Suzanne Fournier (Vancouver Province) – The RCMP Complaints Commission is “broken” and must be rejected as a way to resolve the hot-button issue of sexual harassment of women by Mounties.
Instead, a federal judge should be appointed by Ottawa to conduct a truly independent and timely investigation into harassment charges, and be given a tight deadline to report back.
Those are the suggestions of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which called Thursday for a thorough investigation of all harassment charges.
“We agree with the RCMP that there must be an inquiry here,” said BCCLA president Robert Holmes. “Having a respected and impartial retired judge would provide the right credentials to get this done.”
BCCLA executive director David Eby called the RCMP Complaints Commission “broken,” saying it is “so backed up that even when evidence is known and files complete on a case, the commission will not get to it for two years.
“Meanwhile, people have to work in this atmosphere or are already on sick leave” while their case waits in the queue to be heard, said Eby.
Eby said the harassment investigation should be federally funded.
“I wouldn’t want to ask the RCMP to decide how well-funded its investigation into harassment charges against the force should be.”
Last week, Cpl. Catherine Galliford, the former high-profile RCMP media spokeswoman for the Missing Women Task Force, revealed she suffered years of alleged sexual harassment on the job.
She has been off work since 2007 with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Galliford, who spoke for the RCMP from 2001 to 2007 on the Air India case as well, gave a four-hour, 115-page statement to the RCMP about the harassment that took place throughout her 16-year career.
Holmes said Rona Ambrose, federal status of women minister, and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews should “put their heads together and ensure that this inquiry gets the resources it needs.”
The BCCLA says the investigation should at a minimum:
- Examine settlements reached with female employees and interview them;
- Examine ongoing litigation involving female employees and the RCMP investigations into claims made in those women’s lawsuits;
- Look at formal and informal complaints filed by female officers and female civilian staff to see if they name common individuals or detachments;
- Interview female officers and staff on a random and targeted basis, with confidentiality ensured, so women do not have to suffer severe health issues or leave the force before their complaints are addressed;
The BCCLA cites a number of high-profile cases involving RCMP treatment of female staff, including a national survey of RCMP employees in 2009 that found one in five reported being “verbally harassed or tormented” at work, and another six per cent of officers declined to answer the question.
Allegations made in 2007 by Cpl. Sherry-Lee Benson-Podolchuck, who said harassment within the RCMP is “a systemic problem that they don’t know how to deal with,” resulted in a flood of phone calls to her lawyer from women with similar complaints.
And at the 2010 Olympics, male RCMP officers charged with providing security made inappropriate sexual advances toward their female counterparts.
Holmes noted that “if the force has a poisoned atmosphere for women employees, then they are extremely unlikely to be able to deal with the shortage of female officers they currently face,” and “will continue to lose the confidence of the public.”
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