Status of Women Committee on Nov. 22nd, 2012

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

Good morning, everyone. We shall begin our session without further ado.

Welcome to the 50th hearing of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee is resuming its study of sexual harassment in the federal workplace.

Welcome to all of our witnesses. This morning we welcome Mr. Karol Wenek, Commander Tony Crewe, Ms. Jacqueline Rigg, Ms. Susan Harrison, and Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Gendron, who are all from the Department of National Defence. We also welcome the National Defence and Canadian Forces Ombudsman, Mr. Alain Gauthier.

This morning we will be hearing three 10-minute presentations, to be followed by a question period which will last till 10:30.

We will begin with Mr. Karol Wenek.

You have 10 minutes at your disposal.

[Karol Wenek, Director General Military Personnel, Chief Military Personnel, Department of National Defence]

Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Karol Wenek. As the director general military personnel, I'm responsible for, among other things, personnel policies intended to prevent discrimination and achieve equal employment opportunities throughout the Canadian Forces.

With me today, to assist in answering your questions on sexual harassment and related issues, is Commander Tony Crewe, director of human rights and diversity for the Canadian Forces. Also with us is Lieutenant Colonel Mark Gendron, director of law military personnel in the office of the Judge Advocate General. He is available to provide information regarding the legal processes and procedures that might be engaged in dealing with allegations of sexual harassment.

In the comments that follow, I will briefly address our policy framework, our definition of harassment, military statistics on sexual harassment, the training and education of military members, and some recent initiatives relevant to this topic.

The Canadian Forces and the Department of National Defence have a joint harassment prevention and resolution policy that applies to both military and civilian personnel. The director of human rights and diversity, who reports to me, is responsible for the harassment prevention and resolution policy as it applies to military members.

The Canadian Forces policy on harassment was introduced in the 1980s and updated several times thereafter. The most recent version of the policy, dated December 2000, shifted the emphasis to prevention and early resolution through alternative dispute resolution and brought military and civilian personnel under the same policy. The policy's overall goal is to provide and ensure a respectful workplace by promoting the prevention of harassment and the prompt resolution of harassment complaints.

Although I am here this morning to speak specifically about sexual harassment, I think it is helpful to view our policy as part of a spectrum of Canadian Forces policies pertaining to sexual behaviour in the workplace. We have, for example, a policy regulating personal relationships and fraternization that is intended to preserve trust in the integrity of command while preventing the exploitation of junior military members and other vulnerable personnel.

Additionally, our sexual misconduct policy deals with behaviours that are either sexual in nature or committed with the intent to commit an act or acts that are sexual in nature and which constitute an offence under the Criminal Code or code of service discipline. These behaviours include offences such as sexual assault, indecent exposure, voyeurism, and acts involving child pornography. Our policy on harassment and sexual harassment falls somewhere in the middle of this policy continuum.

Harassment is defined as:

any improper conduct by an individual that is directed at and offensive to another person or persons in the workplace, and that the individual knew or ought reasonably to have known would cause offence or harm. It comprises any objectionable act, comment or display that demeans, belittles, or causes personal humiliation or embarrassment, and any act of intimidation or threat. It includes harassment within the meaning of the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA).

We have no definition or policy specifically for sexual harassment.

Systematic information on sexual harassment in the Canadian Forces is derived in varying degrees from four data sources: our tracking system for internally filed harassment complaints, our alternative dispute resolution database, statistics on human rights complaints externally filed with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and periodic surveys of military members.

The harassment complaint tracking system is intended to capture all harassment complaints in both the Canadian Forces and the department. From 2002 to October 2012, there were 513 complaints by military members recorded in the harassment complaint tracking system. Of these, 31 or 6% were sexual harassment complaints. Of these 31 sexual harassment complaints in this 10-year period, 11 were determined to be founded or partially founded.

This is an incidence rate of about one a year in a military population of roughly 100,000 personnel. The remaining 20 complaints are either still open, were unfounded, were withdrawn, or were referred to the military police. When sexual assault is suspected during an investigation, these cases are automatically referred to the military police in accordance with the sexual misconduct policy I referred to earlier.

Of the founded complaints, 10 were by female members and one was by a male who filed a complaint against a male respondent.

For the founded sexual harassment complaints, the process to complete the investigation and resolution of the complaint took 90 days on average. The policy requires the responsible officers to finalize a complaint within 180 days.

In accordance with the current policy, there are consequences for respondents when complaints are determined to be founded. The most frequent administrative measure was to send the respondent on harassment awareness training, and the next most common action was a recorded warning. In some cases an apology was required, and in a few cases the offending individual was suspended from duty. In one case a fine was given, and in two cases the individual was sent on communications and leadership training.

Statistics on harassment are also kept by the director general alternative dispute resolution. However, it should be noted that while statistics are available on cases involving harassment, their database does not differentiate among categories—for example, sexual harassment. According to past issues of their annual report, they determined that the number of combined military and civilian harassment cases from 2002 to 2010 ranged from a low of 153 to a high of 382.

Statistics drawn from the human rights commission's complaints database for the period 2002 to 2012 indicate there were 196 complaints lodged against the forces, sexual harassment accounting for 13, or 6.6%, of all complaints. The latter involved two prohibited grounds of discrimination, namely sex and sexual orientation. Of the 13 sexual harassment complaints, eight were resolved by mediation, two complaints were dismissed, one was withdrawn as a result of the grievance process, and two have not yet been finalized.

In 1992 and again in 1998, a Canadian Forces survey on harassment was conducted, in which participants were asked if they had experienced harassment within the previous 12 months. In 1992, 26% of women and 2% of men believed they had been subjected to sexual harassment. In the 1998 survey, results showed a decline in the reported rate for sexual harassment, which was 14% for women.

The results of a 2012 harassment survey of regular force members are currently being finalized and will be available in the coming months. Subsequent survey research will focus on members of the reserve force and recruits and is scheduled to be conducted in 2013.

All Canadian Forces members receive elements of harassment prevention and resolution training at various levels of their professional development throughout their careers. Upon entry into the forces, both non-commissioned members and officers receive training on personal conduct policies. The intended outcome is adherence to the professional norms expected of military members. As part of this module, military members are taught that harassment, in any form, is inconsistent with national defence ethics, constitutes unacceptable conduct, and will not be tolerated.

As noted in the policy application, enforcement of the harassment prevention and resolution policy is a responsibility of leaders and commanders who are designated as responsible officers. Consequently, all new commanding officers are required to certify that they have read and understood the Chief of the Defence Staff's guidance to commanding officers. Among other things, this highlights their duties for harassment prevention and resolution, including their role as responsible officers for members under their command.

As part of our continuing effort to remind people of our policy on harassment, we released new harassment prevention posters this year and distributed them to all units in the Canadian Forces for display in common work areas. The messages are simple and straightforward, and the posters allow for the inclusion of local contact information.

By way of conclusion, the hard data portray a reassuring picture of sexual harassment in the Canadian Forces, in that the incidence of formal complaints, both internally and externally, is relatively low. Alternative dispute resolution statistics suggest there is a higher rate of harassment incidents, but if most complaints are being resolved through the options of self-help, supervisor intervention, or mediation, rather than through the more adversarial forms of formal investigations, that is also encouraging.

The decline over time in self-report survey responses of sexual harassment is also good news, but I hasten to add that two data points do not constitute a trend. Therefore, we look forward with interest to the next round of survey results.

This concludes my opening statement. Thank you for your attention.

My colleague will now proceed with her opening statement.

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

Thank you, Mr. Wenek.

I now give the floor to Ms. Rigg.

Ms. Rigg, you have 10 minutes.

[Jacqueline Rigg, Director General, Civilian Human Resources Management Operations, Assistant Deputy Minister (Human Resources - Civilian), Department of National Defence]

Good morning, and thank you very much for the opportunity to be here to speak with you today.

My name is Jacqueline Rigg. I am the director general of civilian human resources management operations in the Department of National Defence. I oversee the operations of six civilian human resources centres across Canada. I work in partnership with civilian and military managers in the area of strategic and operational human resources management.

With me today is Susan Harrison, director of civilian labour relations. She's the director responsible for the civilian harassment policy.

To put my remarks today in context, I offer the following description of the DND civilian workforce.

Over the past 10 years, the Department of National Defence civilian workforce has ranged between 20,000 employees and 29,000 employees. The DND workforce is unionized, being represented by 10 bargaining agents covered by 18 collective agreements; 40% of the civilian workforce are females and are employed in all the occupational groups, ranging from executives to blue-collar trades. Approximately 70% of the entire workforce are managed by members of the Canadian Forces. The Department of National Defence is located in all regions of the country, including the north. National Defence is committed to providing a respectful workplace by promoting prevention, coupled with prompt resolution of harassment.

We believe that all civilians have the right to fairness, respect, and dignity, and to work in a workplace free of harassment. Our strong stance on harassment, including sexual harassment, is evidenced by our stand-alone policy on harassment and the associated tools to support the program.

The Department of National Defence has had a policy in place since 1982. In 2000, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces harmonized their separate policies and introduced the DND and CF harassment prevention and resolution policy in advance of the similar Treasury Board of Canada policy. The context of the policy is that mutual trust, support, and respect for the dignity and rights of every person are essential characteristics of the work environment. The policy statement itself says:

The CF and DND are committed to providing a respectful workplace by promoting prevention and prompt resolution of harassment. All CF members and DND employees have the right to be treated fairly, respectfully and with dignity in a workplace free of harassment, and they have the responsibility to treat others in the same manner.

Harassment in any form constitutes unacceptable conduct and will not be tolerated. No CF member or DND employee shall subject any person in the workplace to harassment. Any member or employee who subjects another person to harassment is liable to disciplinary and administrative action.

Our policy conforms to the requirements of the Treasury Board of Canada policy issued in 2001 and is aligned to the new 2012 policy on harassment prevention and resolution released in October. All these policies require the establishment of a complaint procedure; methods of resolving complaints; and remedial, corrective, and restorative measures. DND is fully compliant.

That said, we are in the process of working with the Canadian Forces to revise and update our harmonized policy and all the associated tools. To further support the prevention of harassment in the workplace, accompanying the policy are comprehensive guidelines on prevention, roles and responsibilities, complaint handling, alternate dispute resolution, and workplace restoration. Other tools include guidance for managers' delegated responsibility under the policy and a handbook for all employees, which provides a description of the entire policy and program.

Additionally, all employees are required to take a Department of National Defence course on harassment awareness and prevention for employees or harassment awareness and prevention for supervisors. A similar course is also delivered through the Canada School of Public Service, or they may take one through the joint learning program of the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

While our policy and training are applicable to all Department of National Defence civilian employees, it is important to note that the prohibition of sexual harassment is reinforced by its inclusion in the majority of the collective agreements covering our employees. Grievances under these provisions can be referred to the Public Service Labour Relations Board, and this board is empowered to issue awards under the Canadian Human Rights Act.

There are several forms of recourse available to employees who feel they have been harassed. Employees can submit a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission under the Canadian Human Rights Act. They can submit a complaint to the delegated manager under the policy framework that we have established. They can also file a grievance under their collective agreement. It goes without saying that sexual harassment complaints are covered by these mechanisms.

From a statistical perspective, for the Canadian human rights complaints, we had information from 2007 to date. In total there were three sexual harassment complaints, only one of which is still open. The other two were settled.

For harassment complaints under our policies, we have information from 2000 to date. There were 14 sexual harassment complaints, and nine were founded during that period. In total, there were 316 harassment complaints filed for various reasons in that same period.

For labour relations grievances, our statistical information covers the period from 2008 to date. During that time, there were four sexual harassment grievances filed. Two were partially founded, one was dismissed, and one remains open.

We acknowledge that all of these statistics have been generated by different tracking systems and do not permit any further in-depth analysis. The current Government of Canada human resources management system has its limitations, but an upgraded version will be coming in 2013 and will enable better capture and analysis of data as part of our human resources modernization program. We, of course, are working in collaboration with the program centre, which is made up of representatives from central agencies and several government departments, including the Department of National Defence.

In closing, I would like to share with you some facts about women in the Department of National Defence. Of particular note is that women are overrepresented in the management group, made up primarily of executives. We consider this to be especially positive, given the nature of our organization and the challenges women face in achieving such levels in the private sector.

The Department of National Defence also has a large blue-collar workforce, performing functions related to industrial trades and equipment operation. In this blue-collar sector, women are well represented. Similarly, women are well represented in the senior administrative and the scientific and professional sectors. Where we are short on the employment of women is in the technical groups that are related to ammunition workers, engineering support, and electronic technologists. Closing this long-standing gap is one of the priorities of our employment equity plan that is about to be published.

We are currently in the process of renewing the DND-CF harmonized harassment policy and will continue to have this issue at the forefront of how we manage our employees. Worthy of note is that the public service employee survey indicates that 73% of the DND civilian population believes that the Department of National Defence “works hard to create a workplace that prevents harassment”.

DND considers harassment in any form to be a serious matter. We have multiple mechanisms to support employees, managers, and the organization with respect to harassment issues. Though we have confidence in the current policies, programs, and initiatives that have led to the relatively low incidence of sexual harassment, we are still very cognizant that even one incident is too many.

This concludes my opening remarks.

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

Thank you, Ms. Rigg.

We will now hear from Mr. Gauthier.

You have 10 minutes.

[Colonel Alain Gauthier, Acting Director General, Operations, National Defence and Canadian Forces Ombudsman]

Madam Chair, I would like to begin by thanking the committee for inviting us to testify today as part of its study of sexual harassment in the federal workplace.

The Ombudsman, Pierre Daigle, has asked me in my capacity as Acting Director General of Operations, to provide you with an overview of our mandate, policies and practices with respect to the handling of sexual harassment complaints brought to our office.

The office of the ombudsman was created in 1998 to ensure the fair treatment of concerns raised by current and former members of the Canadian Forces, both regular forces and reservists; by current and former employees of the Department of National Defence; by family members of service personnel and civilian employees; and by Canadians applying to become members of the Canadian Forces.

The ombudsman has a mandate to investigate and make recommendations to improve the overall well-being and quality of life of the members of the defence community. While our investigators attempt to resolve complaints informally and at the lowest level possible, some complaints require thorough investigation, leading to a formal report of findings and recommendations that are made public.

Last year we received more than 1,400 new complaints from our constituents. In total, our investigators and intake officers closed 1,471 cases, including new cases, reopened cases, and cases from previous years. Among these, 65 were related to harassment and three were specifically related to sexual harassment.

The ombudsman’s office also acts as a direct source of information, referral, and education. It is in this capacity that we address sexual harassment complaints. We ourselves do not investigate allegations of sexual harassment. In such cases, our office works closely with individuals to advise them of the various avenues of recourse available to them.

When an individual feels that he or she has not been treated fairly by the existing mechanisms within the Canadian Forces or the public service, the ombudsman can launch an investigation to determine if there are indeed issues or concerns related to fairness that need to be brought forward to the department on the individual’s behalf.

As a matter of policy, complainants with unresolved or ongoing complaints are requested to maintain contact with the ombudsman’s office so we can follow up on further questions or concerns.

To conclude, although complaints of sexual harassment make up a very small fraction of the 16,000 complaints we have received since 1998, we are keenly aware that they need to be treated with sensitivity and compassion. With that in mind, we do everything that we can to ensure individuals obtain the assistance they need and deserve.

Madam Chair, I have provided the committee clerk with the details of the disposition of harassment cases the Ombudsman's Office has handled over the last six years. The information is appended to Annex A of my speaking notes.

I stand ready to address questions from committee members.

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

Thank you very much.

I thank all of the witnesses for their presentations. They were very interesting.

We shall now proceed with our questions.

Ms. Truppe, you have seven minutes.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to thank all of our witnesses. This is the largest group we've had all at one time. Thank you for being here.

I have a question for Madam Rigg. You mentioned that the current Government of Canada human resources management system has limitations but that an upgraded version will be coming in 2013. When you mention that there are some limitations in the existing system and that you're looking forward to this new system, what are some of the limitations you would say it has?

[Jacqueline Rigg]

When we were collecting data for this appearance, we had to go to three different sources to receive the facts on this. We're trying to harmonize this.

We review actual complaints that come from the Canadian Human Rights Act. We also review all of our labour relations grievances, and we use the harassment complaint tracking system. We have to investigate three different areas. We're trying to make it better so that we have one area of registered complaints and there is no chance of overlap.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

If I were to ask you to describe what this new, updated system would be like, will it just condense it all, or are there other benefits as well?

[Jacqueline Rigg]

I think the benefits are, first of all, that there will be one area for tracking it, which will make it much easier to eliminate chances for duplication or for things to show up in more than one system. Also, it will be able to better align with all of the other tracking systems we have in place for HR information.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Great. Thank you. Yes, it does sound as though it will be better for you. It must be cumbersome to be going to three different areas.

I have a couple of questions for Monsieur Wenek.

I understand that you're collecting the information regarding the reports of sexual harassment through the different types of conflict resolution processes available. I think I understand that collecting your data in this way means that some of the cases are reported more than once, and I understand that you're trying to develop an integrated management system for the various conflict resolution procedures.

Could you describe the role of the integrated management system and any progress that has been made towards its development?

[Karol Wenek]

Madam Chair, fortunately Commander Crewe is the co-chair of the working group that's looking at the integration of those conflict resolution systems, so I'll ask him to respond to that question. He has some in-depth knowledge of that process.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Great. Thank you.

[Commander Tony Crewe, Director Human Rights and Diversity, Assistant Chief Military Personnel, Department of National Defence]

Thank you, ma'am.

Similar to the public service in its reporting, we have exactly the same issues: trying to go to different databases to get the information. Without actually looking at every file, we don't know whether there is duplication or not.

As a result, about a year ago the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff stood up a working group to look at integrated conflict management for Canadian Forces personnel—not solely because of the data tracking, but data tracking was certainly one of the issues that we had leading to the requirement to study it.

We're looking at a system that's fairly complex, with multiple mechanisms, whereby it becomes a little bit difficult for the member at the lower end of the scale who is not quite au fait with all the policies to figure out where to turn.

What the working group did was look at the current mechanisms and the issues that are created by those current mechanisms. We're utilizing the business process redesign methodology to map out all of those processes and then to design a potential integrated process that at the moment would combine looking at harassment, grievances, and alternate dispute resolution and merging those three processes into one process, hopefully giving the member one single point of entry whereby they could go to talk to one person. That person would steer them through the most appropriate mechanism, of course starting with alternate dispute resolution as the preferred option.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Thank you.

Having three different ones sounds confusing for both of you. I would think it would be confusing for the person trying to address their own concern, because they wouldn't know where to go and might even give up.

Do you have an anticipated date on this system?

[Cdr Tony Crewe]

We are briefing Armed Forces Council next month in hopes to get the approval to stand up a small project team of full-time resources. At the moment, the process managers involved are working this as one of many issues we're dealing with. If we can stand up this small project team, we hope to be able to have something in place, including an information management portion, in about two years' time.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Madam Rigg, I don't think I asked you. When do you anticipate yours might be completed?

[Jacqueline Rigg]

I'm going to refer that to Susan Harrison.

[Susan Harrison, Director Civilian Labour Relations, Assistant Deputy Minister (Human Resources-Civilian), Department of National Defence]

Are you referring to the human resource management system?

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Yes, to your new system, which would integrate—

[Susan Harrison]

We're starting to work on it in 2013 and we expect the introduction to be concluded within that fiscal year.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Okay, so yours is a little closer.

[Susan Harrison]

That doesn't mean necessarily that it might not be delayed for various resource reasons.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Okay, thank you.

Going back to Monsieur Wenek, when a formal complaint is about to be filed, are efforts made to encourage alternative dispute resolution methods prior to proceeding with a formal complaint? Do you maintain statistics related to individuals who sought one resolution over the other?