Politic?

Sexual Harassment in High Places -- and Sanctimony

"I was incapacitated completely for a couple of years. ... I recovered slowly but my twenties were a lost decade of life thrown into the garbage bin."
"A doctor told me PTSD is a result of trauma plus helplessness ... I felt like a zebra on the savanna surrounded by hungry lions."
"I saw five other hands go up with people saying 'this happened to me too', or to someone they knew."
Jasmine Ali (pseudonym)

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick It’s hard to say how common sexual harassment is on Parliament Hill.

"Parliament is not a place for women. Parliament is a men's locker room where it is about whose THING is bigger."
"Women can't sue for sexual harassment on the Hill. It is the one place exempt from sexual harassment laws, as no woman has ever won an action."
Unnamed political staffer, Jasmine Ali's supervisor

She was 22, fresh out of Carleton University where she studied political science. What could be more affirming, promising and exciting than to be hired as an intern on Parliament Hill. Assigned to the office of a Liberal Member of Parliament whom she refused to name, her supervisor in the office became an aggressive sexual predator who tormented her.

She refused his advances, tried to bypass the liberties he took, meant to focus on the work assigned to her. She knew, and he confirmed that he had no intention of putting a stop to his harassment, but might consider it, if she went out on a date with him. Doing that, needless to say, would serve to hand him additional 'entitlements', and she knew that the situation would never be resolved.

She wanted the job, wanted the experience, was fearful of making a fuss. He went beyond verbal abuse to touching. He humiliated her, insisted she do menial tasks for him having nothing to do with what she was hired to do. He took credit for her work, without mentioning her efforts. Finally, she complained to her Member of Parliament, and was relieved when she received assurances that the matter would be dealt with.

In a sense, it was; she was fired. She felt utterly devastated, as anyone would under such circumstances. But she has now, finally, told her story to a reporter of a newspaper that has launched its own investigation into workplace harassment, as have many other papers in the wake of the CBC's star of "Q" having now been revealed to be not only a sexual predator but one who inflicted violence on unsuspecting women who were too ashamed and felt too vulnerable to do anything about it.

The reporter, a seasoned veteran of the journalistic trade whose focus is federal politics, contacted representatives of the three main political parties to ascertain their policies on workplace abuse. He asked whether any instances have occurred of late. And found that none of them felt comfortable speaking to the issue other than to render the attitude that the issue was one of private business, not one to be handled by any political party.

The attitude that prevails in Parliament, it seems, hasn't changed much since John Crosbie, a popular, folksy-outspoken Newfoundland MP during a parliamentary debate called out to Liberal MP Sheila Copps: "Just quieten down, baby", with Sheila Copps spitting back that she was nobody's baby. Nor was this the only time that Mr. Crosbie parted with a statement better left at the farm shed when he said during a fundraising dinner in 1990 in Victoria that Sheila Copps reminded him of the song lyrics: "Pass the tequila, Sheila, and lay down and love me again."

A spokesperson for the Liberals ventured the opinion that the House of Commons should institute a formal process to deal with allegations of sexual harassment in the pursuit of creating a "welcoming and positive work environment", expressing a commendable attitude indeed. Ms. Ali had in fact, taken her issue to the Liberal Party human resources department in 2006, there to be informed nothing could be done, in her case. !!!

Ms. Ali spoke of her impression that though there does exist predatory MPs' behavior, their political staffers in positions of responsibility appeared to her to have insufficient experience or preparation: "Many of them don't have the social skills to talk to women", she observed. And then, a day after the column appeared where the young woman's experience was published, came news that two female MPs belonging to the New Democratic Party lodged a complaint about harassment by two Liberal MPs.