2020 Gender and Harassment Advisory Committee Annual Report - Depot

Background

  • This year, the committee discussed the current state of gender and harassment in the RCMP and specifically at Depot.
  • The Depot committee looked to the reports of the other divisional committees and the national Gender and Harassment Advisory Committee (GHAC) in order to identify the topics for discussion.
  • Meetings were held on 2019-05-17 and 2019-10-22.

Objectives

  • The committee sought clarity on which topics they should be providing advice to the Commanding Officer (CO).
  • The committee sought to contribute to organizational awareness of gender and harassment issues.

Current status

The following summarizes some notable discussions of the committee:

  • There appears to be a lack of understanding around what does and does not constitute harassment. While the definition exists in policy, it also needs to be presented in terms people can relate to. The online training available through Agora may not be thorough or relatable enough for employees to gain and retain understanding of this concept.
  • The CO has encouraged committee members to share within the committee articles, literature, etc. on the topic of gender-based harassment or harassment in the workplace.
  • The Employee and Management Relations Officer (EMRO) has provided a "best practices" document for managers keeping in contact with employees on leaves, such as maternity, off-duty sick, etc. As a proactive measure to assist managers and support employees, the CO has circulated the document through his management team.
  • Bias awareness is also an important topic for employees to understand. 'Challenging our biases' was the theme of a recent CO's communique. Further promotion of this topic and the available on-line training will be considered later in the fiscal year.

Next steps

  • The Depot Division GHAC will continue to look for ways to promote harassment awareness and identify any potential issues here at Depot.
  • The Depot committee also remains committed to providing feedback to the national committee as required.

Recommendations

The committee recommends national development and implementation of harassment training for all employees, which:

  • ls mandatory
  • Is completed frequently, or more than just once in an employee's career
  • Contains videos, scenarios and/ or role-playing
  • Distinguishes harassment from conflict
  • Promotes communication, starting at the lowest level if possible
  • Portrays those who speak out against harassment and offensive behaviour as brave
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