The Liberal Party has hired a prominent human rights lawyer to conduct an investigation into allegations of misconduct against a pair of male MPs.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said Friday that Cynthia Petersen will probe claims of sexual harassment made by two female New Democrat MPs against Massimo Pacetti and Scott Andrews.
Petersen, a partner at the Toronto-based firm Sack Goldblatt Mitchell, will put together a confidential report, which will inform Trudeau in terms of how he handles the suspended MPs and their futures in the Liberal Party.
Trudeau said Friday that he won’t elaborate on the nature of the internal investigation, including how long it will take, or whether it will be made public.
“I look forward to receiving her advice,” Trudeau said of Petersen. “More than that, I’m not going to speculate on the outcome.”
Complaints of “serious personal misconduct” prompted Trudeau to suspend the two sitting members of Parliament from his caucus earlier this month.
Both Pacetti and Andrews have denied any wrongdoing.
The female MPs have chosen to remain unnamed, however one spoke out last week, telling CTV News about an incident with Pacetti at a downtown Ottawa hotel room in March.
The MP described what happened as “sex without explicit consent,” but wouldn’t elaborate on what exactly that allegation meant.
In an email, Pacetti maintained he did nothing wrong.
Sources told CTV another NDP MP alleged Andrews tried to force himself on her and verbally harassed her for some time after the incident.
The woman making allegations against Andrews has not spoken to media about the incident.
The Liberals did say the interviews for the investigation could begin during Parliament’s holiday break, and that it will be up to the MPs to decide if they want to participate.
Petersen’s investigation doesn’t preclude the Speaker’s office from bringing in an independent, third-party investigation, which the Liberals have also requested.
