Ontario NDP leader Marit Styles says that an MPP in London accidentally convicted a staff error following a press release, stating that five hockey Canadian players were accused of sexual harassment.
London West MPP Paigi Sutler sent moments of press release even before the verdict, also said that the verdict was “a rare moment of justice for those who survived gender-based and sexual violence.”
The press release highlighted a bill to nominate the third week of September as a consent awareness week, which would create an annual opportunity to promote consent education in communities, schools and workplaces.
Shortly thereafter the press release was withdrawn.
Styles told Citynues that they often create different versions of a release and “They first release wrongly [it] Was outside. And obviously it should not have happened. ,
“We think about it ahead of time, as we all should do, how we are going on issues, especially such difficult issues…. The media does the same thing. You think a little further than time, what your response is going to happen, or how you are going to talk about the story, we do the same thing on the basis of the result. We do the same thing, and an employee person excluded the wrong version.”
SATTLER later sent a second statement, again before the decision again, saying, “This is a difficult moment for the remaining people everywhere.”
“This test has ruled the dialogue about the importance of consent education in our province and within our institutions. This is a memory of systemic challenges that face the survivors in search of justice and the work that is ahead.”
When the second statement was released, Justice Maria Karokia was still in the process of reading her decision and the decision was not given.
Michael McLeod, Carter Heart, Alex Forton, Dilon Dube and Kallan Dube all were not found guilty of sexual assault in an encounter in a London, Onts, hotel room in the early hours of June 19, 2018.
Karokia began to read his decision, saying that the complainant did not present reliable testimony in the case.
In response to another statement being released, Styles said, “I think we know that the judge has said that she is going to forgive the allegations, as I understand.”
Styles said, “I hope that it comes to the interaction on the formation of really consent … I think we need it, especially in our colleges, our universities, our schools and our sports teams.”
“We have seen that this kind of thing happens many times, and I think it’s time to have a real conversation about forming consent.