In most workplaces, a supervisor who hosts after-hours booze parties in his office, exposes himself to a subordinate and signs out company cars for sexual encounters would be fired. Immediately.
Not in the RCMP.
In the old boys club that our national police force has apparently become, such conduct merits just a 10-day suspension without pay and a demotion - from staff sergeant to sergeant. Even worse, the officer in question, Donald Ray of Edmonton, has been transferred to B.C. - the epicentre of alleged discrimination against female officers.
Last fall, Catherine Galliford, the ex-spokesperson for the Air India and Robert Pickton investigations, went public with allegations of sexual abuse by former colleagues. This month, she launched a lawsuit against the RCMP alleging that, among other incidents, a male supervisor exposed himself to her.
In March, another former Mountie, Janet Merlo, launched a class-action lawsuit against the RCMP in B.C., alleging persistent and ongoing gender-based discrimination by male officers. At the time, her lawyer said more than 100 current and former female members from across the country were ready to stand behind the lawsuit.
How much more proof does the RCMP need before it takes such allegations seriously? In the case of Ray, who admitted to misconduct, the RCMP's response is outrageous. He should be fired, removed from the force to send a message that female officers deserve a safe work environment. That the RCMP brass chose to transfer him to B.C. smacks of incompetence or indifference - or both.
If the RCMP's approach to sexual harassment doesn't change, it will find it increasingly difficult to attract female recruits - and to win back the trust of the female half of the population it's supposed to protect.
And we all know police rely on public cooperation - based on a trust relationship - to solve crimes. A serious situation indeed.
