Human Resources committee  Can I just quickly mention a model that is used by the Law Society of Ontario? The Law Society of Ontario has discrimination and harassment counsel. If a young associate at a law firm is experiencing sexual harassment, they can call up this independent person, who is employed by

Human Resources committee  I think one area the legislation has recognized as a key area of concern, which prevents people from coming forward, is a fear that their identity won't be kept confidential. It is a key element of this. It also, I think, goes to issues of procedural fairness for both complainan

Human Resources committee  I would encourage opportunities for the union and the employer for joint discussions going forward. I know, for example, the NJC is a forum in which this type of issue could be discussed between unions and the employer going forward. We would definitely want to see a role for uni

Human Resources committee  I don't think we've consulted each other on that definition, but I think you will find a lot of commonality in the views, so that if we were to spend some time on it we could come up, along with other unions, with a definition that was agreed upon. This is not something that is

Human Resources committee  I'll just add something with respect to training in the broader federal public service, because I think it's an issue also in that context. CAPE itself has noted that, when there is a new manager who goes into a workplace, sometimes you see an increase in harassment complaints in

Human Resources committee  I think with respect to the definition of harassment, it isn't something that allows for a lot of flexibility. It's going to be interpreted legally; it's going to determine the scope of individuals' rights; and it is vital. In the Ontario legislation they have adopted a definitio

Human Resources committee  In terms of what has to be in regulation and what can be in the act, the words “independent” and “impartial” are not used anywhere in the bill. As for “competent person”, a whole body of case law has tried to interpret what a competent person is. I think it has been a very proble

Human Resources committee  I think in all jurisdictions across Canada you're going to see a multiplicity of fora where you can bring concerns of harassment. I'm not necessarily concerned that someone might be able to bring a complaint under both the Canada Labour Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act. The

Human Resources committee  It feels a bit like we're shadowboxing here, because there is a lot that is left to regulation and can be determined by regulation, so we don't really know fully. We know how the current model works with respect to workplace violence complaints, and we know how existing policies

Human Resources committee  When you're dealing with unionized employees, I think the union should be involved at every step in terms of allowing them to assist the victim, if they so wish, in terms of being present at investigative meetings and that sort of thing. If you are going to use a model in which y

Human Resources committee  I think there are two aspects there. One is ensuring that recommendations or changes or protections that need to be put in place for an employee actually happen. However, when we're talking about redress, we're also talking about compensation. I can't tell you as a lawyer the sto

Human Resources committee  In terms of how this is actually going to play out, there's a lot that could change depending on what is specified in the regulations. We know currently how the model works with respect to workplace violence complaints. These have been interpreted to include harassment in the wor