Status of Women Committee on March 26th, 2013

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Exactly.

I'm quite interested in the peer support networks that you mentioned earlier. Could you elaborate a bit more on that?

[D/Chief Michael Federico]

They are associations of members who have shared some characteristic or some perspective. It's an opportunity for them to share their experiences. A sharing of experience might help them come to grips with or cope with the stresses of the job. It might also offer them some insight and job enrichment or job enhancement opportunities, promotions, special assignments.

It's also an opportunity, though, to just socialize, build those kinds of informal networks that we all know help an organization run smoothly. During those conversations and those activities, there may be opportunities for members of the service to express concerns about how they're dealing with co-workers or their supervisors. They're another forum where members can seek some support from people who share characteristics or perspectives, give them a little safe and secure place to have a conversation without necessarily formalizing a complaint or elevating it in some official way.

As you know, Ms. Sgro, the service does expect members to report misconduct, and so it's not a forum where people can avoid taking direct responsibility or action, but it is an opportunity for members to engage in those informal support kinds of conversations that might help them make decisions about how they want to proceed if they have a concern about harassment in the workplace. It's another safe environment.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

One of the things that continues to be of concern is the fact that what was okay 20 years ago is not okay today. How often are you reminding many of the members about what is acceptable and what isn't, as a reminder of mutual respect in the workplace?

[D/Chief Michael Federico]

I dare say it's literally a daily conversation. There are reminders throughout the service about how we care for our members. There are, for example, in every public area of the building—by that I mean places where employees resort to—reminders about our commitment to occupational health and safety, our commitment to human rights. The project charter is infused throughout virtually all of our operations, and we expect members to be talking about service excellence and how they can support each other. Plus, there's a high expectation on supervisors to make sure that the workplace is safe and disciplined, free of bigotry and discrimination. We hold our supervisors to account if an event is revealed where they didn't take action when they were supposed to. Plus, every time there's a promotion, the person being promoted takes the requisite courses, and those courses include references to reducing workplace harassment and harm in the workplace. It's a daily conversation, I'm proud to say.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

A lot of work has been done certainly over the past period of time.

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

You have one minute.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Can you supply the committee with the most recent report you would have published for the Toronto Police Services Board as to the actual complaints that you had received in the last 24 months and the status of those complaints?

[D/Chief Michael Federico]

I can. I invite the members of the panel to visit the Toronto police website, and you can download the professional standards report, which includes much of what I have discussed. It's available online at the Toronto police website, but if the committee wants a hard copy of the report, I'd be more than happy to provide it.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

The clerk will take care of that. Thank you very much, Chief.

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

Thank you.

The clerk just confirmed that we will send the link to all the members of the committee.

I now yield the floor to Ms. Truppe for five minutes.

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

Thank you, Deputy Chief, for coming today.

Some of the other witnesses that we had in here have a specific person who looks after harassment. They are called harassment coordinators. You had mentioned something about the professional standards unit. Is this something similar? Is there an individual within that unit that you were talking about who would be similar to the harassment coordinator, who some of our other witnesses were talking about, and that's all they do? Specifically, they are there if anyone feels harassed sexually or in any other way in the workplace.

[D/Chief Michael Federico]

Because of the size of our organization, we actually have several people who share the responsibility. The professional standards unit has an inspector, a very senior officer in rank, dedicated to reviewing all cases of harassment and workplace violence. They will screen the report to determine what appropriate action is required. We also have, as I mentioned earlier, a manager of the diversity management unit. That person's job is to monitor and maintain our compliance with the Human Rights Code and to promote diversity and inclusiveness in the organization. That person will always be consulted on cases of discrimination or harassment or violence in the workplace.

Then, of course, it's the responsibility of literally every supervisor and unit commander to monitor their workplace and it's the responsibility of every member. This is encoded in law, so it's not just the Toronto police expectation, it's the expectation of every member of a police service to report misconduct if they see it. The professional standards unit and the diversity management unit are more or less the experts, or the subject matter experts, in the issues surrounding workplace harassment and human rights, but it is the responsibility of every member of the service to be alert to harmful or risky activity in the workplace, and that includes harassment.

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

Thank you. You had mentioned something about training and about daily reminders, but unless I've missed it, I didn't actually hear what training is in place. What is the training that you referred to when you talked about training? If someone is new or someone has been here for 10 years, what training is in place for sexual harassment?

[D/Chief Michael Federico]

We're trained on the law, what is permitted and what is not permitted and what to look for, to make sure we identify instances where there might be some risk of harm or harassment, but we're also trained in the practice and the techniques of investigation. Our investigators get training on investigative techniques that include interviewing, evidence collection, evidence analysis and assessment, and the prosecution of cases, because as I mentioned earlier, police services in Ontario are subject to specific legislation which has a scheme of discipline.

The training includes this broad spectrum of what an investigator would need to know in order to properly investigate and prepare a case, but every member receives broader training on how to maintain a respectful and safe work environment. This includes training on what the law is and what's prohibited, on how to recognize misconduct, and on how to make referrals to the support benefits that I discussed: employee and family assistance, the diversity management unit, the peer support groups. These are all part of the training package.

Members receive their training formally in class. We do have the Toronto Police College. Quite a bit of its attention is devoted to what I will call compliance issues, to making sure that we respect and comply with the various laws.

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

Thank you.

I have only about 50 seconds left. When you said they are trained on recognizing misconduct and trained in investigative procedures, are they trained on what is right and what is wrong in terms of sexual harassment? Is there something different for someone who's been here 10 years and for someone who's just arrived?

[D/Chief Michael Federico]

Every recruit will receive training. Every new hire, whether they're a police officer or civilian member, receives training on what is proper behaviour and what is improper behaviour in the workplace. It doesn't matter how long you've been on the job, that training will continue to be provided.

We always introduce members to the workplace with that kind of training, but then throughout their career there are numerous—too numerous to recount in 50 seconds—training forums and training opportunities that we provide our members.

As I said, every time somebody is promoted, they have to go through a training course on compliance with human rights and the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Police Services Act. Those are all part of the training.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

Thank you, Mr. Federico.

I now yield the floor to Ms. Ashton for five minutes. She will probably be the last person to speak.

Ms. Ashton, go ahead.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Thank you very much for joining us, Mr. Federico. It's a real pleasure to hear about the good work that the Toronto Police Service is doing around sexual harassment.

Just going back to the question of how many women are in the force, do you have numbers on how many women exist in senior positions?

[D/Chief Michael Federico]

You'll have to give me a second. I wasn't prepared for that type of question.

We have women in every rank except the chief's office, because there's only one chief. We recently had a woman deputy chief retire. There is a woman in every one of the highest ranks in the organization, if you'll just permit me to rhyme them off—chief of police, deputy chief, staff superintendent, and then on down to inspectors—with the exception of deputy chief and chief of police.

We just had a woman retire from the deputy chief's office, and we have reduced the number of deputy chiefs. There are currently three men in deputy chief positions. Two are visible minority members, African Canadians, and then there's me and our CAO; but in every other rank in this organization, women are represented. All leadership positions reflect women in the organization. I'd be happy to provide the exact numbers. I wasn't prepared for a specific statistic.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

We'd appreciate those exact numbers.

Does the Toronto Police Service believe that it makes a difference to have women in senior positions in the organization?

[D/Chief Michael Federico]

We characterize it as an organizational need. It's a high priority for us. We believe we need to reflect our community and the community's diversity, and that includes gender. We make deliberate efforts to recruit, promote, and showcase in advance the diversity of the membership of the organization, particularly women.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

We are aware that in 2011, the Ontario Human Rights Commission published a guide entitled “Human rights and policing: Creating and sustaining organizational change”. In that document they often refer to the Toronto Police Service as a positive example. Clearly in the Ontario context your work is known, and certainly the best practices. I'm wondering if there's an opportunity to work with other police services across the country, including the RCMP, to share such best practices.

[D/Chief Michael Federico]

Absolutely. We'd welcome such opportunity. As a result of the work done by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, the Toronto Police Service, and the board, the Ontario Human Rights Commission has been invited to participate in similar developments across the country, as too has the Toronto Police Service.

We're always willing, obviously, to advance the science and the art of policing. We'd welcome an opportunity like that.

Thank you.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Has the RCMP contacted you to look specifically at the work you've done around sexual harassment?