Former prime minister Brian Mulroney apologized Monday for using the term “little girl” to refer to an Ontario politician who left the Progressive Conservative caucus over cuts to francophone services. Mulroney appeared Sunday night on Radio Canada’s Tout le monde en parle, and defended his daughter Caroline Mulroney, Ontario’s attorney general and francophone affairs minister. Amanda Simard, a Tory MPP for the Ontario riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, said it was ‘encouraging for women in politics’ that so many people denounced Mulroney’s comments. ( Brimbecom, Barry / Radio-Canada.ca )“She is the best voice that Ontario francophones could ever have, believe me,” the former prime minister said in French. Simard was elected last year at the age of 29 to represent the largely French-speaking eastern Ontario riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell.

Source: thestar March 18, 2019 18:42 UTC