NDP MP Christine Moore rises in the House of Commons in Ottawa, on April 4, 2012.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
NDP MP Christine Moore says she has a “totally” different view of the sexual harassment allegations levied against her by an Afghan war veteran.
Ms. Moore, the 34-year-old member for Abitibi-Témiscamingue in Quebec, told The Globe and Mail on Wednesday that she will comment on the specific allegations made by Glen Kirkland at a later date, but disputes some of his claims.
“This happened five years ago, so I have to go through different things to remember everything. But I will answer to that,” she said.
“You will find out that there is some stuff that [does] not stick with his story.”
Ms. Moore was temporarily suspended from her duties in caucus this week amid allegations that she spent the night with Mr. Kirkland, a veteran of the Afghanistan conflict, after his emotional testimony at a House of Commons committee in 2013 and that Ms. Moore later showed up unannounced at Mr. Kirkland’s home in Brandon, Man.
Ms. Moore said she is co-operating with the investigation.
In a scrum with reporters on Wednesday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was asked about Ms. Moore’s involvement in making harassment allegations against MP Erin Weir, who was kicked out of the NDP caucus last week, and in 2014 against former Liberal MPs Massimo Pacetti and Scott Andrews.
Mr. Singh said previous allegations are “not relevant at all.”
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says the party is launching an independent investigation into allegations of sexual harassment levelled by an Afghan war veteran against New Democrat MP Christine Moore.
The Canadian Press
“Just because of an allegation that’s now arisen – which we take seriously – in no way should cast any question of credibility about other allegations,” Mr. Singh said.
Mr. Pacetti said he doesn’t want to relive the events that led to his ouster from the Liberal caucus in 2014. ““To comment on a person’s misery is just not my style,” the former MP told the Globe.
When asked about Mr. Pacetti, Ms. Moore declined to comment.
Members of the NDP caucus said they have faith in the outcome of the independent investigation and some stood behind Ms. Moore saying there are clear distinctions between her case and that of Mr. Weir.
There was a thorough investigation of the allegations of harassment that were levelled against Mr. Weir, said NDP MP Charlie Angus. ”I haven’t seen Christine Moore’s side of the story,” said Mr. Angus. It was something “outside of Parliament in her private life.”
In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Ms. Moore suggested some of Mr. Kirkland’s claims are contradictory.
“There is some stuff in his story that doesn’t work,” she said. When asked if she has a different view of the story, Ms. Moore replied: “Totally.”
On June 5, 2013, Ms. Moore was on the national defence committee as it heard from Mr. Kirkland, who had been called as a witness. After the committee meeting, he said, Ms. Moore handed him her card and asked him to come to her office.
At the office, he said Ms. Moore, who is also a nurse, urged him to drink gin even though he was also taking antidepressants and painkillers.
Then, he said, she followed him back to his hotel where she spent the night.
Ms. Moore told The Globe that Mr. Kirkland only told the parliamentary committee that he was taking insulin.
In a transcript of the testimony, Mr. Kirkland discussed his insulin prescription, and also said he takes an arthritis pill. He also discussed his post-traumatic stress disorder.
When asked about Mr. Kirkland’s claims that he told Ms. Moore about his medications behind closed doors, she said “I will answer to those questions later.”
Ms. Moore also disputes the timeline of Mr. Kirkland’s claims. According to the Library of Parliament, Ms. Moore voted in the House of Commons between 10:40 pm and 11:25 pm on the day of the committee testimony.
Mr. Kirkland said Wednesday he cannot remember exactly what time the drinking in her office took place, though he says there were other members of her staff present. But he says that he and Ms. Moore went to his hotel room very late that night, after the votes took place.
A few weeks later, Mr. Kirkland said Ms. Moore sent him a message saying she intended to meet him during a golf trip in Saskatchewan that he had arranged with some of his friends. During that visit he said he told her they would not have a relationship.
But she still showed up at his home in Brandon a few weeks later where, he said, he insisted she was not welcome.