Premier defending labour minister

Updated Kathleen Wynne found herself defending her labour minister during a stop in London today.

Yasir Naqvi is in hot water following accusations that he supports violence against women. The accusations stem from him reportedly supporting a book on Islam that condones physical punishment of wives.

Wynne says that it is all a misunderstanding. “He does not support the position of the book. He had not read the book, and he had made that clear that he had not read the book. He is going to be issuing a letter to that effect, it may even be out now, but he’s going to be doing that as we speak.”

Opposition leader Tim Hudak says “I think it’s very disturbing that any member of the assembly, let alone a cabinet minister, would endorse this kind of garbage. I think that Premier Wynne needs to call her labour minister on to the carpet to rescind his endorsement of the book and apologize to the public.”

Naqvi says he received a letter from the book’s author in 2009 and wrote a letter acknowledging his efforts to write the book, but did not authorize the use of his words in the book.