Aqua
12-05-2007, 07:26 PM
(Neige)
OTTAWA - Conservative MP James Moore is the subject of a complaint that he's been checking out "scantily clad" women on his laptop computer in Parliament.
A New Democrat MP rose in the House of Commons on Wednesday to complain that she saw Moore with a racy image on his computer screen while at his seat in the parliamentary chamber.
Moore, a parliamentary secretary from British Columbia, vehemently denied the claim.
But New Democrat Irene Mathyssen rose on a point of order, complaining she saw "an image of a scantily clad woman" on the screen of Moore's laptop - in clear view of other MPs and the public gallery.
"This is not only disrespectful of women, but it is disrespectful of this House," said Mathyssen, who represents a London, Ont.-area riding.
"It reflects an attitude of objectifying women and we know that when women and other human beings are objectified and dehumanized, they become the object of violence and abuse."
She said parliamentarians must keep in mind they represent all members of the community and that "we're national leaders here."
The complaint came on the eve of Thursday's anniversary of the Montreal massacre, in which a gunman killed 14 women at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique in 1989.
"This is a place of power," Mathyssen said. "That power must be used respectfully and it must be used with humility."
Liberal MP Karen Redman echoed Mathyssen's call for an apology, saying she hoped Moore would "look in his heart, perhaps look on his laptop."
But Moore was having none of it, saying he didn't have "the faintest idea what my colleague is talking about."
"I've taken great efforts throughout all of my political career to treat all of my colleagues with the deepest of respect," he said.
"I don't know where this attack is coming from; where these allegations are coming from. It is utterly baseless; utterly non-sensical.
"I would never do anything that is being ascribed to me today. I take great offence to what's being alleged here."
Speaker Peter Milliken refused to pursue the complaint, saying it is "not a matter of House procedure."
OTTAWA - Conservative MP James Moore is the subject of a complaint that he's been checking out "scantily clad" women on his laptop computer in Parliament.
A New Democrat MP rose in the House of Commons on Wednesday to complain that she saw Moore with a racy image on his computer screen while at his seat in the parliamentary chamber.
Moore, a parliamentary secretary from British Columbia, vehemently denied the claim.
But New Democrat Irene Mathyssen rose on a point of order, complaining she saw "an image of a scantily clad woman" on the screen of Moore's laptop - in clear view of other MPs and the public gallery.
"This is not only disrespectful of women, but it is disrespectful of this House," said Mathyssen, who represents a London, Ont.-area riding.
"It reflects an attitude of objectifying women and we know that when women and other human beings are objectified and dehumanized, they become the object of violence and abuse."
She said parliamentarians must keep in mind they represent all members of the community and that "we're national leaders here."
The complaint came on the eve of Thursday's anniversary of the Montreal massacre, in which a gunman killed 14 women at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique in 1989.
"This is a place of power," Mathyssen said. "That power must be used respectfully and it must be used with humility."
Liberal MP Karen Redman echoed Mathyssen's call for an apology, saying she hoped Moore would "look in his heart, perhaps look on his laptop."
But Moore was having none of it, saying he didn't have "the faintest idea what my colleague is talking about."
"I've taken great efforts throughout all of my political career to treat all of my colleagues with the deepest of respect," he said.
"I don't know where this attack is coming from; where these allegations are coming from. It is utterly baseless; utterly non-sensical.
"I would never do anything that is being ascribed to me today. I take great offence to what's being alleged here."
Speaker Peter Milliken refused to pursue the complaint, saying it is "not a matter of House procedure."