St. Albert-Edmonton MP Michael Cooper says allegations published in a CBC story earlier this week that claimed he referred to “goat herder cultures” while in law school 11 years ago are “false and defamatory.”
Cooper spoke to the Gazette Thursday about the CBC story, which was published Tuesday. That article quoted two lawyers who said they went to law school with Cooper. The two lawyers claimed Cooper disparaged “goat herder cultures” in a 2008 seminar discussion while he was a student at the University of Alberta.
Cooper denied those allegations and said he is taking legal action against all parties involved in the story, including the CBC.
“It’s malicious. It’s remarkable that after 11 years, that these two individuals have suddenly come out of the woodwork,” Cooper said.
The CBC reported the claims came from Balqees Mihirig, who practises law in New York City, and Brock Roe, who practises law in Saskatoon.
According to the CBC article, the two lawyers claimed Cooper argued some cultures were incompatible with Canada’s “Judeo-Christian values” during a heated discussion in a seminar on multiculturalism and the constitutional rights of minorities. Mihirig told the CBC Cooper declared Canada to be a “Judeo-Christian civilization” incompatible with “goat herder cultures.”
CBC also spoke with other former students, all of whom were unnamed. Two, who CBC said were asked to come forward by Cooper, said they remembered the flare-up but did not recall the “goat herder” comment; another told CBC he recalled the comment and the incident had shocked him; and a fourth did not recall the exact words Cooper used but felt certain he had directed “racist” comments at Mihirig.
When asked to comment on the allegations, Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer told the CBC he takes Cooper at his word and called the allegations in the CBC article “unsubstantiated.” Conservative MPs the news outlet spoke to for a subsequent story also stood by Cooper.
Mihirig wrote about the alleged incident in the University of Alberta’s law school paper, Canons of Construction, on Jan. 28, 2009, but did not name Cooper in the article.
Cooper said he “vaguely” remembers that article.
“That’s the only reason I have any recollection of this particular seminar. And I can recall that I did say ‘Judeo-Christian principles,’ but I was certain that I didn’t say the other comments,” he said. “I thought it was false and misattributed to me, but I didn’t do anything or say anything. Why would I? Because no one was doing or saying anything about it.”
Cooper claimed Roe and Mihirig have “defamed his character and good name.”
“As a result, I have instructed my counsel to take appropriate action to defend my good name and reputation and hold those individuals accountable,” he said.
He added he thinks Roe's and Mihirig’s allegations were politically motivated.
“They never even spoke with me about that issue,” he said.
The duo told CBC they came forward after seeing comments Cooper made during a justice committee meeting late last month. Cooper was removed from the committee but the two felt that punishment was insufficient.
The Gazette reached out to Roe for comment but did not hear back by press time. The Gazette could not reach Mihirig.
In an email Friday afternoon from Chuck Thompson, head of public affairs for CBC English Services, the CBC stated: “We stand behind our journalism on this story.”
Justice committee
Cooper was removed from the federal justice committee after quoting a passage of the manifesto written by the Christchurch, NZ, mass shooting suspect and telling a Muslim witness during a committee discussion on online hate he should be “ashamed”.
Although Cooper told the Gazette following that meeting that he stood by his remarks, he later issued a public apology on Facebook. In his own Facebook post, Scheer described Cooper’s quoting of the manifesto and naming of the Christchurch suspect as “insensitive and unacceptable,” and stated he had removed Cooper from the justice committee. Cooper retained his position as deputy justice critic for the party
Cooper told the Gazette Thursday he made a mistake in quoting the passage, which he got from a news article.
“My intent was only to challenge the witness on what I perceived was an attempt to connect mainstream conservatism with violent extremism – nothing more, nothing less. That was my intent. Unfortunately, I made a mistake in fighting that,” he said.
Cooper told the Gazette he was surprised during the May 28 justice committee meeting to hear witness Faisal Khan Suri, the president of the Alberta Muslim Public Affairs Council, mention conservative commentators. Suri referred to “anti-immigrant, alt-right and conservative commentators” as part of an example of the content sought by Quebec City mosque shooter Alexandre Bissonnette.
“I would have approached it differently in hindsight, but you can’t do hindsight,” Cooper said.
Cooper noted he did not read directly from the manifesto but rather read a quote he said had been widely circulated by news outlets. Cooper brought a copy of a news article containing the quote to the justice committee meeting that day along with many other documents he had gathered while preparing for the discussion.
“I always come prepared and with this issue of online hate there are political dimensions involved,” he said.
He said he realized he needed to apologize after taking several days to reflect on the issue following the meeting.
“I had some time to reflect. I realized the way I approached it was not the correct one. I apologized and the matter is closed,” he said.
Feedback
Cooper said he has received positive feedback from his constituents since the allegations surfaced.
“I have received very strong support from constituents as well as colleagues who recognize the good work that I do for the people of St. Albert-Edmonton,” Cooper said.
Malcolm Parker, a board member of the St. Albert-Edmonton federal conservative electoral district, said Cooper has been acclaimed as their candidate for the upcoming election and had the support of the board during their last meeting two weeks ago. The board met after Cooper was removed from the justice committee, and Parker said they discussed the situation.
“I think things kind of got taken out of context and the board certainly supports him as a candidate,” Parker said.
The electoral district board has not met since CBC’s more recent story about Cooper was published.
Parker said he can’t speak for the rest of the board but the allegations about Cooper don’t change how he feels about him as a candidate. He said he wonders why Roe and Mihirig are speaking out a decade after the alleged incident.
Aumer Assaf, spokesperson for the Al Rashid Mosque in the north end of Edmonton, told the Gazette that whether the recent allegations are true or not, Cooper’s comments during the justice committee meeting on May 28 revealed to him enough about the MP.
“I give the benefit of the doubt to everybody … I’m not willing to judge anybody on hearsay but I (heard) his performance at the justice hearing and … that painted a pretty vivid picture,” he said.
“There is enough in his record now for us to judge.”
He added if the recent allegations in the CBC article are true, Cooper would be ignorant to the rich history of Muslims and Arabs in Alberta and across the globe, along with ignoring Alberta’s own reputation for being a farming and ranching society.
The mosque is just outside Cooper’s riding.
Shelly MacInnis-Wynn, a community activist and widow of slain St. Albert RCMP officer Const. David Wynn, said it hurts to see all the negative news stories about Cooper because she knows how passionate he is and how hard he works for the community.
“I know the good he has done in his job,” MacInnis-Wynn said.
MacInnis-Wynn first met Cooper when he was elected in 2015 and they worked together to try and get Wynn’s Law passed, a bill that would have made it mandatory for a prosecutor to disclose a suspect’s criminal history during a bail hearing.
“Working with Michael was unbelievable. Michael Cooper is an absolute phenomenal and amazing man, not only as a person but as an MP,” MacInnis-Wynn said.
The activist worked closely with Cooper while they attempted to pass Wynn's Law and MacInnis-Wynn said she was impressed with his brilliance and the preparation and work he put into every task.
MacInnis-Wynn said that even this week Cooper was able to help her score a victory. It was announced earlier this week the families of slain RCMP members would finally have their counselling services covered by the RCMP. Up until this point families were paying out of pocket for services. MacInnis-Wynn said the families were working for years to get their services covered and weren’t able get financial support until Cooper fought for them.
