The woman who alleged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau touched her inappropriately some two decades ago issued a statement Friday saying the incident happened as described — but she now wants to be left alone. 
 
 "I issue this statement reluctantly, in response to mounting media pressure to confirm that I was the reporter who was the subject of the Open Eyes editorial, published in the Creston Valley Advance in August of 2000," Rose Knight, the former journalist, wrote. 
 
 "The incident referred to in the editorial did occur, as reported. Mr. Trudeau did apologize the next day. I did not pursue the incident at the time and will not be pursuing the incident further. I have had no subsequent contact with Mr. Trudeau, before or after he became Prime Minister." 
 
 Knight, who said she has since left journalism, added she will not speak any further about the incident. 
 
 "The debate, if it continues, will continue without my involvement," she said. 
 
 Trudeau was asked about Knight's statement while in Calgary for an investment announcement. 
 
 "Over the past weeks, since this news resurfaced, I've been reflecting, we've all been reflecting, on past behaviours," he said. "And as I've said, I'm confident I didn't act inappropriately, but I think the essence of this is people can experience interactions differently and part of the lesson we need to learn in this moment of collective awakening ... people in many cases, women, experience interactions in professional contexts and other contexts differently than men. 
 
 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to reporters in Calgary on Friday 5:12 
 
 "I apologized in the moment because I had obviously perceived that she had experienced it in a different way than I acted or I experienced it." 
 
 The incident is alleged to have taken place in 2000 — when Trudeau was 28 — at the Kokanee Summit in Creston, B.C. The event was raising money for the Avalanche Foundation, a charity Trudeau became involved with after his brother, Michel, died in an avalanche in 1998. 
 
 An unsigned editorial appeared in the Creston Valley Advance after the event accusing Trudeau of "groping" and "inappropriately handling" a young female reporter while she was on assignment. It suggests the woman felt "blatantly disrespected" but provides no other details about what occurred. 
 
 The editorial in the Creston Valley Advance suggested that the day after the incident, Trudeau offered an apology of sorts: "I'm sorry," he is quoted as saying. "If I had known you were reporting for a national paper I never would have been so forward." 
 
 The prime minister addressed that apology in detail on Thursday. 
 
 "Again, I've been reflecting on the actual interaction and if I apologized later, then it would be because I sensed that she was not entirely comfortable with the interaction that we had," Trudeau said. 
 
 The allegations date back to a B.C. festival in August 2000 — an editorial accused Trudeau of "groping" and "inappropriately handling" an unnamed young female reporter. 2:29 
 
 "Like I said, I've been working very hard to try and piece it together, and even when the original editorial came out at the time I was fairly confident, I was very confident, that I hadn't acted in a way that I felt was in any way inappropriate." 
 
 Earlier this year, CBC News communicated by phone and email with Knight. She said she was not interested in being associated with any further coverage of the story. She also asked that her name not be used and that she not be contacted about the story again. 
 
 A former co-worker remembers the reporter's account of the encounter. Valerie Bourne was the publisher of the Creston Valley Advance at the time and said the reporter was "distressed" by her contact with Trudeau. 
 
 "My recollections of the conversation were that she came to me because she was unsettled by it. She didn't like what had happened," said Bourne. "She wasn't sure how she should proceed with it because, of course, we're talking somebody who was known to the Canadian community." 
 
 Trudeau is expected to attend an event Saturday with Calgary MP Kent Hehr, who lost his cabinet post after an investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct with women. 
 
 The prime minister said the allegations levelled against him and those against the former minister of Sport and Disabilities are different. 
 
 "I think people understand that every situation is different and we have to reflect and take seriously every situation on a case-by-case basis," Trudeau said. "That's exactly what we're endeavouring to do." 

 CALGARY—A former newspaper reporter confirms Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized to her the day after what she says was an inappropriate encounter at a B.C. music festival almost two decades ago. Rose Knight also confirms she is the reporter that was referred to in an editorial 18 years ago in the Creston Valley Advance that said she was groped by Trudeau while covering the event. 
 
 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday: “I’m confident that I did not act inappropriately but I think the essence of this is that people can experience interactions differently.” ( Chris Young / THE CANADIAN PRESS ) 
 
 She says in a statement that appears to come from her email account that she did not take the matter any further at the time and doesn’t plan to do so now. “I enjoyed my career as a reporter, but it ended a long time ago. I avoided issuing a statement earlier out of concern for my and my family’s privacy,” she wrote Friday. “The incident referred to in the editorial did occur as reported. Mr. Trudeau did apologize the next day. “Beyond this statement, I will not be providing any further details or information. The debate, if it continues, will continue without my involvement.” 
 
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 Trudeau said Friday that he respects Knight’s decision but remembers the encounter with her differently. “I’m confident that I did not act inappropriately but I think the essence of this is that people can experience interactions differently,” he said after an announcement in Calgary. 
 
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 “Part of the lesson that we need to learn in this time of collective awakening is a level of respect and understanding for the fact that people, in many cases women, experience interactions in a professional context and other contexts differently than men.” Trudeau is to attend an event Saturday with Calgary MP Kent Hehr, who lost his cabinet post after an investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct with women. The prime minister said the allegations levelled against him and those against the former minister of sport and disabilities are different. “I think people understand that every situation is different and we have to reflect and take seriously every situation on a case-by-case basis,” Trudeau said. “That’s exactly what we’re endeavouring to do.” The event in question was the Kokanee Summit festival in August 2000, which Trudeau attended to accept a donation to the Kokanee Glacier Alpine Campaign. The Trudeau family launched the campaign after his youngest brother, Michel, died in an avalanche in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park in 1998. The unsigned editorial said Trudeau “inappropriately handled’’ a reporter there to cover the event and apologized to her by saying, “If I had known you were reporting for a national paper, I never would have been so forward.’’ Alberta Premier Rachel Notley was asked about the allegations earlier Friday and said it’s important for women to be taken seriously if they come forward. “Once that happens, we have to make sure that there’s a very fair process and that everyone’s voice is heard,” she said. “I haven’t really dug in too much to the details of this situation and every situation is different. There’s no question about it. But I think in all situations, one of the common things that we have to begin with … is to acknowledge the concern and to treat it with respect and integrity and give it the fair attention it deserves.” 
 
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– A former journalist has stepped forward and said yes, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did grope her at a fund-raising event 18 years ago, the CBC reports. "I issue this statement reluctantly, in response to mounting media pressure to confirm that I was the reporter" described in an unsigned newspaper editorial, says Rose Knight in a statement. "The incident referred to in the editorial did occur, as reported. Mr. Trudeau did apologize the next day. I did not pursue the incident at the time and will not be pursuing the incident further. I have had no subsequent contact with Mr. Trudeau, before or after he became Prime Minister." Appearing in the Creston Valley Advance, the editorial accused Trudeau of "groping" and "inappropriately" handling a young reporter on assignment and said she had felt "blatantly disrespected." Trudeau was quoted as apologizing the next day and saying, "If I had known you were reporting for a national paper I never would have been so forward." In Calgary to attend a Saturday event with lawmaker Kent Hehr—whose alleged inappropriate actions with women cost him a cabinet post—Trudeau issued an updated statement, the Toronto Star reports: "I'm confident that I did not act inappropriately but I think the essence of this is that people can experience interactions differently," he said.