Thank you very much.
You're absolutely right that privacy is a big part of the legislation. It's a factor that we heard over and over in terms of why people won't come forward. They feel that if they come forward and people know they've complained, there may be cases of reprisal. An employer may punish them, or their manager may punish them, or the person who is harassing them, often someone with more power, may in some way jeopardize their well-being, financial or otherwise.
That's why we've tried to capture this concept of privacy in the legislation. That's why we've made stringent criteria prohibiting workplace committees, policy committees, and health and safety representatives from participating in investigations of cases of harassment or violence: so that we limit the information and it's not spread throughout. Often a committee may have four, six, or eight people. The more people who have information, the more likely there may be a leak of that information.
It's also about making sure they don't have access to any information that could lead to the identification of persons involved in incidents of harassment and violence, such as their name, age, address, or religion. Furthermore, employers and the labour program have legal obligations not to disclose that personal information.
To the second part of your question, about what happens if that information is shared inappropriately, they're actually breaking the law, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, the Department of Employment and Social Development Act, and the Privacy Act.
Finally, the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which is responsible for appeals, also has very strict policies on the release of private information. I suppose if private information is released, a complaint could come forward to the labour board, and the person could suffer penalties under those acts.
Maybe you'd like to speak to that, Lori.