Kent Hehr, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, speaks outside the 7th Annual Military and Veteran Health Research Forum in Vancouver, B.C. Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he has accepted Sports Minister Kent Hehr’s resignation from cabinet, according to a statement sent out by the Prime Minister’s Office late Thursday.

It comes amid allegations that Hehr made sexually suggestive comments to female political staffers during his time at the Alberta legislature.

The prime minister had promised earlier today to look into allegations of inappropriate conduct involving Hehr, which emerged on social media last night.

Trudeau said in the statement that Hehr is stepping aside pending the outcome of an investigation into the accusations.

“Harassment of any kind is unacceptable and Canadians have a right to live and work in environments free from harassment,” Trudeau said. “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.”

“Today, I accepted the Honourable Kent Hehr’s resignation from cabinet pending the outcome of the investigation.”

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

Trudeau characterized Hehr’s resignation as a “leave of absence”

Science Minister Kirsty Duncan will take over Hehr’s file as minister of sport and persons with disabilities on top of her own responsibilities.

Trudeau issued the statement as he departed from Davos, Switzerland, where he was speaking at the World Economic Forum.

The accusations of sexual harassment began last night on Twitter. A public servant accused the cabinet minister from Alberta making sexually suggestive comments to female political staffers when he was an Alberta MLA.

There is literally no woman who worked in the annex who didn’t experience this. He made verbally sexually suggestive comments to all of us , who In an elevator with me and only me said “you’re yummy”. Seems nothing but ask me how many woman share stores about him? — Kristin Raworth (@JC4ever) January 25, 2018

Hehr sat in the Alberta legislature from 2008 to 2015.

Late this afternoon, CityNews reported on Twitter that another woman came to them with allegations that Hehr would made repeated suggestive comments to her and could be “grabby.”

The woman also claims to @LumsdenNews the Minister could be “too friendly with his hands” during photos. Says “with Kent, it feels like he is getting into your personal space.” So far Minister Hehr’s office has not responded to this allegation or the ones from Twitter #cdnpoli https://t.co/JtcB0lLsI0 — Cormac Mac Sweeney (@cmaconthehill) January 25, 2018

In his own statement, Hehr said he is stepping down from cabinet, but staying in his role as a Liberal MP, so he doesn’t become “a distraction to all the good work ‎being done by our government.”

“The conversation our society is having is a very important one. I encourage all women who have felt uncomfortable or who have experienced harassment of any kind to continue to come forward. It is never okay,” he said.

“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. I have been informed that an investigation into these allegations has begun and I welcome and respect this process.”

“Harassment is never acceptable and everyone deserves to have their voice heard,” he said.

In a statement posted on Facebook Thursday evening, Raworth thanked her family, colleagues and friends for their support, while adding that “Politics needs to change” to accommodate more women.

She said Hehr’s resignation “can’t be the end of the conversation,” and the political arena should be a place “where everybody can contribute their best without fear or harm.”

Hehr was elected as a Liberal MP for Calgary in 2015 and said he intends to continue to serve in that position.

He had previously served as veterans affairs minister but was shuffled out of that role last year.

He’s the third Liberal MP to come under scrutiny following allegations of inappropriate behaviour since the Liberals took power in 2015.

In 2016, Nunavut MP Hunter TooToo resigned as fisheries minister to deal with addiction, but it later emerged he had also been having a “consensual but inappropriate” relationship with a staff member.

Last August, Liberal MP Darshan Kang — also from Calgary and a former Alberta MLA — resigned from the federal party caucus after female staffers in his former provincial and current federal offices came forward with allegations of sexual harassment.

Shortly before taking office, Trudeau expelled two Liberal MPs — Scott Andrews and Massimo Pacetti — from his party’s caucus after they were accused of sexual misconduct by two female New Democrat MPs.

Hehr’s resignation from federal cabinet comes within a day of Progressive Conservative MPP Patrick Brown stepping down as party leader amidst explosive sexual assault allegations by two women. Brown denied the allegations.

Nova Scotia PC Leader Jaimie Baillie was also dumped by his own party yesterday, following a third-party investigation into “allegations of inappropriate behaviour.”

Hehr has previously come under fire for distasteful behaviour. In December, a group of thalidomide survivors accused him of insulting and degrading them “repeatedly.”

Days later, a Calgary woman came forward with complaints that Hehr had shown disrespect to her when they met to discuss a class-action lawsuit against Ottawa over maternity leave benefits she is participating in.

Earlier in the day, Trudeau told reporters in Switzerland it’s important to believe and support any woman who comes forward with allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

The prime minister has said many times in the past his government has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to sexual harassment.

With files from The Canadian Press.