A second woman has now come forward with allegations about Calgary-Skyview MP Darshan Kang, claiming he sexually harassed her while she worked for him.
Kirstin Morrell, a staffer who worked for Kang when he was serving as MLA, claims he grabbed her breasts and committed other inappropriate behaviour while he was with her.
She says she told Kang to stop several times but the acts continued to occur.
In a statement, Morrell wrote:
“It was difficult to put this behind me and I thought I had but then this arose and it was my understanding that the current complainant was being given a really hard time over the allegations she made. Since it is my belief, based on my experience, that she is likely telling the truth, I felt I had to come forward.”
Allegations against the MP first became public earlier this month when an unidentified woman came forward to accuse Kang of inappropriate touching over a five year period.
That woman said she was hugged and stroked during car rides. She also said that Kang offered her $100,000 to keep quiet about the allegations.
On Thursday afternoon, Darshan Kang announced that he would be leaving the Liberal caucus.
He said the reasoning was because he didn’t want his ‘present circumstances’ to affect the work of the Liberal government.
He has, however, vowed that he is innocent of the allegations against him.
The president of the Calgary-Skyview riding association says he hasn’t spoken with Kang since his resignation, but says the MP has their support.
“It’s very tough for me to believe that whatever happened,” said Avinash Kangura, who is also a close friend of Kang’s. “It’s very tough to believe but you never know, but the association is full behind him.”
He says the riding association will be meeting next week to discuss the situation.
The parliamentary investigator is still looking into the complaints that have not yet been proven.
Prime Minister Trudeau says he wants to let the matter unfold under Ottawa’s new independent process for resolving misconduct complaints.
