Canadian PM Trudeau Physically Assaults Female MP on Parliament Floor

 

Justin-Trudeau-FeministWednesday afternoon, self-described feminist and progressive hero Justin Trudeau was caught on camera grabbing an opposition whip on the wrist and elbowing a female legislator in her chest. All on the floor of Canada’s House of Commons. You can see the incident at about the 50-second mark of this video.

The CBC reports:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was accused of “manhandling” Opposition Whip Gord Brown and elbowing NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau in the House of Commons as MPs gathered for a vote on the government’s assisted-dying bill Wednesday afternoon.

In video from the House, Trudeau is seen walking toward Brown in a crowd of MPs in the Commons’ aisle, taking his arm in an apparent effort to move Brown towards his seat.

MPs were just about to vote on time allocation for bill C-14, the government’s physician-assisted dying legislation.

The prime minister later said he felt Brown was talking too slowly ahead of the vote.

The prime minister then crossed the floor and engaged in a loud and apparently heated conversation with NDP Leader Tom Mulcair.

NDP House Leader Peter Julian accused Trudeau of “manhandling” Brown, as MPs on all sides of the House shouted and Speaker Geoff Regan struggled to regain order in the House.

An emotional Brosseau said later in the House that she had been “elbowed in the chest by the prime minister,” bringing Trudeau to his feet once again to “apologize unreservedly.”

Brosseau said she was so upset from the incident that she had to leave the chamber, subsequently missing the vote.

A colleague of Brosseau’s, MP Nikki Ashton, didn’t exactly accept the apology.

“I am ashamed to be a witness to the person who holds the highest position in our country do such an act,” she said. “I want to say that for all of us who witnessed this, this was deeply traumatic, what I will say, if we apply a gendered lens, it is very important that young women in this space feel safe to come here and work here. He made us feel unsafe and we’re deeply troubled by the conduct of the prime minister of this country.”

That’s the third-wave feminist version of high crimes and misdemeanors. Viewing the video, the incident is more Corey Lewandowski than Taiwan Parliament, but it might take the shine off of global progressives’ favorite new leader.

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  1. Vald the Misspeller Inactive
    Vald the Misspeller
    @ValdtheMisspeller

    Arahant: Perhaps, “Canadian PM batters woman.”

    How about, “Canadian PM channels Tamerlane and lays siege to innocent single mother while MP’s watch hockey playoffs on smart phones.”

    Arahant: In criminal and civil law, assault is an attempt to initiate harmful or offensive contact with a person, or a threat to do so.[1] It is distinct from battery, which refers to the actual achievement of such contact.

    And if Dramaqueenery were illegal, this entire website would be doing hard time — or at least a lengthy timeout on the fainting couch.

    • #31
  2. Damocles Inactive
    Damocles
    @Damocles

    Black Prince:

    If that’s the case, wouldn’t the headline “Canadian PM Trudeau Elbows Female MP on Parliament Floor” be more appropriate?

    “Canadian PM Trudeau Attempts Murder on Female MP” is how I would have done it!

    • #32
  3. Jamal Rudert Inactive
    Jamal Rudert
    @JasonRudert

    Vald the Misspeller: And if Dramaqueenery were illegal, this entire website would be doing hard time — or at least a lengthy timeout on the fainting couch.

    HOW DARE YOU!

    • #33
  4. Brian Watt Inactive
    Brian Watt
    @BrianWatt

    I don’t think things got too oot of hand, eh?

    • #34
  5. Midget Faded Rattlesnake Member
    Midget Faded Rattlesnake
    @Midge

    Vald the Misspeller:

    Arahant: Perhaps, “Canadian PM batters woman.”

    How about, “Canadian PM channels Tamerlane and lays siege to innocent single mother while MP’s watch hockey playoffs on smart phones.”

    Arahant: In criminal and civil law, assault is an attempt to initiate harmful or offensive contact with a person, or a threat to do so.[1] It is distinct from battery, which refers to the actual achievement of such contact.

    And if Dramaqueenery were illegal, this entire website would be doing hard time — or at least a lengthy timeout on the fainting couch.

    We learn from the best:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXOYcd6KZ0E

    • #35
  6. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Black Prince:

    Jamal Rudert:

    Susan Quinn:Are they serious? I’ve looked at the video three times and he just bumped into a couple of people and led one off. Hello?

    Look for the woman in the pony tail standing by the wood railing. It’s mostly reaction from her, but he definitely elbows her.

    I agree…it’s hard to see exactly how it happened, but to my eyes it didn’t seem to be done on purpose—he probably wasn’t aware of who was behind him and accidentally elbowed the lady while stepping back and turning…I’ve done this many times. Question to lawyers: Does “physical assault” require intent?

    BP,

    Well, I would assume that “assault” does require intent. However, why do you insist upon bringing up pertinent facts and relevant law when everyone was having so much fun claiming false charges. Surely you get the idea that in the modern PC world being jostled accidently is a high crime while if thousands of people are genocidally murdered overseas it is just one equally valid culture expressing itself over another.

    Do try to get with it.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #36
  7. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    There is no such thing as criminal or civil law inside the House.

    Thanks to Parliamentary Privilege, they are governed solely by the rules of House procedure. The highest offense would be “Contempt of Parliament”. Since he apologized, that one doesn’t apply. The second-highest offense would be “Unparliamentary Conduct” or “Breach of Privilege”.

    Since the Liberals have a majority in the House, the highest punishment he can realistically receive is … a reprimand from the Committee of Procedure and House Affairs.

    (If the opposition had a majority, technically they could vote to have him beheaded.)

    • #37
  8. Black Prince Inactive
    Black Prince
    @BlackPrince

    James Gawron:

    Black Prince:

    Jamal Rudert:

    Susan Quinn:Are they serious? I’ve looked at the video three times and he just bumped into a couple of people and led one off. Hello?

    Look for the woman in the pony tail standing by the wood railing. It’s mostly reaction from her, but he definitely elbows her.

    I agree…it’s hard to see exactly how it happened, but to my eyes it didn’t seem to be done on purpose—he probably wasn’t aware of who was behind him and accidentally elbowed the lady while stepping back and turning…I’ve done this many times. Question to lawyers: Does “physical assault” require intent?

    BP,

    Well, I would assume that “assault” does require intent. However, why do you insist upon bringing up pertinent facts and relevant law when everyone was having so much fun claiming false charges. Surely you get the idea that in the modern PC world being jostled accidently is a high crime while if thousands of people are genocidally murdered overseas it is just one equally valid culture expressing itself over another.

    Do try to get with it.

    Regards,

    Jim

    Oh, I’ve been told that many times before, Jim…I’ll try my best to do better! =)

    • #38
  9. She Member
    She
    @She

    Susan Quinn:Are they serious? I’ve looked at the video three times and he just bumped into a couple of people and led one off. Hello?

    I might agree with you if Trudeau had been in the scrum the entire time.

    But he wasn’t.

    He was on the other side of the aisle, sitting down.  He got up out of his seat, and marched, purposefully, into the scrum, grabbed one guy, spun around, elbowed the woman, and hauled the guy he was hanging onto away.

    That’s a lot more than  a casual or haphazard ‘bumping’ by people who are sharing the same space.

    More than one source has indicated that Trudeau was swearing, using terms I can’t repeat here, as he approached his nemesis, who Trudeau felt was ‘walking too slowly towards his seat.”

    On May 5, a Conservative member of parliament rose in a formal session and said that Trudeau had, on multiple occasions, been pulling faces and sticking out his tongue when he heard questions that he didn’t like.

    Perhaps there are other issues, and more to the story, than we know at the moment.

    Or, perhaps Trudeau is just a spoiled, entitled lout.

    Wouldn’t be the first.

    Probably won’t be the last.

    • #39
  10. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    She:He was on the other side of the aisle, sitting down. He got up out of his seat, and marched, purposefully, into the scrum, grabbed one guy, spun around, elbowed the woman, and hauled the guy he was hanging onto away.

    That’s a lot more than a casual or haphazard ‘bumping’ by people who are sharing the same space.

    More than one source has indicated that Trudeau was swearing, using terms I can’t repeat here, as he approached his nemesis, who Trudeau felt was ‘walking too slowly towards his seat.”

    On May 5, a Conservative member of parliament rose in a formal session and said that Trudeau had, on multiple occasions, been pulling faces and sticking out his tongue when he heard questions that he didn’t like.

    Perhaps there are other issues, and more to the story, than we know at the moment.

    Or, perhaps Trudeau is just a spoiled, entitled lout.

    She,

    I would say you are at once too critical and too kind. First, it really does appear to me in the video that he didn’t even see the women behind him. Of course, the behavior if not intentional speaks of a kind of reckless immature stupidity. So I think you are giving him too much credit when you call him a spoiled entitled lout.

    I would call him an obnoxious puerile asCoCle.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #40
  11. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    screenshot.27

    • #41
  12. Mike LaRoche Inactive
    Mike LaRoche
    @MikeLaRoche

    Much ado about nothing, again.

    • #42
  13. Mike LaRoche Inactive
    Mike LaRoche
    @MikeLaRoche

    That said, Justin Trudeau is a still a tool and should resign anyway.

    • #43
  14. Mike LaRoche Inactive
    Mike LaRoche
    @MikeLaRoche

    As a fellow Québécois (by ancestry), he embarrasses the hell out of me.

    • #44
  15. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Mike LaRoche:As a fellow Québécois (by ancestry), he embarrasses the hell out of me.

    As a fellow human…

    • #45
  16. Suspira Member
    Suspira
    @Suspira

    Can we agree that this was inappropriate behavior? I’d call it rude and high-handed.

    • #46
  17. Kate Braestrup Member
    Kate Braestrup
    @GrannyDude

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: “I am ashamed to be a witness to the person who holds the highest position in our country do such an act,” she said. “I want to say that for all of us who witnessed this, this was deeply traumatic, what I will say, if we apply a gendered lens, it is very important that young women in this space feel safe to come here and work here. He made us feel unsafe and we’re deeply troubled by the conduct of the prime minister of this country.”

    This is the really silly bit. He was being a schmuck whose conduct anyone might find troubling —the “gendered lens” is not necessary. And, as a term, it’s just embarrassing.

    • #47
  18. Jamal Rudert Inactive
    Jamal Rudert
    @JasonRudert

    Suspira:Can we agree that this was inappropriate behavior? I’d call it rude and high-handed.

    Like a cranky nanny, ready to leave the park.

    • #48
  19. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    One journalist’s play-by-play of how it all went down:

    http://blogs.canoe.com/davidakin/politics/video-trudeau-grabs-conservative-mp-elbows-ndp-mp/

    • #49
  20. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Suspira:Can we agree that this was inappropriate behavior? I’d call it rude and high-handed.

    Not simply “inappropriate”. In his own apology he admitted that it was “inappropriate”, because that word really doesn’t mean anything as far as the rules go.

    The big question is whether or not it was “unparliamentary” and a “breach of privilege”.

    • #50
  21. Tobermory Inactive
    Tobermory
    @Tobermory

    Misthiocracy:screenshot.27

    In the words of Oscar Wilde, “Irony is wasted on the stupid.”

    • #51
  22. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Misthiocracy:

    Suspira:Can we agree that this was inappropriate behavior? I’d call it rude and high-handed.

    Not simply “inappropriate”. In his own apology he admitted that it was “inappropriate”, because that word really doesn’t mean anything as far as the rules go.

    The big question is whether or not it was “unparliamentary” and a “breach of privilege”.

    Mis,

    Look Mis, if you’ve got grounds for a Public Hanging then call me. Otherwise:

    GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME POPCORN!

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #52
  23. Pseudodionysius Inactive
    Pseudodionysius
    @Pseudodionysius

    “We shouldn’t be afraid of the word misogynist. Men and women should use it to describe themselves.”

    There. Fixed that for you.

    • #53
  24. Suspira Member
    Suspira
    @Suspira

    James Gawron:

    GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME POPCORN!

    Regards,

    Jim

    That’s what I call a win-win!

    • #54
  25. She Member
    She
    @She

    Note:

    All caps switched to bold and ital.

    James Gawron:She,

    I would say you are at once too critical and too kind. First, it really does appear to me in the video that he didn’t even see the women behind him. Of course, the behavior if not intentional speaks of a kind of reckless immature stupidity. So I think you are giving him too much credit when you call him a spoiled entitled lout.

    I would call him an obnoxious puerile asCoCle.

    Regards,

    Jim

    I don’t care whether he saw the woman or not.

    Tell you what:  Instead of wasting all this time talking about the spoiled, or puerile, or stupid, or inappropriate, or whatever we want to call it, behavior of this narcissistic man-child, let’s instead celebrate the millions of men and women worldwide who never get up, unprovoked, out of their seats and march, mouthing obscenities, several yards–not for reasons of safety or protection, not for any other observable reason–into what seems like a small, and orderly group of people simply because they think one of the men in the group isn’t walking fast enough, who never grab that man by the arm and jerk him around, who never find themselves having to apologize repeatedly for causing a ruckus amid peaceable folk, who never find themselves, as a result of this sort of interference, elbowing women in the ribs, or in the chest, whether they see them or not . . .

    . . . and who never do any of these things because thy’re behaving themselves and minding their own business!

    How about we celebrate them, instead?

    • #55
  26. Jamal Rudert Inactive
    Jamal Rudert
    @JasonRudert

    She:

    James Gawron:She,

    I would say you are at once too critical and too kind. First, it really does appear to me in the video that he

    I don’t care whether he saw the woman or not.

    Tell you what: Instead of wasting all this time talking about the spoiled, or puerile, or stupid, or inappropriate, or whatever we want to call it, behavior of this narcissistic man-child, let’s instead celebrate the millions of men and women worldwide who never get up, unprovoked, out of their seats and march, mouthing obscenities, several yards–not for reasons of safety or protection, not for any other observable reason–into what seems like a small, and orderly group of people simply because they think one of the men in the group isn’t walking fast enough, who never grab that man by the arm and jerk him around, who never find themselves having to apologize repeatedly for causing a ruckus amid peaceable folk, who never find themselves, as a result of this sort of interference, elbowing women in the ribs, or in the chest, whether they see them or not . . .

    . . . AND WHO NEVER DO ANY OF THESE THINGS BECAUSE THEY’RE BEHAVING THEMSELVES AND MINDING THEIR OWN BUSINESS!

    How about we celebrate them, instead?

    If we have to. But that’s not nearly as much fun as teeing off on Trudeau.

    • #56
  27. Casey Inactive
    Casey
    @Casey

    They never call that in the playoffs.

    • #57
  28. Z in MT Member
    Z in MT
    @ZinMT

    He apologized like any gentleman should. . .that makes all the difference.

    • #58
  29. TKC1101 Member
    TKC1101
    @

    • #59
  30. Al Sparks Coolidge
    Al Sparks
    @AlSparks

    Suspira:Can we agree that this was inappropriate behavior? I’d call it rude and high-handed.

    I can agree with that.  I’m amazed at how many people on this thread want to make it more than that.

    I also wonder if his father was like that.  I wouldn’t be surprised.

    When I read this from MP Nikki Ashton, “I am ashamed to be a witness to the person who holds the highest position in our country do such an act,” she said. “I want to say that for all of us who witnessed this, this was deeply traumatic, what I will say, if we apply a gendered lens, it is very important that young women in this space feel safe to come here and work here. He made us feel unsafe and we’re deeply troubled by the conduct of the prime minister of this country.”

    I’m thinking drama queen.  She sounds priggish.  Of course we see the same thing on American (and Canadian?) colleges.

    If people like her keep it up, Trudeau will end up becoming popular in the same way Trump has.

    • #60
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