Justin Trudeau, Groper

I know you are going to find it hard to believe, so, hang on tight. As if the list of #MeToo sexual harassers were not long enough, we have a new name to add.

Guess who?

Why, none other than self-proclaimed feminist Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Yes, indeed, Trudeau has been accused of groping a female reporter in the year 2000 during an anti-avalanche meeting.

The Toronto Globe and Mail has the story:

The alleged incident reportedly took place at a music festival where money was being raised for the Avalanche Foundation, a charity Trudeau became involved with after his brother Michel died in an avalanche in 1998.

In the days that followed, an editorial appeared in the Creston Valley Advance alleging Trudeau had apologized to an unnamed female reporter at the newspaper after “groping” her at the event. It alleged he told the woman he would not have “been so forward” if he had known she was reporting for a national newspaper.

Nice touch that. If he had known she was reporting for a national newspaper he would not have groped her. Does that mean that if women who do not work for national newspapers are fair game? Is it open season on female non-journalists?

Today, Justin does not recall any of it. The Globe and Mail adds this:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he does not remember any “negative interactions” during an event he attended 18 years ago in British Columbia – acknowledging for the first time allegations of sexual misconduct that recently resurfaced about him at the event.

Trudeau told reporters in Regina on Sunday that he remembers attending the music festival in Creston, B.C., in the summer of 2000, but said he doesn’t recall anything going amiss.

Saying that you do not recall is a good way to avoid perjuring yourself.

Naturally, this is all highly problematic for a man who champions feminist causes and who has led the march against male sexual harassment.

The allegation is particularly problematic for Trudeau, who frequently proclaims himself a feminist and has generally taken a zero-tolerance approach to allegations of sexual misconduct within the Liberal party.

Four MPs have resigned or been kicked out of the Liberal caucus over alleged sexual misconduct since Trudeau became party leader in 2013.

Trudeau has acknowledged that he, like other political leaders, is struggling to figure out the best way to deal with allegations while still allowing due process for those accused.

“I don’t have a rule book that’s been handed down to me from Wilfrid Laurier as leader of the Liberal party on how to handle these situations,” Trudeau said in January.

The Canadian Press has made efforts to speak to the other person involved in the alleged 2000 incident in Creston, B.C., but those efforts have so far been unsuccessful.

So, Justin Trudeau, the pride of woke male feminism, turns out to have been a groper. We await further developments.