Back in February, Erin Weir, a sitting Member of Parliament for the New Democratic Party, was under investigation for his conduct concerning a certain Female NDP member. Christine Moore wrote an email on January 30th alleging that there were a number of complaints against Weir for his actions. The investigation was headed by University of Ottawa law professor Michelle Flaherty. The members of the NDP had until February 20th to report their stories about Weir to Flaherty. When the report was finally released, Flaherty reported that she found one claim of harassment and three claims of sexual harassment.
At first, Erin Weir was prepared to face these accusations head on and was prepared to make amends with those who felt his actions were inappropriate, but as time went on he began to become defiant. Weir claimed that this is retaliation for not towing the party line, as he had been barred from Question Period for several months by the previous leader Tom Mulcair and Caucus Chair Charlie Angus for speaking on a resolution on carbon pricing at the 2016 Saskatchewan NDP convention. As Weir became more vocal on his thoughts and experiences of the investigation, Jagmeet Singh, the incumbent leader of the NDP, expelled him from the caucus, stating Weir was not taking responsibility for his actions and is not willing to commit to training to rectify his behaviour.
The investigation itself became more of a witch hunt. As time went on, it became clear that the evidence presented was not only vague, but also the punishment did not fit the crime. Jagmeet Singh himself stated that " it was found that Mr. Weir failed to read non-verbal cues in social situations and that his behaviour resulted in significant negative impacts on the complainants." One complaint stated to CBC News "Weir spoke to her in an angry and belligerent way and that she felt physically intimidated."
However, Weir himself from the start has stated that he never meant to make anyone feel intimidated. As more info was released, it was revealed that his "inappropriate behaviour" was either standing too close to certain people or talking to them when they didn't want to. Weir, the investigator Michelle Flaherty, and Jagmeet Singh all recognised that when Weir became aware of his actions, he ceased all communication with the reported victims. Weir actions did not even break the House of Commons Anti-Harassment Policy, yet he was still expelled from the NDP.
This situation is dangerous because it is another situation where a Male Politician has their life and career destroyed by accusations with very little evidence to support it. It is reminiscent to the dangers presented by the #MeToo movement. When the #MeToo began, I believed that it was one of the better hashtags and movements to be born from the internet, but my optimism quickly turned to pessimism as I watched the events take place. Sure, large serial sexual harassers such as Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey had their immoral and illegal activities exposed, but quickly descended into something dark and twisted. Many people have had their lives ruined by the lacklustre accusations of harassment. What really makes me upset about the whole situation is the fact that I have friends and family who have been assaulted, sexually harassed and even raped. These are people, both men and women, who have truly suffered and had their lives altered by the action of another for their own sexual gratification, so I have very little sympathy and remorse for an individual that claims that being talked to or stood close to is sexual harassment or "harassment behaviour". It waters down the true cases of rape and sexual assault, and worse than that, these people cause irreparable damage to the credibility of real victims who now have to fight even harder to have their stories heard and have their stories believed, all because someone wanted to play the victim narrative.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/weir-not-ruling-out-legal-action-following-ouster-from-ndp-caucus-1.3915804