Parry Sound-Muskoka MP Tony Clement has stepped back from some of his official duties after he shared sexually explicit images and a video of himself in what he claims was an extortion attempt.
“Over the last three weeks, I have shared sexually explicit images and a video of myself to someone who I believed was a consenting female recipient,” said Clement via a statement. “The recipient was, in fact, an individual or party who targeted me for the purpose of financial extortion.” He added that the RCMP are investigating the matter.
Clement apologized to his family, colleagues and constituents, and asked for privacy for his family.
“I recognize now that I have gone down a wrong path and have exercised very poor judgment,” he said.
Clement added that he is “committed to seeking the help and treatment I need in my personal life to make sure this will not happen again while also continuing to discharge my duties as a Member of Parliament.”
He has, however, resigned from some of his duties. Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer confirmed in a statement that he had accepted Clement’s resignation as the Conservative Shadow Minister for Justice and his resignation from his various committee roles.
“While I’m greatly disappointed with Mr. Clement’s actions, I am encouraged that he has decided to seek help and I wish him all the best in doing so,” wrote Scheer.
Effective immediately, Lisa Raitt, the Conservative Deputy Leader and the Member of Parliament for Milton, will assume the role of Shadow Minister for Justice, said Scheer.
Don’t miss out on Doppler! Sign up for our free newsletter here.
Come on Tony. With whatever pride you have left, do us all a favour and resign.
If Premier Doug Ford ever needed yet another example of why we need to bring back the Liberal sex-ed curriculum, this fiasco by his ‘friends’ (as he likes to call everyone) in the provincial and federal caucuses should be enough. Obviously, bringing it back isn’t going to help Tony or Jim but it may help the future generation of young politicians avoid such career-destroying embarrassments.
I’ve missed your comments, Dale, and yet again, they’re spot-on. Having Mr. Clement’s endowment interrupt my enjoyment of the US elections was one of the most harrowing of my life. For the man to think that remaining in the caucus is still an option is just a further example of the sense of entitlement displayed by such luminaries as President Trump and Tiger Williams.
.
Please get your priorities in the appropriate order, sir. Don’t forget that you “were” our family-values candidate. So that is Job One. You have a lovely wife, who has recently taken on the arduous task of writing a trilogy: at the very least, you should be mending fences and supporting her. Second in line should be the therapy, which you have promised to attend.
.
And you actually have the temerity to suggest that you can represent Muskoka-Parry Sound in your spare time. As has been requested, you should resign immediately (with no further salary or benefits; including your generous pension).
I don’t judge the moral issue; I wouldn’t care if Mr. Clement hung photos of his penis in the Louvre.
While Mr. Clement’s behaviour is mostly damaging to him and his family – for whom I have great sympathy – I will say that the monumental lack of judgment he demonstrated in this renders him unsuitable for his job.
Plus, he may well have threatened Canada’s national security in taking part in such risky business of engaging in sexting with an unknown person, who could, as Karen W. points out, could be anybody from anywhere. It simply tells me that these urges are stronger than his common sense.
He is VERY social-media savvy, so ignorance is no excuse.
He needs to resign – representing us as an independent shouldn’t be an option.
I agree with you, Karen. Having said that, I think participating in social media is inadvisable for those who have exhibition fantasies. What are obsessive posting of “selfies” (even the clean ones) all about but exhibitionism? Women apparently have the same impulses. (Tell me again why PETA advocates and Hollywood actresses pose nude for their cause?? Couldn’t they simply give a speech ?? Nah–probably too dumb.) But women are lauded for their “bravery” and men are scorned as “scumbags”. We live in a strange culture these days.
Over the years, I have heard so many people expressing positive comments about Tony Clement. He listens and finds results. Wishing him and his family all the best.
All I can say is that I feel so sorry for his wife and children. This type of behavior is unforgivable. The hypocrisy in this stuns me. As a resident of Parry Sound Muskoka I am saddened by this. I am so glad I never voted for him. Good riddance!
To Karen W. : “HEAR HEAR!!!!!!!!
Unbelievable.
.
Whenever you’re dealing with someone on the Internet you don’t know face to face, YOU DO NOT KNOW WHO THEY ARE. Doesn’t matter who they say they are. YOU DO NOT KNOW.
.
Doesn’t matter if you been social media pals for three years and shared life stories. YOU DO NOT KNOW. The life story could be completely made up. That handsome 18-year-old youth could actually be 13, making *his* sexually-explicit videos child porn. That good-looking person who swears they love only you could be an ugly old perv who is giving the same lines to 20 other social-media one-and-onlies. The sexy young woman could actually be a 20-something dude in Vladivostok collecting compromising information on Westerners for Vladimir Putin. They do it enough that they have a word for it: _kompromat_. YOU. DO. NOT. KNOW.
.
I personally have received three extortion emails in the last week telling me to send money via Bitcoin within 48 hours or else they’d show my sexually explicit videos to all my contacts. I just laughed and reported them to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/reportincident-signalerincident/index-eng.htm). Because I know for a fact there are exactly zero sexually explicit videos of me on the Internet. And that’s how many there will always be.
.
Oh, and one more tip for married folks: though sexting doesn’t involve skin to skin, it is still cheating. If you can’t see why, imagine your spouse sending intimate pictures of him or herself to other women/men, and how you’d feel if you found out.
.
I’d be writing this same comment no matter what the political stripe of the person involved.
I do not think Mr. Clement was thinking of his family when he posted these pictures. I find it really surprising that any person (male or female) in his position would do something like this and leave himself/herself so vulnerable.
Tony, No one is perfect.
All the best to you and your family.
At the end of the day, work is work, your family is what you need in the dark days.
Blessings…