2019 Gender and Harassment Advisory Committee Annual Report - E Division

Background

First meeting - March 9, 2018
  • Inaugural committee meeting was held.
  • The Terms of Reference were discussed and each committee member presented three Divisional issues and potential solutions for further exploration.
Second meeting - April 19, 2018
  • As indicated in the first Annual Report, the BC RCMP Inclusion Forum was held in April in support of the objective of promoting enhanced collaboration between the internal and external diversity and inclusion committees.
  • The E Division Gender and Harassment Advisory Committee (GHAC) was in attendance at this meeting as well as the BC RCMP Diversity and Inclusion Council (internal), BC RCMP Cultural Diversity Inclusion Board (external), Indigenous Cultural Advisory Committee (external), and members of the BC RCMP senior management team.
Meeting with National GHAC Committee members - June 2018
  • The two representatives from E Division who are members of the National GHAC, were briefed in person on the E Division GHAC's activities as well as the BC RCMP's diversity and inclusion objectives. An invitation was also extended to the National representatives to attend future E.
Meetings with Committee members - October 2018
  • Individual meetings were held with the Committee members to discuss objectives/initiatives they would like to spearhead over the next year.
Third meeting - October 31, 2018
  • The E Division GHAC met to discuss their objectives for the year and provided presentations on a variety of topics to the Committee members and members of the BC RCMP senior management team.
  • The National GHAC representatives were invited to this meeting, however, were unable to attend.

Objectives

  • Continue to explore new and innovative ways to apply the Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) lens to current policies, programs, and services, including performance reports and strategic plans.
  • Consider ways to brand the existing BC RCMP Diversity and Inclusion Declaration to promote an inclusive environment for all employees, including supporting the creation of a BC RCMP Diversity and Inclusion Challenge Coin for employees and by employees.
  • Determine how to promote a more gender balanced organization via more women recruitment sessions, identifying barriers for women, improving follow-up with potential recruits, looking at strategies to attract more Millennials to the organization, and enhancing communication of recruitment sessions via social media.
  • Further promote Positive Space by providing more information sessions to' employees and recruiting additional Positive Space Ambassadors starting with the E Division GHAC and the BC RCMP Diversity and Inclusion Council.
  • Continue to seek opportunities for collaboration with the BC RCMP Diversity and Inclusion Council to create a more cohesive approach towards diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Current status

  • A BC RCMP Diversity and Inclusion Challenge Coin contest has been launched and the E Division GHAC will collaborate with the BC RCMP Diversity and Inclusion Council to use the coin to further brand the Declaration, challenge colleagues to promote an inclusive workplace, as well as provide a token of informal recognition to employees who model inclusive behaviour on a daily basis.
  • A Women and Recruiting presentation, created by one of the committee members, will be provided to the senior management team as well as at the Commanding Officer's Leadership Conference in Spring 2019.
  • The GBA+ lens will be used to review performance reports and the senior management team will explore applying the lens to the Supervisor Development Program and Management.
  • Development Program projects.
  • The recruitment of Positive Space Ambassadors will begin with the E Division GHAC and will further expand to other interested BC RCMP employees.
  • The E Division GHAC and the BC RCMP Diversity and Inclusion Council will be participating in a collaborative working group session in December 2018 and another BC RCMP Inclusion Forum in the Spring/Summer 2019.

Next step

The E Division GHAC will be participating in a working group meeting in December 2018 to solidify their action plan to fulfill the aforementioned objectives.

Recommendations

  • Expand the "Women in Policing" section on the RCMP career website to make it more meaningful, i.e., includes inspirational profiles of women, incentives for successful recruiting, option to speak with female recruiter, polls on barriers facing women.
  • Cadet Training: Include more training on systemic gender bias, the historical perspective, what the impact is on society as well as specifically within the RCMP workplace, and why it's important to identify our underlying biases and address them. This can be introduced after the Truth and Reconciliation segment.
  • Depot: Introduction of the GBA+ to cadets to aid in the development of new members. The early introduction/adoption of the bias free analysis will be an asset to new members and the force.
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