Trudeau and Hadju
PM Justin Trudeau is now associated with a complaint of sexual harassment. He allegedly groped a young reporter for the Creston Valley Advance in 2000.
Patty Hajdu Minister of Employment, the person responsible for Bill C-65 including the definition of harassment said she stands by Trudeau’s response to the alleged incident. She said:
“I’m actually proud of a prime minister that understands that you can believe that you didn’t have negative interactions with someone — I think we can think about this in all kinds of different situations — and find out later that someone perceived that interaction in a completely different way, and reflect on how our behaviour and the way that we make our way in the world impacts other people,”
In 2008 a woman working for Creston Valley Advance in British Columbia as well as the National Post, reported that she had been groped by Justin Trudeau at a public event. This was written up in the local newspaper by the victim, and it went unrebutted for almost two decades. “It is fact, now.”
The former publisher of the recently newspaper told CBC News her recollection of what the reporter told her was that it was “a very brief touch” on her rear end.
“Trudeau has suspended, expelled or nudged four men from caucus – Massimo Pacetti, Scott Andrew, Darshan Kang and Hunter Tootoo – over allegations (not always proven) that they sexually harassed female staff or MPs.
“Trudeau also accepted the resignation from cabinet of one of his ministers, Kent Hehr, for similar reasons. “
Will he approve C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (harassment and violence), the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1, brought forward by Patty Hajdu Minister of Employment in 2018?
Here are some of the highlights from Hadju’s introduction of the Bill.
We take this action because our government recognizes that safe workplaces, free of harassment and violence, are critical to the well-being of Canadian workers and critical to our agenda of a strong middle class.
It is never okay for someone to take advantage of a position of power to victimize another person.
We need to believe the people who are coming forward. We need to demonstrate that we hear them, that we take them seriously, that we are their allies, and that we are committed to ending this behaviour.
The #MeToo and Time’s Up movements have helped women and other survivors from around the world to bring their stories forward and shine a spotlight on harassment and sexual violence. It is our responsibility to ensure that the light does not fade.
However, we also know that this problem is too large to solve with legislation alone. Creating safe workplaces, free of violence and harassment, will take all Canadians working together to ensure that we change a culture that does indeed tolerate this behaviour. To change an abusive culture, good leadership is critical. I am very proud to be part of a government that has been very clear that harassment and sexual violence will not be tolerated.
The Prime Minister has shown time and again that he is not afraid to take action when needed, and has clearly demonstrated that he is an ally to survivors. It is this kind of courageous leadership that sets expectations in workplaces and begins to shift power and balances. When leaders set the tone and the expectation that people are safe in their workplace, it empowers people to stand up and say that harassment and sexual violence is not okay. It empowers people to take action.
Canadians told us that we needed to treat incidents of harassment and violence as a continuum of inappropriate behaviour.
We need a culture shift, and government plays a critical role in shifting culture. It starts with a comprehensive approach that focuses on preventing these behaviours before they happen, responding effectively when they do occur, and supporting survivors after the fact. We need a new approach to dealing with harassment and violence that will better protect employees at all federally regulated workplaces from these unacceptable behaviours.
Bill C-65 There are three main pillars of the legislation: first, to prevent incidents of harassment and violence from occurring; second, to respond effectively to these incidents when they do occur; and, third, to support victims, survivors, and employers through the process.
It is time to treat harassment and sexual violence in the workplace the same way we treat other occupational health and safety hazards.
All people deserve to work in a safe workplace and they deserve to live free from harassment or violence. I ask that all my colleagues from both sides of the aisle show their support for the bill.
April 25, 2018 a committee of MPs amended the federal government’s bill to include a definition of harassment, among other changes. Departmental officials told the committee they are conducting a three-part consultation process on the regulations that will coincide with the bill, aiming at having the regulations in place by the fall of 2019.
Where will PM Trudeau stand? And will Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, stand with him?
From the Ethics of the Fathers: “Rabbi Tarfon used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it.”
