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“Throughout my career I have always tried to conduct myself with respect towards others and I understand the most important thing is how each individual feels,” he said. “I have been informed that an investigation into these allegations has begun and I welcome and respect this process.

“While this is ongoing, I have resigned from Cabinet pending the outcome of the investigation. I do not want to be a distraction to all the good work being done by our government.”

Lawyer Christine Thomlinson has been engaged to conduct an independent investigation for the government.

In a separate statement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “Harassment of any kind is unacceptable and Canadians have a right to live and work in environments free from harassment.

“As a government we take any allegations of misconduct extremely seriously, and we believe that it is important to support women who come forward with allegations and that is exactly what our government will do.”

Science Minister Kirsty Duncan will take on Hehr’s ministerial duties during the investigation.

The allegation against Hehr came to light Wednesday night, in the midst of the uproar over allegations against Brown, when one woman took to Twitter.

Kristin Raworth, a public servant in Alberta, seemed to be motivated by what she saw as the start of the “Canadian political #metoo movement.” She wrote about inappropriate comments made by Hehr, who was an Alberta MLA from 2006 to 2015.