A Globe and Mail columnist said she once tried to breastfeed a politician's baby without permission, even though she was not lactating.
The confused father, according to McLaren, was none other than Michael Chong, an Ontario MP who is currently running to be leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
McLaren's column was only available online for a short time before it was taken down with no notice of a retraction.
Uhh, did anyone grab a copy of this column before it was 404'd?
The piece had evidently escaped wider notice, and only a few old tweets seemed to point to its existence.
But eventually an archived version of the column, republished on a news aggregator, came to light.
And then everyone lost their minds.
k wait no, this nursing column thing is a true nightmare
People had a lot of feelings.
I don't even know where to begin with that McLaren column... so strange.
FYI I will kick your ass if you try to breast feed my kid without permission
So, basically this?
just gonna leave this here.
Seriously, WTF?
After reading the Leah McLaren story
Number crunchers tried to figure out how the story could be true, given the ages of McLaren and Chong's three kids.
@iD4RO A 2015 Star profile said Chong's sons were 10, 7, and 5 at the time. But McLaren would've been 25 in 2000. So wtf?
Was there a mystery baby?
WHOSE BABY DID SHE TRY TO BREASTFEED THEN. Did she make up the story? I need to go to bed.......
This whole thing is a very strange Canadian episode.
American media scandal: report that Iraq has WMDs Canadian media scandal: illicit breastfeeding
And the hot takes have already started.
Part of the job of a Canadian columnist is being silenced so that the country's inherent sneering Presbyterianism may reassert itself.
It's still unclear how the piece came about, and why it was later spiked.
.@globeandmail folks tell me Leah's column "obviously meant 2 be funny" & that editors loved surreal premise. But taken down 4 legal reasons
According to Walrus magazine editor Jonathan Kay, Globe editors found the column humorous, but pulled it for "legal reasons."
Editor-in-chief David Walmsley, public editor Sylvia Stead, and McLaren did not respond to a request for comment.
Michael Chong, however, ultimately confirmed the story.
"This incident happened over 10 years ago," he said in a statement to BuzzFeed Canada. "It was odd, no doubt, but not of any real consequence."
Incident happened over 10 years ago. It was no doubt odd, but of no real consequence. Let's focus on the important challenges facing Canada
UPDATE
This post was updated with comment from Michael Chong.