Juno News - October 03, 2018


Trudeau vs Kavanaugh on sexual assault allegations


Episode Stats

Length

4 minutes

Words per Minute

127.14592

Word Count

632

Sentence Count

42

Misogynist Sentences

2


Summary

A striking parallel between accusations being levied against Brett Kavanaugh and accusations against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Candace Malan explains why Trudeau's accuser came forward, and why, despite the media circus surrounding his accuser, there was no in depth investigation, no hearings, and no mass protests.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 We've all been captivated by these Senate Judiciary Committee hearings over Supreme
00:00:06.440 Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
00:00:08.880 More than the spectacle of the hearings themselves, an absolute media circus has unfolded and
00:00:13.760 we seem deeply divided over to handle these MeToo accusations while upholding due process
00:00:18.740 and the rule of law.
00:00:20.720 To many, Kavanaugh was guilty until proven innocent.
00:00:24.000 Mass protests broke out with angry feminists demanding that we believe women.
00:00:29.720 Now there's a striking parallel between accusations being levied against Brett Kavanaugh and accusations
00:00:35.640 against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
00:00:39.760 Earlier this summer, an 18-year-old sexual misconduct allegation surfaced against Trudeau.
00:00:45.560 A newspaper editorial from August 2000 alleged that Trudeau groped a young reporter at a music
00:00:53.380 festival in Creston, British Columbia.
00:00:57.140 Both allegations are from decades ago.
00:01:00.180 Both involve a drunk young man allegedly preying on a younger woman.
00:01:05.560 Kavanaugh was 17 at the time of his alleged sexual misconduct.
00:01:08.800 That was 36 years ago in 1982.
00:01:12.600 Trudeau was 28 years old at the time of his alleged sexual misconduct.
00:01:17.540 That was 18 years ago in 2000.
00:01:20.600 Now Brett Kavanaugh has adamantly denied the allegation against him.
00:01:25.100 I'm not questioning that Dr. Ford may have been sexually assaulted by some person in some
00:01:32.640 place at some time.
00:01:36.120 But I have never done this to her or to anyone.
00:01:41.220 But Trudeau has acknowledged that the interaction that he was accused of actually occurred.
00:01:46.720 He was quoted at the time in 2000, saying, quote, if I had known you were reporting for
00:01:52.960 a national paper, I would have never been so forward, unquote.
00:01:58.260 Part of the problem with the allegation against Kavanaugh is that there is no evidence and no
00:02:02.760 witnesses have been able to substantiate the allegations.
00:02:06.460 Law witnesses were named by the accuser, but none of them could remember the incident or
00:02:10.660 verify that it ever happened.
00:02:12.580 Well, we don't have that problem with Trudeau's accuser.
00:02:16.460 She came forward right away.
00:02:18.600 She told multiple people about Trudeau's sexual aggression, including friends, colleagues,
00:02:25.140 and her editor.
00:02:26.140 ...of the conversation where she came to me because she was unsettled by it.
00:02:33.560 She didn't like what had happened.
00:02:36.420 She wasn't sure how she should proceed with it because, of course, we're talking somebody
00:02:47.040 who was known to the Canadian community.
00:02:50.720 They even wrote about it in the local newspaper.
00:02:54.100 There is more than enough corroborating evidence to verify that this did indeed happen.
00:03:00.300 Now, if Kavanaugh's accuser had anywhere near this kind of evidence, Kavanaugh would be finished.
00:03:05.020 There's no doubt about that.
00:03:07.380 But unlike the intense media circus in the US, in Canada, Trudeau was spared the humiliation
00:03:12.920 of having to recount his drunken episodes as a young man.
00:03:16.300 He was only ever asked about this incident a handful of times, always politely by friendly
00:03:21.720 journalists.
00:03:23.160 There were no in-depth hearings, no police investigations, and no witness testimonies.
00:03:28.980 And interestingly, there was no rallying of feminists, no mass protests, and no MeToo activists demanding
00:03:35.880 that we believe his accuser.
00:03:38.780 Trudeau ultimately just shrugged his shoulders and excused his own bad behavior.
00:03:43.160 I think the essence of this is that people can experience interactions differently.
00:03:52.400 And part of the lesson we need to learn in this time of collective awakening is a level
00:03:58.980 of respect and understanding for the fact that people, in many cases women, experience
00:04:05.540 interactions in professional contexts and other contexts differently than men.
00:04:11.160 We can all imagine the uproar if a Conservative or a Republican had made this claim.
00:04:39.000 But Justin Trudeau is a liberal, and he's a self-proclaimed feminist.
00:04:42.780 So apparently, he gets a pass?
00:04:45.640 It's almost as if this whole cultural movement is more about pushing left-wing doctrines and
00:04:50.960 radical feminism than it is about finding truth and justice.
00:04:55.340 For the True North Initiative, I'm Candace Malcolm.