The curious case of Christine Moore

May 9, 2018 Brian Lilley Canadian Politics 10

How many claims of sexual impropriety can one MP be involved in? Well, if you are New Democrat MP Christine Moore the answer, so far, is three with Moore playing different starring roles in each one.

Moore, a 34 year-old MP from Northern Quebec, was suspended from her duties in the NDP caucus but remains a member of the party after Moore, who has been an accuser before, was accused by a vet of inappropriate actions.

“I take these allegations very seriously and I will be appointing an independent investigator to conduct a fair and full examination,” Singh said on Tuesday.

Funny, it was just last week that Singh released the results of “an independent investigator” into the conduct of Erin Weir, an investigation sparked by Moore’s claim that Weir had acted inappropriately with some party members, but not her.

There is a history here.

And of course if your memory goes back to 2014, it was Moore that was at the centre of allegations against a Liberal MP that saw his career ended. Moore claimed that she had sex with Massimo Pacetti,  “with no explicit consent from me.”

Yet despite claiming there was “no explicit consent,” she has told reporters including Christie Blatchford, that she provided the condom.

For the record Pacetti has denied the allegations outright.

But if we take Moore at her word, her idea of not giving consent is to get naked with a man and hand him a condom? Most grown adults know that to be nothing but malarkey.

The accuser is now the accused.

Now Moore is facing her own accuser, a man who says he came before the defence committee in 2013 to discuss how veterans were being treated and was seduced, then effectively stalked by an MP on that committee, a veteran herself.

In a story broken by CBC’s Neil Macdonald, Moore is described as playing Corporal Glen Kirkland with alcohol when Kirkland accepted an invitation to Moore’s office to, she said, learn more about his injuries how he could be helped, and then following him back to his hotel room.

While Kirkalnd isn’t claiming he was raped or assaulted, he did tell Macdonald that was happened was wrong given that he was an injured vet, she was the MP that could help his case.

“Look, I’m not crying rape,” says Kirkland, who is now a Realtor in Brandon. “I don’t like to think of myself as a survivor. I prefer ‘thriver.’ But what she did was inappropriate. Was I a willing participant? I guess it depends on your definition of willing. There was a power imbalance. There was a level of authority there.”

Kirkland told Macdonald that although he initially said no to her offer of gin because he was on antidepressants and painkillers, when the veteran and nurse kept telling him it was ok, he agreed and things went on. After leaving Ottawa, Kirkland thought that was the end of it until he started getting explicit texts from Moore, she showed up a course where he was playing golf with friends in Saskatchewan and finally flew out to his house to visit him unannounced in Brandon, Manitoba.
After the visit to his house, Kirkland said he was curt in telling her nothing was happening and she dropped it.
It’s all a bit rich though coming from a woman that has ruined, or attempted to ruin, the careers of two men over unfounded allegations of sexual harassment. In Pacetti’s case she said there was “no explicit consent” but doesn’t say he forced anything and claims she gave him the condom. In Weir’s case, she wasn’t a party to any of the claims and in the end the investigation found Weir didn’t read non-verbal cues, stood too close to people and talked too much, none of which is sexual harassment.
But under the standard Moore has been pushing, can she be anything but guilty?

Her questions to Kirkland look creepy in hindsight.

It’s interesting to look back to Moore’s questioning on that June day in 2013 when Kirkland was before the committee. He had detailed his injuries and what happened to him during his recovery. Moore’s first question went for the personal.
Ms. Christine Moore: You said earlier that you had a fiancée when your accident happened. Was she provided with any assistance and advice, so that she could deal with the situation and help you?
Cpl Glen Kirkland: It’s kind of a bad example. She kind of moved on when I was still overseas, so when I came back she was just there long enough to take my money.
Ms. Christine Moore: I am sorry to hear that.
Based on what happened later, I’m not so sure Moore was unhappy at all about the fiancée being out of the picture. That to me sounds like Moore looking to make sure the coast was clear.
We’ve been told since #metoo started, and long before, that men are predators, that men are the aggressors. While that can be true, let’s use this moment to start talking like adults about these issues and admit both men and women can be on the wrong side.

  • Wow. This really puts into question her credibility. I’d like to see something happen so that the other 2 guys she accused get a fair shake. Not sure what should be done though. Personally, it would be nice if the law were used instead of accusations to determine whether to fire somebody or not. Just accusing somebody of something is not enough! I guess those on the left will say, “well we can’t let this one isolated incident call into question all of metoo.” I mean, I would *assume* that most accusations are in fact legit, but then again, who knows?! That’s why we use proof. Proof and laws seem to be less important noawadays, sadly. That’s very scary.

    • I wonder if Mr Singh is going to believe the complainer or if he is going to change his position because the accuser in this case is a man.

  • Good article. I’m so mad about this. I hate unfairness, and those MPs were treated unfairly. So is Weir. I’m wondering if she took revenge for him refusing her advances. Looking for a husband, I’ve known women like that, usually not all that attractive, and they also mow down other women who are in the way. Would be interesting to see how she got on wth female staff.

  • playing Corporal Glen Kirklan with alcohol…. you mean “plying” right?

  • Lie with alley cats….get scratched. The Mike Pence rule makes more and more sense to me.

  • During my 27 yrs of Military service I’ve crossed paths with many women with the character traits of Ms Moore. The one stand out word that comes to mind is “TOXIC”. The other is the “PIG-PEN” effect. No explanation required. These are dangerous times to be a man. Please remember all women are not wired that way. This too shall pass…. Let’s just be decent to one another.