A lawyer specializing in labor and human rights says organizations like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are exploiting a “loophole” to prevent employees subject to federal regulations from submitting their cases directly to the Canadian Commission of Human Rights (CCDP ) forward.
Canadian Human Rights Law allows the Commission to dismiss a complaint if the complainant has not completed their organization’s internal review process.
At this point, it is a loophole that organizations are exploiting to indefinitely deny people the right to access justice and thus hold them accountable for their human rights violations, said lawyer Kathryn Marshall.
In the last two years, the CHRC refused to deal with 37 complaints because the complainants had not completed their employer’s internal complaints process.
It is completely unfair that people cannot access our justice system or our human rights justice system for this reason. I think this provision should be deleted completely.
The federal government is prepared to make changes, but only for the military.
Earlier this summer, the Department of National Defense (DND) announced that members of the Canadian Armed Forces will now have the opportunity to submit their civil complaints directly to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, even if they have not yet fully exhausted their appeal options through the Army’s wartime process have exhausted the system.
This change follows a recommendation in May 2022 from former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour, who was tasked with reviewing the culture within the Canadian Armed Forces following a wave of sexual misconduct allegations against senior officers.
Open in full screen mode
Former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour. (archive photo)
Photo: The Canadian Press / Sean Kilpatrick
In 2020, an independent report into harassment within the RCMP concluded that change cannot come from within the institution and must be driven from outside.
Mr. Marshall says he would like to see an amendment to Canada’s Human Rights Act to allow complainants to submit their complaint to the Human Rights Commission if their employers have not dealt with it within a reasonable time.
Otherwise, the complainant would be involved in this endless process that would drag on for years and in which nothing would happen. Problems are swept under the carpet.
I call it no man’s land.
One of Marshall’s clients, Lindsay Carter, worked in the RCMP forensics lab for 20 years. The latter claims that her fight against the federal police’s internal system left her alone and in distress.
The process appears to be distorted and ineffective, even if the organization claims otherwise, added Ms. Carter, who speaks of institutional betrayal.
In 2019, she told her superiors that she suspected a colleague in the lab of lying and being dishonest during training. Honesty and integrity are critical in our field, especially when it comes to training someone to testify, Ms. Carter emphasized.
When she brought her concerns to her supervisors, she said, they fired her because she was already unable to work for health reasons.
I was told I wasn’t feeling well. I was told that I was being unfair. And reference was made to my medical history.
Lindsay Carter claims her boss told her to drop the matter. Instead, she presented her case to a professional standards officer. In December 2019, the colleague she complained about stalked her at work and yelled at her. “I thought at that moment that I was going to be physically attacked,” she said.
Internal documents show Ms Carter’s colleague made his own allegations, claiming she was obsessed with him and had created a dossier on him. The case has been blocked since January 2020, she complains. According to Ms. Carter, they sent my file back to this grievance process. There is no end in sight.
If she could get out of the RCMP process and take her case to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, that would allow me to get my voice back, she said.
The RCMP is stingy with comments
CBC contacted Lindsay Carter’s colleagues to ask for his version of events, a request that was forwarded to the RCMP communications department. The organization later said it could not comment on individual cases and had not responded to CBC’s questions about its complaints process.
A spokesperson for the Minister of Public Safety gave an evasive response to CBC’s question about whether the department would follow National Defense’s lead and allow RCMP personnel to refer their cases directly to the Human Rights Commission. “We will ensure that every member of the RCMP feels safe and respected,” said Jean-Sébastien Comeau.
The latter also highlighted the existence of the Independent Harassment Resolution Center (IHRC), established by the Liberal government to manage harassment investigations involving the RCMP.
Open in full screen mode
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police celebrated its 150th anniversary this year. (archive photo)
Photo: The Canadian Press / DARRYL DYCK
Ms. Carter, who has since left the RCMP, said this new process did not adequately address her concerns. The CIRH, launched in January 2021, has actually been criticized for delays in dealing with complaints, which are not dealt with within the promised one-year deadline.
A spokesman for the Minister of Justice mentions that the special process introduced in the army was the subject of joint planning by National Defense and the Canadian Human Rights Commission. It is therefore up to organizations like the RCMP to consider such an alignment, said Chantalle Aubertin.
Based on an article by Catharine Tunney, CBC News