Tearful Liberal MLA denounces NDP for implying that her success is because of her father

While fightingtears, Manitoba Liberal MLA Cindy Lamoureuxcondemned"cheap shots" from NDP memberstrying to implyher accomplishments in politicswere due to her father's pedigree, she alleged in an emotional address Thursday tothe Manitoba Legislature.

She claimed the language used during an earlierdebate in the House crossed the line, and she demanded an apology.

"They were disgusting, offensive, ageist and sexist," Lamoureux said inher speech

In particular, Lamoureux the daughter of Winnipeg North MP Kevin Lamoureux, and the youngest MLA in the Manitoba Legislature at 27 years old singled out NDP House leader Nahanni Fontaine. Asstatus of women critic, Fontaine shouldn't be givinga man credit for a woman's work, Lamoureux said.

NDP forcibly denies

Fontaine emphatically dismissed the accusations. She said she never acted threateningly nor said anything offensive to her. She onlyreferencedLamoureux's fatherbecause the federal Liberalwasin attendance,she said.

The only apology should come from Cindy, the House leader said, after the Burrows MLA blurted out"douchebags" following their morning exchange.

Lamoureuxshared her outrage inher member's statement on Thursday afternoon, drawing astandingovation from her Liberal colleaguesand the governing Progressive Conservatives. Tory MLAs Rochelle Squires and SarahGuillemard rushed over to embraceLamoureux in a hug.

Lamoureux asks for apology

6 years ago

Duration 2:02

Liberal MLA Cindy Lamoureux calls out NDP members for their remarks in the Manitoba Legislature Thursday.

The Liberal MLA later called the NDP's actions the worst decorum she's witnessed in the House since her election in 2016.

Her issues stemfrom a debate hours earlier about a resolution to recognize the 100th anniversary of the Winnipeg General Strike of1919.

Fontaine said she couldn't, in good conscience, endorsethe motion from the Manitoba Liberals when their counterparts in Ottawa turned their back on postal workersa few months ago.

"I know that the member for Burrows isshaking her head, and that's OK," Fontaine said. "She actually should be shaking her head at her father, who just a little while ago stood up in Parliament andvoted in favour of legislation forcing Canada Post union members back to work."

Afterwards, there was an alleged encounter on thesteps of the Legislature where Cindy Lamoureux says the NDP shouted at her father.

"It was a lot of yelling and saying that, implying my father had done a very poor job at raising me, which I find incredibly offensive, because I am proud of where I am today."

The MLA added that Fontaine started pointing and screaming at her father, and walked up one row ofstairstointimidate her father.

Fontaine'yearning for attention'

"She starts yelling at him, saying, 'You are threatening me.You're threatening me.'" Cindy Lamoureuxtold reporters. "I know my father and he was certainly not threatening her.

"She was yearning for attention, causing a huge scene, screaming at the top of her lungs," Lamoureuxsaid.

Fontaine disputed the claim. She saidthe MLA's father leaned toward her and said, in a threatening manner,he is looking forward tothe next provincial and federal election.

Lamoureux said she's routinely faced quips for her youth and her father from members of the NDP, and she believes in moving past the insults.

"I know those comments are going to be made. It's unfortunate, but I believe in resolving them," she said.

I'm confident nowhere in my comments did I say anything or would I say anything sexist or ageist.- NDP House leader Nahanni Fontaine

"I can give you an example: a member in the past has said things like,'Oh, did your daddy write that for you.' And I've worked with the speaker of the House, whoacts as a mediator and we resolved the conflict."

The Lamoureux name is well-knownin Liberal circles in Manitoba. Kevin, once a provincial MLA, has been in the House of Commons since 2010, while his daughter Cindy has been a MLA since 2016.

Cindy ran for the provincial party leadership in 2017but lostto Dougald Lamont.

Asked if she regrets her own conduct on Thursday, Cindy saidshe uttered "douchebag" out of frustration, while walking away, and she apologizes.

Fontainesaid she's heard noinsulting remarks against Lamoureux, and refutes that she was hurtful in any way.

"I'm confident nowhere in my comments did I say anything or would I say anything sexist or ageist," she said from the party caucus room.

She says Lamoureux's father was only mentioned because hewas watching from a couch in the chamber. She would have made the same remark if any other Liberal MPwho voted for back-to-work legislation was present.

'It doesn't make it true:' Fontaine

"I printed off the list of every single MP that voted in favour of that legislation and actually had I had time, I was going to record all of those names [in the House], just to show, the totality of the conversation or debate in respect to the Liberal party's commitment to labour."

Fontaineinsistedher colleague in the legislature wasn't being targeted for her youth or political family.

"She can imply that. It doesn't make it true," she said.

"I am not responsible for the way people interpret, or how they want to imply my comments, that is not my responsibility. My responsibility is to debate a bill in the House tothe best of my ability and to ensure that everybody knows the totality of what we are actually debating."

Political parties are often linked to the actions of another government of the same stripe, Fontaine said.