Ten days after NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh suspended MP Erin Weir, details on the 'investigation' and timeline were finally revealed on CTV's 'Question Period'. While no allegations against Mr. Weir had been received by Mr. Singh, a personal attack by a fellow caucus member saw the suspension of Mr. Weir from Caucus meetings.
Mr. Weir is my MP, I voted for him and tried to help with his election. I write this opinion on my own without consultation with anyone other than myself. I am speaking publically against Mr. Singh's actions because i have no other mechanism to raise my voice on this injustice.
Here is what Mr. Singh has finally outlined concerning the 'investigation' of 'allegations' against Mr. Weir:
Window to report allegations in Weir investigation closing
As for the process underway to handle the third-party claims of "harassing behaviour towards women" levelled against Saskatchewan MP Erin Weir, Singh said there are about 10 days left in a two-week window for any potential victims to come forward with specific allegations. (!!!!!!!)
On Feb. 1 Singh announced the NDP would launch a probe into the claims levelled against him by fellow NDP MP Christine Moore in an email to caucus.
According to a copy of the email, Weir is named directly by Moore, who alleges that "too many women (mostly employee [sic])" have complained to her about Weir harassing them.
Based on what’s been made public, there is no indication these allegations involved incidents that were sexual in nature.
The independent investigation got underway formally on Feb. 6, Singh’s chief of staff Willy Blomme announced earlier this week.
Blomme said the investigation is being conducted by Michelle Flaherty who is a University of Ottawa law professor and member of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.
"Once Dr. Flaherty’s work is complete, the MP's role in caucus will be re-evaluated," she said in a statement.
Singh said the part of the investigation where the investigator will be open to hearing from victims will total two weeks, closing on Feb. 20.
"Then, the investigator has requested some time to evaluate how long it will actually take to prepare the report," Singh said.
Citing the investigation, Singh would not comment on whether any men or women had come forward with specific allegations against Weir.
As of last week when Weir appeared on Question Period, no one had spoken up to his knowledge.
"We understand that this is a matter that needs to be done very urgently and we’ll try our best to have it done in an expedient manner," said Singh.
To have my MP suspended from his caucus with no allegations for a 3 week period to allow possible allegations to be made is a mockery of justice of any kind. - CTV's Fifth Estate - Feb 11/18
In my years of defending the New Democratic Party on this blogsite, I can say that I have NEVER seen worse administrative decisions made by a Leader of the NDP. What Mr. Singh has done to my Member of Parliament is highly unacceptable and shows that he is completely out of his league in federal politics. Period!
