(CBC) Conservative MP Michael Cooper made comments deriding “goat herder cultures” during a discussion about Islam’s compatibility with Canadian democracy when he was a law student at the University of Alberta a decade ago, according to two lawyers who have come forward to talk about the incident.
The lawyers allege the comments were made during a heated discussion in a seminar on multiculturalism and the minority rights section of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, with Cooper arguing that some cultures were incompatible with Canada’s “Judeo-Christian values.”
Contacted by CBC News this week, Cooper denied the allegation and said the incident was being mischaracterized.
“I recall that there was a seminar class, and there was some heated discussion around a paper that had been presented by one of my classmates,” he said.
