B.C. Liberal leadership hopeful Kevin Falcon announced on Monday that he’s apologized to Diamond Isinger, who is campaign manager for another B.C. Liberal leadership hopeful, and fired a member of his campaign team after Isinger had alleged “a disturbing incident of sexual & personal harassment” on Sunday.
As The VOICE reported on Sunday, Isinger had posted her allegations on her twitter account, stating: “The following message outlines a disturbing incident of sexual & personal harassment. After trying to deal with this privately for the last two days, with no apologies or consequences to date, I’m sharing this publicly to urge accountability.”
Falcon tweeted on Sunday: “I am deeply troubled by the allegations made by Diamond Isinger about members of my team. I’ve asked my campaign co-chair, Puneet Sandhar, LL.B to identify a third-party to investigate and bring this matter to a respectful and meaningful conclusion.”
On Monday, Falcon said in a statement: “Last night, I spoke to Diamond Isinger and apologized for the behaviour of members of my campaign team. She had informed me about the specific actions of one particular individual on the team. We’ve since spoken to that member, and based on the conversation, there was sufficient acknowledgement of Diamond’s account and I have ended the relationship between him and my campaign team.
“As I stated yesterday, I have asked my co-chair to retain third-party legal counsel to understand the full details of the incident. I hope to receive full cooperation from everyone involved in order to act on the subsequent recommendations.
“The incident as laid out by Diamond is reprehensible and wrong. I am truly disturbed and disappointed by the actions of those involved. These incidents are unfortunately all too common and I commend Diamond for speaking up on behalf of herself and all the women who have experienced these encounters. I hope that we can work together to ensure that women never have to be subjected to this type of toxic behaviour ever again.”
Former Premier Christy Clark had this reaction to Isinger’s post: “I’m so sorry this happened to you. By speaking out, you are helping to make change. I know many of us are utterly disgusted by what you describe but also heartened by your decision to make it public. We know it could just as easily have been any of us. Thanks for your courage.”
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