Liberal MP accused of derailing committee as witness demands apology

A witness who stormed out of a parliamentary committee meeting in tears Wednesday is demanding an apology from a Liberal MP who put a halt to a planned discussion about violence against women in favour of a debate about abortion rights.

Cait Alexander was on Parliament Hill to provide testimony at a rare summer hearing of the House of Commons status of women committee when she says Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld re-victimized her as a survivor of domestic violence.

“I am completely flabbergasted,” Alexander said in an interview after the meeting Wednesday.

“This is exactly what it felt like these last few years, where I’m literally showing my bludgeoned, bleeding, bruised body and the people who have authority and power in this country are saying, ‘Well, we care about you.’ But then they silence you.”

Vandenbeld, who serves as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of International Development, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alexander was one of two witnesses who stormed out of the meeting organized so MPs could hear from advocates for domestic violence victims and a deputy chief of the Peel Regional Police.

The meeting was scheduled after the killing of Breanna Broadfoot, 17, in London, Ont., who police say was a victim of intimate partner violence.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said last week that the suspect had previously been arrested but was released before the fatal attack, and criticized the Liberal government’s bail policies.

Though witnesses at the committee set out to similarly argue that the current justice and bail system is failing victims, the session quickly derailed into a mess of political bickering.

During her opening statement, Alexander, who heads up the advocacy group End Violence