Status of Women Committee on Nov. 29th, 2012

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

Right. After two years, this person can move on to another department, get another job, and perhaps continue to harass, if that is the case—

[Serge Jetté]

Yes.

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

—because the new employer would not know that there was an issue.

[Serge Jetté]

Exactly.

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

Is the point of this two-year mandate to give the respondent an opportunity to move forward? Where did the two years come from? Has it always been two years?

[Serge Jetté]

It's from Library and Archives. There's a policy on the lifetime of documents.

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

Okay, thank you.

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

Thank you.

We will now turn to the official opposition.

Ms. Ashton, you have seven minutes.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Thank you.

My sincere thanks to the witnesses for joining us.

I'd like to start off with a question for Madam Savoie.

Status of Women Canada is known as a federal government organization that promotes equality for women and their full participation in the economic, social, and democratic life of Canada. It's responsible, as we know, for providing strategic policy advice and gender-based analysis support.

You went through some of the concrete rules at Status of Women Canada. I'm wondering, with respect to other departments or other federally regulated workplaces, if you could elaborate on the kind of work you do around prevention of sexual harassment, perhaps involving culture, involving measures to ensure that a respectful workplace is in practice. Could you let us know which departments or other federally regulated workplaces you work with?

[Linda Savoie]

Our role has been to provide advice and coordinate policy with respect to policies and programs that affect Canadians, not necessarily the federal workplace. This being said, our primary tool, being gender-based analysis, is a good methodology that any department can apply to pretty much any issue, including its own internal approach to managing sexual harassment. While we have not been going out to offer advice with respect to sexual harassment, on occasion we are informally consulted by departments.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Have you been consulted by the RCMP?

[Linda Savoie]

Yes, we have. I wasn't personally involved, but I can confirm that we have had a dialogue with the RCMP. We've been able to provide them with resources in terms of experts and research on best practices in the policing field. We remain available if they require any form of advice, tools and resources primarily.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

That's very important.

As you probably know, a major focus in this study is dealing with the allegations of sexual harassment that have gripped Canadians, something we find particularly disconcerting in a federally regulated workplace, as well as among the services we depend on to keep us safe.

Could you give us a timeline around this consultation? When did you start being consulted, at what stage are you now, and what kind of work might you be doing with them?

[Linda Savoie]

I wouldn't be able to be very specific because these interactions happen at multiple levels.

I believe it's been stated already that the head of our agency has spoken with the commissioner. Also, at the working level we have analysts who may have been exchanging information directly with some of the working level people at the RCMP. It's been happening throughout the year, so I wouldn't be able to give you an order of size or frequency without surveying the entire policy and GBA section within our department.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

I understand that this is a priority for all of us. Obviously, it's something serious.

Have there been additional resources? Are there a number of people in your division or that you are aware of in Status of Women—I mean, Status of Women Canada is not a large department—who are dedicated to working with the RCMP to deal with what is a very serious situation?

[Linda Savoie]

That's not the case. Our advisory resources are available for any department that wants to get better information about gender-based analysis or tools and resources. Those are the same resources that are available to the RCMP. There's nothing that's been specifically isolated within our workforce to work with the RCMP.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

As a department, you've dealt with various specific issues that affect women across the country. Does it help to have dedicated staff and resources to deal with specific areas, in terms of efficiency, for example?

[Linda Savoie]

Employees will naturally become more knowledgeable in certain fields as they interact more frequently with one department or another. However, the requirements for our assistance are quite variable. It would be rather unfeasible for us to start dedicating portfolios in that manner. We're a very small organization. When you have basically two or three people working as GBA experts, they have to serve everybody.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Is that the total of GBA experts for the entire analysis of anything to do with women in Canada?

[Linda Savoie]

All of our policy folks are quite solid on the GBA front, but as far as being dedicated to GBA, yes.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

I find your feedback very interesting, in part because it's very clear.

We know from media stories and from surveys done with Canadians that what's going on in the RCMP is unacceptable and people want to see immediate action. Whether it was the Minister of Public Safety last week...there has been a recent focus on understanding the culture that is not just in the RCMP but that could possibly create a place that's more prone to sexual harassment.

What kind of leadership is Status of Women Canada providing to make sure a message is being sent around the kind of culture that could exist to prevent sexual harassment in any workplace, or frankly, in society?

[Linda Savoie]

Actually the primary messenger on this issue is Treasury Board as the employer. We are there to offer assistance only when departments seek some very specific tools or help, as I was mentioning. It's mostly that GBA is a good methodology for examining—

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

I am going to have to stop you there, Ms. Savoie. Thank you very much.

Let's go back to the other side.

Ms. O'Neill Gordon, you have seven minutes.

[Tilly O'Neill-Gordon, Conservative, Miramichi, NB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to thank the witnesses for being here this morning. Your presentations were very well done and gave us lots of good information.

I read somewhere that as an employer, your department is committed to providing a work environment free of harassment, where all persons in the workplace are treated with respect and dignity. We believe that the message is clear: harassment of any form is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

Would you say this is true of your department? From what I have heard, this is a very high expectation, is it not?

Either of you can answer.

[Serge Jetté]

The expectation is high. Is it true? I would say, yes, but with human nature being what it is.... Based on the statistics we see, there are very few harassment complaints.

I think the key aspect of what we're trying to convey as a culture is respect, because if you have respect, you don't have harassment. There are different ways of looking at it. We want to stop harassment or we want to promote respect. Yes, we do promote respect in many ways.