Status of Women committee  No. We have no ability to assess that person.

Status of Women committee  The only thing we try to do is to guide the person to the right place. Our first respondent would have little knowledge about the discipline and the legal piece on that side. There's very little we could do for that person when he or she calls us.

Status of Women committee  Yes, that is part of the course.

Status of Women committee  No.

Status of Women committee  Once again, it depends. Sometimes the complainant asks to go elsewhere, and that will be the solution. We talk with the commanding officer to see if this is feasible and workable. Once again, we provide only recommendations. It's a very fine line in what we're recommending in dealing with a commanding officer.

Status of Women committee  The gap is huge, but it is shrinking. I feel that the statistics presented by Mr. Wenek are accurate. If we compare today with 10 years ago, the statistics show that there has been a huge improvement. The change in culture explains the improvement, but there is still a huge gap.

Status of Women committee  We do not have specific courses on this issue. So staff members attend courses that rely on the training provided by the Canada School of Public Service. Supervisors have a two-day course. Sexual harassment is part of the explanations and training. So there is a specific course for supervisors and another one for employees.

Status of Women committee  I noticed that two DAODs have been updated. Once again, the policy is fine. It is the way it is applied that makes the difference. Once again, the change in culture has to continue to take place. They are certainly going in the right direction, but it will still take a number of years, if not decades, before we have a completely harassment-free workplace.

Status of Women committee  In the Canadian Forces, it is a challenge to get a clear idea of the total number of cases. The Canadian Forces have mentioned that they work with three separate databases. So it is very difficult to get the same number of cases every time we ask about it. The Canadian Forces are in transition and they have to put all their data in the same database.

Status of Women committee  Procedures have been set up. The guidelines established by the Department of National Defence clearly mention that the first thing supervisors have to do in a case of sexual harassment is to separate the people as quickly as possible, to determine whether it is really a case of sexual harassment based on the facts and to follow up with an investigation.

Status of Women committee  Without a doubt, the fear is there. The fear is there when we receive the call. I'd say at least one-third of the people want to remain anonymous. They just want the information. They want to understand their ability to move forward, but we know that because of fear, they're not doing it.

Status of Women committee  The conflict resolution processes or mechanisms within both the CF and DND are fairly complex. We inform people about them. We educate them on how the whole system works—where they need to go, where to find all those references, how to find a template for either a grievance or a harassment complaint, where to find the links to websites.

Status of Women committee  It is a very great tool that does exist, but it is about to almost disappear. The Canadian Forces has decided, with the strategic review, to cut 50% of its alternate dispute resolution services. Where we used to have 19 officers across Canada available as experts in alternate dispute resolution, it's about to be closed, and there will be four left.

Status of Women committee  I would have to go into the specifics of it, but I would say yes. It's one of the basic recommendations we make. I think you heard Commander Crewe mention that they're doing a review of conflict resolution. They have a conflict resolution working group to better package everything that exists.

Status of Women committee  Yes, in some cases we recommend that the person be moved outside that work environment and transferred to either another unit or elsewhere on the base.