OTTAWA -- A subcommittee of senators is embarking on a condensed series of consultations to update the upper chamber's harassment policy.
Thursday morning, Independent Sen. Raymonde Saint-Germain presented the Senate Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration Committee with the subcommittee on human resources' new approach that will factor in testimony from external experts, senators, and senate staff.
"Times have changed, the culture has changed, and we want to make sure that the Senate is a harassment-free workplace," said Saint-Germain, who is chair of the subcommittee, in a sit-down interview with CTVNews.ca in her East Block office.
"The #MeToo movement is a wakeup call for many employers and we want to be the first or among the first to react to that and to offer to our employees the best way to address harassment issues if, and when they arise," she said.
The review will be conducted by the five senators on the subcommittee, which includes two Independent, two Conservative, and one Liberal senator. The Library of Parliament is also providing two senior staff members to assist the subcommittee, one of whom who is a specialist in labour law.
Specifically, the group will be looking at the , which was first adopted in June 2009, and applies to everyone who works in the Senate, including senators, their staff, and administration.
The review of the policy will look at all possible scenarios of workplace harassment, from psychological, to sexual, Saint-Germain said.
"All forms of harassment are not the same and do not imply the same solution鈥� so one size fits all is not relevant for a harassment policy," she said.
Vice-chair of the subcommittee Conservative Sen. Scott Tannas joined Saint-Germain for the interview, and told CTVNews.ca that two of the areas he sees as needing improvement are in informing people about the policy and how it will unfold, as well as making it clear how to initiate a complaint.
"We think there is some refinement needed to 'how do I enter this process with confidence鈥� that I鈥檓 going to get advice and or some kind of justice without reprisal, without the embarrassment of somebody knowing that I didn鈥檛 think would know,'" Tannas said.
Weekly private, public meetings
The subcommittee is scheduled to hold meetings over four days between now and when the Senate adjourns for the summer.
On Tuesday, May 29, the subcommittee is meeting in-camera with representatives from the Public Service Alliance of Canada; the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada; and representatives from the Senate, including senators and senate staff.
On Tuesday, June 5, the subcommittee is first meeting in-camera to hear from a senators working group on senators鈥� services; and will then open up the meeting to the public to hear from at least one academic witness.
On Tuesday, June 12 and Tuesday, June 19, the subcommittee will hold public meetings where they will hear testimony from legal, academic, human resources, and health and safety experts.
After wrapping up its hearings, the senate subcommittee will work with the Senate administration over the summer to prepare its report, eyeing the few weeks after the Senate鈥檚 return in mid-September to present their findings and proposed changes.
Earlier this year former chair of the subcommittee Independent Sen. Elaine McCoy told the Senate internal economy committee that a group of senators would be conducting the review, and would hiring an independent consultant to help with the review.
However, that did not get farther than initial talks about the process. Saint-Germain told the committee the approach will focus on internal expertise and won鈥檛 cost anything above what it takes to run a senate subcommittee.
As part of the review Independent Sen. Marilou McPhedran鈥攚ho has set up a confidential forum for current and past Senate staffers who want to discuss their experiences of harassment in the workplace鈥攈as been asked and has accepted an offer to participate and add in her perspective.
The broader internal economy committee informally supported Saint-Germain鈥檚 update Thursday, with chair and Independent Sen. Larry Campbell saying the review was "long overdue."
Will factor in, but not re-investigate past cases
The senators said that the review will factor in past cases of alleged and founded inappropriate conduct in the Senate, but the committee doesn鈥檛 intend to re-hash the facts.
"We're not here to kind-of re-conduct investigations," Tannis said. "This is a forward-looking policy, but by the same token we鈥檙e talking to employees and representatives of employees and we want to learn from past experiences and that鈥檚 what we expect some of the testimony will be around, it will inform us on how based on past experience the new policy needs to be strengthened."
Saint-Germain said the subcommittee is open to listening to all input and wants to hear from anyone within the Senate that feels they have something to add.
"We are prepared to hear everything," she said.
Asked about the environment for harassment in the Senate, both said as they see the climate in the Senate as not any better or worse than other workplaces, but that it鈥檚 possible through the course of this review information will come to light that could change their perception.
Considering growing independence in Senate
When the initial policy was crafted, the Senate was still very much structured by party, with members belonging to the parliamentary caucuses of the Conservative and Liberal parties. But now the largest contingent of senators are independent and not overseen by a whip that could remove them from a caucus the way that it often happens in the House of Commons when allegations of harassment or misconduct arise.
While this will be factored in to the updated policy, Saint-Germain said it shouldn鈥檛 matter what affiliation a senator has.
"It's a matter of having all senators abiding by the rules of the Senate鈥� It鈥檚 not a matter of being whipped or not, it鈥檚 a matter of being an institution that is determined to prevent and to address any issues, especially harassment," she said.
Tannas said it鈥檚 about each senator being a representative of the institution.
"It's clear to all of us that our individual reputations and our individual actions feed in to our collective reputation鈥� We鈥檙e all tied together," he said.
