would not have been of any consequence to him.
The prime minister addressed that apology in detail on Thursday.
"Again, I've been reflecting on the actual interaction and if I apologized later, then it would be because I sensed that she was not entirely comfortable with the interaction that we had," Trudeau said.
"Like I said, I've been working very hard to try and piece it together, and even when the original editorial came out at the time I was fairly confident, I was very confident, that I hadn't acted in a way that I felt was in any way inappropriate."
A former co-worker remembers the reporter's account of the encounter. Valerie Bourne was the publisher of the Creston Valley Advance at the time and said the reporter was "distressed" by her contact with Trudeau.
"My recollections of the conversation were that she came to me because she was unsettled by it. She didn't like what had happened," said Bourne. "She wasn't sure how she should proceed with it because, of course, we're talking somebody who was known to the Canadian community."
Trudeau is expected to attend an event Saturday with Calgary MP Kent Hehr, who lost his cabinet post after an investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct with women.
The prime minister said the allegations levelled against him and those against the former minister of Sport and Disabilities are different.
"I think people understand that every situation is different and we have to reflect and take seriously every situation on a case-by-case basis," Trudeau said. "That's exactly what we're endeavouring to do."
The biggest difference between the two situations, of course, is that one involved Kent Hehr, and the other involved Justin Trudeau.
Who still has not actually denied the alleged grope.
Why not?
I would normally prefer to wait for the results of a full investigation, and give the accused the benefit of the doubt in the meantime.
There have been some celebrities that I liked who were accused - Bill Cosby and Rolf Harris - and, although I hoped that they were innocent, understanding that the rich and famous can easily be the targets of false allegations, sadly adjusted as the investigations continued.
Trudeau's victim did not make any allegations, beyond the original article, and sought no settlement or investigation. It was clearly documented at the time of occurrence, however, and he has still yet to actually deny it, where most others similarly accused have protested their innocence, even the guilty ones.
What galls me the most, though, is Trudeau's continuing hypocrisy, deflection, double standards, and presumption that he is above the rules that apply to lesser people. That includes the rules that he set himself, stating that they did indeed apply to himself.
