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Allegations against Kavanaugh pose test for #MeToo movement
NEW YORK — Nearly a year old and still making headlines almost daily, the #MeToo movement faces a dramatic test of its impact and staying power in the sexual assault allegations against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Leaders of the movement suggest that Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, might have never found the courage to come forward publicly about an alleged assault from her high school days without the examples set by women worldwide who’ve spoken out about past encounters with sexual assault and harassment.
“Time and time again, people have been inspired by the people who came before them,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center. “They are willing to take on the risk of retaliation.”
Goss Graves is heartened by the fact that numerous senators of both parties say Ford deserves a chance to be heard on Capitol Hill — in itself, she said, an indication of the #MeToo movement’s staying power.
The movement exploded worldwide in October 2017, sparked by detailed allegations of sexual misconduct against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. Across the U.S., and in many foreign countries, it has toppled powerful men in a wide range of fields — entertainment, journalism, politics and high tech, among others. Celebrity chefs, TV hosts and members of Congress are among those who have lost their jobs.
Almost from the start, it also fueled a backlash among those who felt the movement sometimes led to excesses and injustice. Ford’s allegations have rekindled that resentment.
Conservative actor James Woods, in a subsequently deleted tweet, depicted hers accusations as one of numerous “#MeTooLynchings.” The Wall Street Journal ran an editorial Monday titled “The #MeToo Kavanaugh Ambush.”
“Letting an accusation that is this old, this unsubstantiated and this procedurally irregular defeat Mr. Kavanaugh would also mean weaponizing every sexual assault allegation no matter the evidence,” the editorial said. “It will tarnish the #MeToo cause with the smear of partisanship.”
Actor Sean Penn chimed in, suggesting it would be good for #MeToo “to just slow down.”
Even aside from the Ford-Kavanaugh showdown, this has been a tumultuous season for the #MeToo movement. Among the most recent developments:
—Two of the most powerful men in the U.S. television industry lost their jobs at least partly due to sexual misconduct allegations. Les Moonves stepped down as head of CBS Corp. and the network fired “60 Minutes” executive producer Jeff Fager. Both men have denied the accusations.
—A video of Harvey Weinstein aired on TV showing him propositioning a woman who later accused him of rape, repeatedly touching her and stroking her arm and back during what was supposed to have been a business meeting.
—”The Tonight Show”
—Comedian Bill Cosby is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 24 on three felony sex assault charges. He was convicted in April of drugging and molesting a woman at his home in 2004, and faces up to 10 years in prison on each of three felony counts.
As these cases indicate, much of #MeToo’s high-profile impact has been in the entertainment and media world. Noreen Farrell, executive director of San Francisco-based Equal Rights Advocates, said more work is needed to persuade employers in other sectors to crack down on sexual misconduct.
“While we have seen some celebrity-level public shaming over serial harassers and enablers, employers seem to be digging in and resisting change,” said Farrell, noting that the business lobby in California has been fighting hard against proposed anti-harassment legislation.
Among the many women in politics who have embraced the #MeToo movement is Gayle Goldin, a Democratic state legislator in Rhode Island who has campaigned against sexual misconduct.
She said the Ford-Kavanaugh case will be an important indicator of how public attitudes have changed since 1991, when Anita Hill was treated dismissively by senators of both parties when she
Reflecting back to the 1990s, Goldin added, “The MeToo movement is not one moment in time, it is the culmination of pain by generations of women.”
“People are seeking justice, but that is not necessarily about the individual,” she said. “We are ultimately talking about culture change.”
David Crary, The Associated Press
Human trafficking suspect arrested in Red Deer, July 2024
From Alert, the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team
Three human traffickers arrested in Project Endgame
Three men have been arrested and stand accused of running a human trafficking operation that stretched across Canada; operating throughout Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Quebec.
Project Endgame was a year-long investigation led by ALERT’s Human Trafficking unit, and also relied on the assistance of the Edmonton Police Service, RCMP, and the Quebec joint forces Anti-Pimping team known as EILP.
Arrests and search warrants had taken place in Edmonton, Montreal, and Red Deer. A total of 23 charges related to human trafficking offences have been laid against Clyde Elien-Abbot, 31, Kevin Dorcelus-Cetoute, 31, and Jean Rodnil Dubois, 31. Elien-Abbot was arrested on January 31, 2025 in Edmonton, while the other two accused were arrested on July 23, 2024.
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From LifeSiteNews
The Liberals are choosing a new face, but all six contenders seem likely to continue forcing Canadians down the same path as the PM they’re out to replace
With the Liberal leadership election just over a month away on March 9, Canadians are examining the six final contenders and questioning if they will bring change to the Liberal Party or carry on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s radical legacy.
The six contenders for Liberal leader and consequently, the next prime minister, are: Mark Carney, Chrystia Freeland, Karina Gould, Jaime Battiste, Frank Baylis and Ruby Dhalla.
While all the above candidates are promising to turn the Liberal Party around, their policies, both past and proposed, suggest little difference from the radical, anti-life and globalist agenda embraced by the Trudeau government.
Former Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney
Carney appears to be the frontrunner for Liberal Party leader, with many mainstream outlets tacitly promoting him as a solution for Canadians, and numerous MPs having endorsed his campaign.
However, as LifeSiteNews has previously reported, Carney’s history suggests he would be an even more radical version of Trudeau.
While his impressive work experience certainly raises him in the estimation of Canadians, especially compared with Trudeau’s pre-political career as a drama teacher, the former Governor of the Bank of England, like Trudeau, openly supports abortion, the LGBT agenda and many of the tax and fiscal policies of the Trudeau government, such as the carbon tax.
Carney’s endorsement of energy regulations go even further than Trudeau’s, with the candidate having previously blasted the prime minister for exempting home heating oil from the carbon tax.
Carney has also been a longtime supporter of the globalist World Economic Forum, attending their infamous annual conference in Davos, Switzerland as recently as January 2023.
Carney routinely uses social media to advocate for achieving so-called “net-zero” energy goals, and even had his team bar multiple independent journalists from attending the press conference he held to announce his bid for Liberal leader.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland
Freeland’s bid for Liberal leader came as a surprise to many as it closely followed her resignation from Trudeau’s cabinet.
Freeland is perhaps best known internationally for her heavy-handed response to anti-mandate Freedom Convoy protesters, which saw the then-finance minister direct financial institutions to freeze the bank accounts of Canadians who participated in or donated to the protest.
Freeland, like Carney, also has extensive ties to the WEF, with her receiving a personal commendation from former WEF leader Klaus Schwab.
Interestingly, at the same time as Freeland announced her Liberal bid, the WEF’s profile on Freeland was taken down from their website. Additionally, the majority of Freeland’s Instagram posts have been removed from public view.
Many have speculated online as to the reason why these actions were taken, with some suggesting that Freeland desires to distance herself from the massively criticized group.
Critics often pointed to Freeland’s association with the group during her tenure as finance minister and deputy prime minister, as she was known for pushing policies endorsed by the globalist organization, such as the carbon tax and online censorship.
Former House Leader MP Karina Gould
Gould, an avid abortion activist, is perhaps best known for telling American women that they can have their abortions in Canada following the Supreme Court of the United States’ overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Gould is also known for continually advocating in favor of state-funded media, which critics have warned causes supposedly unbiased news outlets into de facto propaganda arms for the state.
In one example from September, Gould directed mainstream media reporters to “scrutinize” Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who has repeatedly accused government-funded media as being an arm of the Liberals.
Gould also claimed that Poilievre’s promise to defund outlets like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation would deny Canadians access to important information, ignoring the fact that the Liberals’ own legislation, which she voted for, blocked all access to news content on Facebook and Instagram.
MP Jaime Battiste
Voting records show that in 2021 Battiste opposed a bill aiming to protect unborn children from sex-selective abortions. Later that same month, he voted to pass Bill C-6, which allows parents to be jailed for up to five years for refusing to deny the biological sex of their gender-confused children.
Furthermore, Battiste struck down a motion to condemn incidents of arson and vandalism of churches across Canada. In October 2023, a Conservative MP put forward a motion to denounce the arson and vandalism of 83 Canadian churches, especially those within Indigenous communities.
However, Battiste moved to adjourn the meeting rather than discuss the motion, saying, “I would like to call to adjourn debate on this if that’s what we can do, so we can hear the rest of the study, but if we have to, then I would rather discuss it in camera because it does have a way of triggering a lot of people who went through residential schools and the things they are going through.”
The Liberal government is known to be extremely lenient in their rhetoric when it comes to attacks on Catholic churches, with Trudeau even saying such behavior was “understandable” even if it is “unacceptable and wrong.”
Former MP Frank Baylis
Baylis served as a Liberal MP in 2015 but chose not to seek re-election in 2019. Now, he has thrown his hat in the ring as Liberal leader.
During his time as MP, Baylis was a staunch supporter of abortion. In 2016, he voted against a Conservative bill to provide protection to unborn children and pregnant mothers from violence.
Interestingly, Baylis is the former owner of the Baylis Medical Company of Montréal which was awarded a $282.5 million government contract for now “useless” ventilators during the COVID “pandemic.”
Former MP Ruby Dhalla
Dhalla served in the House of Commons from 2004 to 2011. Interestingly, Dhalla, born to Indian immigrant parents, has promised to deport illegal immigrants and “clamp down on human traffickers.” Dhalla’s stance sets her apart from the other Liberal candidates on the issue.
While Dhalla styles herself as an “outsider,” during her time as an MP, she worked to further abortion in Canada, voting against legislation to protect babies from violence in the womb.
In conclusion
It seems that no matter who is selected as the next leader of the Liberals, the party will remain one which prides itself on being pro-abortion, pro-LGBT, pro-euthanasia and globalist in vision.
While Trudeau may be taking the blame for the current state of the Liberal Party, with these 6 candidates it would appear that the party remains intent on pushing the same policies.
Although it is true that Trudeau’s political blunders, such as his repeated historical use of black-face or his inviting a Nazi-aligned World War II veteran into Parliament, have contributed to his popularity decline, it seems the policies behind the blunders are not his, but the Liberal Party’s itself.
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