And UDP Senator Mike Peyrefitte says you're kind of "damned if you don't". He also questioned whether there is uniform or selective outrage against attacks that are perceived to be misogynistic.
Michael Peyrefitte, UDP Senator
"We have Abelardo Mai telling the member from Albert to sit on a bag of carrots, where was your outrage them? Where was the outrage of everybody who made those criticisms? We have the prime minister essentially calling a senator stupid, where is the outrage for that? You should have asked Senator Courtenay if he's a band of those PUP parliamentarians who defend that kind of behavior. I mean, he wrote a letter, there's to be a response, let's just see it, but the UDP, we support our party leader."
Reporter
"But do you agree with his comments that what is said outside the House in a private correspondence shouldn't abide by the same rules that is applied inside the House?"
Michael Peyrefitte, UDP Senator
"I mean, you have, inside the House, you have immunities, privileges that clearly don't apply outside. I mean, you would hope that everybody who writes a letter would write it in the perfect manner, acceptable to everybody, but when you're continuously being rude against, in an unfair manner as he feels, when you table a motion and you can't even get your motion heard, and the people want to hear that motion and hear a debate on that, sometimes you get frustrated and you fire off what you need to fire off, I mean that's just, I mean we have had members of the House punch that wall over there, out of frustration, then turn around and blame police until they get catch and had to admit. So I mean, I think it's much ado about nothing and a lot of things happen in this country and, make it such of a woman issue, lot of things are done and said by PUP against women and nothing comes of it, now all of a sudden now, like I said, this is the most sensitive and thin skin and insecure government I have ever seen in my life."
Reporter
"But sir, not because it has been done before, it's right to do it again."
Michael Peyrefitte, UDP Senator
"But nothing, man, I'm saying you have to be fair, as media, you have to be fair, and none of you asked that question to the prime minister or to Senator Courtenay as leader of government business what you thought of Abelardo Mai telling the member from Albert to sit on a bag of carrots. None of you, I don't know if you're afraid of him, but none of you did that. When women are insulted and women are harmed and the PUP say nothing, none of you pepper the PUP ministers like you do the UDP representatives, and what I'm saying is you need to be fair."
"I would say ask the prime minister but he hasn't even called a press conference in two and half years. At least we answer questions. When we write to him and we ask him for information, he doesn't even bother to respond because he's above the law, he's God, he doesn't have to answer to anybody, he doesn't even feel like he has to come to a commission of inquiry, so what I'm saying is this, we give more access and we are far more transparent than they are. Whenever the leader of our party would write something or produce something, it's for the people to see and analyze and nobody is perfect, but we want that same level of scrutiny. We have ministers who said you kick reporters like puppy and that story just dead. There is no, what do you think about that, do you think you should speak a female like that, what do you think about that? There's no question, it's like they can do no wrong."
