Senator Colin Kenny probe must hear all allegations, NDP MP says
Investigation into sexual harassment allegation doesn't include similar alleged incidents
An investigation into Senator Colin Kenny's alleged harassment of a staffer will be "a travesty of justice" if the investigator doesn't hear from women with similar allegations, New Democrat MP Françoise Boivin said Thursday.
The CBC's Brigitte Bureau reported Wednesday that five women had come forward with new allegations of harassment against Kenny.
Last fall, Bureau reported that two women alleged sexual harassment against Kenny, who was appointed by Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau 30 years ago.
One of the women had filed a formal complaint with the Senate, where she had worked for Kenny, and the Senate opened an investigation.
But the Senate won't reveal the investigator's name to CBC News or to the women with new allegations. Women who tried to contact the investigator through the Senate to tell their stories did not have their calls returned.
Investigation could be 'a travesty of justice'
Boivin said the investigator needs to "hear all the facts."
"After that you can separate the facts from the fiction, but you need to hear them," Boivin said.
"There's a big element missing in my opinion if all the facts that we heard through the report on TV last night are true. Because if you don't make a decision based on all the facts, it's going to be a travesty of justice in my opinion."
Boivin, who sat as a Liberal MP from 2004 to 2006, said it seems unbelievable that nobody in the Liberal Party knew about the allegations, which date back to the 1980s.
"That's a lot of leaders in the last 20 years. It goes from the older version of Trudeau to the newer version of Trudeau," she said.
"I do hope that we don't find one day that it was kind of known, but you know, nobody did anything, because that would be sad for the victims."
Senate Liberal leader James Cowan said the allegations have to be reported to the Senate to be investigated.
"Madame [Pascale] Brisson made a complaint to the Senate and an investigator was appointed. And that investigation is ongoing. I don’t know whether the others have made similar complaints. If they do I’m sure that they’ll be dealt with the same way," Cowan told CBC News.