As for this Cadet, I wonder if he’ll be slotted back in at week 14 or if he’ll have to start all over again.

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To put is more simply for you, you get resistance for procedures undertaken outside the established parameters without ‘buy in’ from the membership. There are ways to accomplish this without creating dissension.

Mr. Lawrence underscores my point vis a vis discrimination by his first paragraph, which is exactly what I said. Fortitude, perseverance, and use of intelligence.

Obviously certain individuals were not able to affect the longevity or success of his career. So it was individuals and not the organization that were responsible. The fact that some organizations could improve dealing with such activity is not news to anyone. The world is not perfect yet so we still have some work to do. If you are not part of the solution……

Although I would have preferred his own words his quote at the end will suffice.

Advocate dehumanizing? You may wish to avail yourself of the many post secondary courses dealing with the English language, interpretation, and its usage.

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As far as suffering from racist behavior by individual RCMP members; the below passage should sum it up.

“When a man fiends that it is his destiny to suffer, he will have to accept his destiny as his task; his single and unique task. He will have to acknowledge the fact that even in suffering he is unique and alone in the universe. No one can relieve him of his suffering or suffer in his place. His unique opportunity lies in the way in which he bears his burden.

If suffering is avoidable the meaningful thing to do is remove its cause for unnecessary suffering is masochistic rather than heroic. If on the other hand, one cannot change a situation that causes his suffering he can still change his attitude”.

Calvin Lawrence
CGL Consulting

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At the top of the list of things that I decry is maltreatment of a person. Yes, there are tons of clowns who get their ticket paved because they fit into a target group. Do I think it is right? No. Will I resent some of them? Probably. Will I reduce myself and my integrity to force them out of their job through spineless and gutless harassment. ABSOLUTELY NOT! The end doesn’t justify the means here and the fact that GetReal seems to be advocating the dehumanization of others is shameful to say the least.

As far as what GetReal says in respect to not expending any energy at an employer who permits intolerable situations is that why should a gang of thugs be able to destroy everything you worked for, your seniority, your rank, your pension and the job you enjoy?

The list of illnesses Calvin lists is 100% accurate. I BELIEVE EVERY WORD OF IT! He has read about it, he has lived it. That is good enough for me. I will take his opinion any day over someone who drives in the back seat.

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Nobody said dealing with the issue of bullying or harassment is easy. If it was there would be none. It takes fortitude, intelligence, and perseverance.

If you are not prepared to deal with it, do not expect unqualified assistance. I am not impressed with the work of some of the Human Rights tribunals, or their decisions. They are not infallible.

If the situation is intolerable and the particular employer heinous in solving such issues, I would not be expending any of my energy there. The best message for employers is that people are in exodus and you are unable to hire. Change or die.

So what do you attribute your distinguished career to Mr. Lawrence? Were you a victim who rose above or how did you handle the “systemic racism” for 36 years? All in the RCMP? Why did you continue with such an organization if it was thusly constructed?

If you believe the list of illnesses listed by Mr. Lawrence, there is nothing wrong in seeking professional help (at the employers expense I presume?) to assist you with the issues. It should not be looked down upon. It should be viewed as another tool in your personal arsenal.

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What was the whole situation with this cadet? None of us really know because we are only reading a fraction of it in the newspaper. Maybe he was weak, maybe he wasn’t.

I see what GetReal is saying. I think it is absurd when people hear some dirty jokes and then make all these harassment allegations and claims of stress. However, if your character and dignity is attacked day, in and day out through obvious and covert methods than it is a different matter.

What people don’t understand is that when you are attacked in a workplace style bullying and mobbing setting it triggers your “Flight or Fight” response. These are some very primitive reactions we have that have been left over from the caveman days. The stress reactions Calvin is talking about are very real. If the work environment is toxic enough it can turn very stress hearty people into nervous wrecks.

The problem in the force is that the magic solution to toxic work environments is to send the person to the “head shrinker”. This is a much easier road for the supervisor and is often thought of as some kind of magic bullet. But, I will ask you this. If you are drinking a poison water supply and go to the doctor will what he does really matter if you continue to or are forced to drink that toxic water? NO! Not at all! The same applies to work environments.

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If an RCMP officer has a belief that alleged racist behavior is being conducted against him the following exchange usually takes place.
The alleged RCMP victim officer is told that since there is no mention of race that he is not being discriminated against because of his race.
The response to this statement by the alleged victim officer should be:
“Thank you very much for telling me that, however since we are on the topic of my negative treatment, could you please tell me why I am being treated in this negative covert manner?”
That question will never be answered with certainty and clearly. Why? The individual member is never held accountable. They are never demanded to explain there actions or non-actions. In fact the RCMP member may be promoted which only reinforces the negative behavior.

All of this conflict could be put to an end once and for all if only the RCMP individual was required to explain his or her behavior regarding the complaint. This is what happened in the Cadets’ case. Why did it have to go to the Human Right’s Commission? Why are these complaints not being investigated by the internal RCMP process? The Human Rights Commission will not even accept a complaint until the internal RCMP investigations are exhausted.

Once investigated in a timely, accurate, and open as possible manner by the RCMP internal process the truth should be told no matter who it helps and who it hurts.

One of the most accurate and profound articles I reviewed on this site was the explanation of the five steps of “bullying”(mobbing). I have added the results of bullying.

ARTICLE:

“What does bullying do to my health? Bullying causes injury to health and makes you ill. How many of these symptoms do you have”?
• constant high levels of stress and anxiety
• frequent illness such as viral infections especially flu and glandular fever, colds, coughs, chest, ear, nose and throat infections (stress plays havoc with your immune system)
• aches and pains in the joints and muscles with no obvious cause; also back pain with no obvious cause and which won’t go away or respond to treatment
• headaches and migraines
• tiredness, exhaustion, constant fatigue
• sleeplessness, nightmares, waking early, waking up more tired than when you went to bed
• flashbacks and replays, obsessiveness, can’t get the bullying out of your mind
• irritable bowel syndrome
• skin problems such as eczema, psoriasis, athlete’s foot, ulcers, shingles, urticaria
• poor concentration, can’t concentrate on anything for long
• bad or intermittently-functioning memory, forgetfulness, especially with trivial day-to-day things
• sweating, trembling, shaking, palpitations, panic attacks
• tearfulness, bursting into tears regularly and over trivial things
• uncharacteristic irritability and angry outbursts
• hyper vigilance (feels like but is not paranoia), being constantly on edge
• hypersensitivity, fragility, isolation, withdrawal
• reactive depression, a feeling of woebegoneness, lethargy, hopelessness, anger, futility and more
• shattered self-confidence, low self-worth, low self-esteem, loss of self-love, etc

Do you really believe that you can simply “rise above the rabble” keeping in mind the above injury to health. That way of thinking is the logic of absurdity.

Calvin Lawrence
CGL Consulting

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Calvin here is a quote you made in the Halifax Daily News. http://www.geocities.com/Baja/7635/Federalpublicservice/rcmp_racism/lawrence_kimberarticle.html

“These days, says Lawrence, no one mentions race. Those in charge “will simply not answer e-mails, phone calls, neglect to give me positions and limit official documentation on my abilities, accomplishments and knowledge.”

My point is that there is no point on focusing on punishing a wrong motive (racism) if people are smart enough to not reveal it. It is a dead end street. In my opinion the behavior you listed above should be grounds for punishment regardless of the motive. If you focus on the behavior it is easier to prove. If no one mentions race than how does one really know that it was racially motivated? It could also be that a given worker, worked harder than them and were making them look lazy. Harassment is still harassment regardless of what the motive is.

GetReal many people that get victimized do try to rise above it. Studies show that a good many of the people who get targeted are high performers who are a threat and are exceptional employees. The attackers are usually coworkers that are ambitious but would rather climb over someone than work for it. It is easier to drag someone down than it is to go up to their level.

As far as not giving in to juvenile tactics it is easier said than done, and the people who play it are without honor. The harder you work and the better the job you do the more the professional jealousy will intensify.

If you try to talk to these people, their little clique will ignore you. When you walk away and do your own thing they label you introverted and asocial. It is not called setting someone up to fail for nothing. There is strength in numbers and they rig the game to make it look like you are the one who has the problem. You can be the highest flyer and they will always find something wrong with your work and in numbers destroy your credibility and pressure the supervisors to get rid of you. You talk about using intelligence to prevail, well that didn’t work for Chief Inspector/Dr. Kim Rossmo with Vancouver PD. This was the most intelligent cop in Canada and this little game got his butt flung out the door. Luckily he won his case against the department, but the gang still got rid of him.

I never judge a man until I have walked a mile in his shoes.

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By not giving in to such juvenile tactics, and doing an outstanding job at your vocation, you rise above such rabble. Great work gets noticed no matter where you are. People without such mental fortitude will be victims in one way or another all their life.

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I have always dreamed of being a Canadian astronaut.
Does that mean I have the constitutional right of being one?? With back pay?

If it does, I will demand that my shrunken head, and Wakani, Arutam, Muisak be allowed to accompany me along with religous beliefs into space.

Good ruling in this article, should make our lives a lot simpler and fairer for all assimilated Canadians.

Why is it Canadian bureaucrats hate Canadian culture so much?

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