Canada's Trudeau, facing groping allegation, says he apologized, did nothing wrong

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a supporter of feminist causes, on Thursday conceded for the first time that he had apologized in 2000 to a woman he did not feel he had done anything wrong.

Trudeau, who's been working on a newfoundland fundraiser in the city of Creston, British Columbia nearly 20 years ago

In his first direct comments on the incident on Canada Day last Sunday, the Prime Minister said "I apologized in the moment".

According to an unsigned editorial in 2000 in the local newspaper, the Creston Valley Advance, Trudeau apologized to a local female reporter for inappropriately "handling" her.

The allegation resurf aced last month after Canadian political commentator Warren Kinsella tweeted a picture of the 20 year old editorial and used the Twitter #MeToo hashtag.

Many women in the United States and other countries harassment and abuse, giving rise to the #MeToo social media movement.

"I've been reflecting very carefully on what I remember from that incident almost 20 years ago and, again, I feel, I am confident, I did not act inappropriately, "Trudeau, 46, told reporters in Toronto in televised remarks on Thursday.

Trudeau, citing the most open discussion in society about sexual assault, conceded the woman in question could have come away from the encounter in August 2000 with

"I do not feel that I acted inappropriately in any way but I respect the fact that someone else might have experienced that differently," he said. . "

Trudeau said," I would like it because it was not entirely comfortable with the interaction we had. "

The woman told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. This year, she was not interested in being more involved in the story, and she was not used to the story again. Reuters and other media

Trudeau had not yet become involved in politics Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau

He attended the fundraiser in Creston to support avalanche safety. His brother, Michel Trudeau, was killed in an avalanche in 1998.

(With additional reporting by Andrea Hopkins in Ottawa, edited by Amran Abocar and Clive McKeef)