Harassment cases in the federal government more often involve managers or people in positions of authority than in several parts of the private sector, according to the latest figures published by the government.

Fifty-one per cent of harassment complaints in the federal government target managers or supervisors. This figure is only 31 per cent in federally regulated private companies such as those in the transportation or financial services sector.

The data was released last summer, when the federal government posted a report on its website named “Taking action against harassment and violence in workplaces under Canadian federal jurisdiction.”

There was no news release, but it was posted on X and LinkedIn.

Ottawa’s efforts to eliminate harassment involve a number of tools, including codes of conduct and rules against conflicts of interest.

At the Treasury Board, a central agency that is the official employer for about 270,000 civil servants, it is expected that all employees report any “interpersonal relationships” with a colleague, regardless of their rank.

The goal of the main directive against “workplace harassment and violence” is to ensure that cases are never “tolerated, excused or ignored,” said Treasury Board spokesperson Martin Potvin.

Still, several specialists said work remains to be done within the federal government, five years after the Labour Code was revised to emphasize the prevention of harassment in the workplace.

“The challenge in the public service is that there are so many processes, so many departments, that there is a poor understanding of everyone’s roles and responsibilities when it comes to eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace,” said Pascale Leroy, a Montreal lawyer specializing in issues related to harassment. 

In 2023, there were 2,129 reported cases of harassment and violence in the public sector, a 13 per cent increase compared to the previous year. Nearly 10 per cent of harassment and violence cases in 2023 were of a sexual nature, compared to 5.5 per cent in 2022.

The figures for 2024 are scheduled to be released later this year. 

Cases of harassment can prove especially complex and damaging when the harasser is also in a position of authority.

According to several specialists, a power imbalance can reduce the likelihood that a victim will confront their harasser.

“It’s difficult for someone who is a subordinate to reject or refuse the advances of someone in a position of authority, knowing that it could affect their employment relationship,” said Geneviève Desmarais, a lawyer with 25 years of experience in labour law.

Desmarais conducts investigations into harassment cases within the federal government. She has seen numerous cases of problematic relationships between people at different hierarchical levels within the same organization.

In these situations, it often happens that a personal relationship begins in secret, contrary to the conflict of interest policy which requires disclosure of personal relationships.

The lawyer said that “the concept of consent is either completely absent or very limited” in these circumstances. The situation can escalate if the lower-ranking person refuses to take the relationship further, potentially leading to professional or personal retaliation.

At the Juripop legal clinic in Montreal, there is a team specialized in harassment cases, offering both legal services and psychological support for victims.

Lawyer Charles-Éric Désilets said that “uncivil behavior” should never be trivialized in a workplace, nor should inappropriate comments be tolerated.

“This is how we avoid escalating to behaviours that ultimately qualify, under the law, as sexual harassment,” said Désilets.

Flavie Desputeau, a clinical specialist at Juripop, said that the harms from harassment can follow victims for years.

“We see a lot of symptoms of fear of retaliation, a drop in motivation at work, a fear of going to work, which can also have big financial impacts, leading to fears about having to pay rent, groceries,” she said.

“It really impacts all spheres of one’s life.”

Sexual harassment prevention ‘buried’ in training

Training is essential to prevent workplace harassment, experts say.

Within the federal government, one of the most common harassment training courses is known as WMT 101. It is used by departments such as Global Affairs Canada, the Department of Public Safety, the Canada Border Services Agency and the Treasury Board.

After reviewing the training material, Desmarais said the information seems insufficient to limit possible cases of harassment.

“The issue of sexual harassment is buried in all the training on psychological harassment,” she said. “And there’s a need to make a better effort to explain what sexual harassment is, how it can start and the warning signs of sexual harassment.”

In addition to better training, former bureaucrat Jody Thomas would like to see harassment investigations more often lead to concrete results. 

She said the current system is based on prevention, whereas disciplinary measures would send a clear message across the civil service.

“It’s going to require people being very bold and very aggressive, and almost making examples of individuals, in order to make something change,” she said.

Leroy said that the complaints process is more cumbersome and often slower in the federal government than in the private sector.

“There will often be an investigation, and in the end, there aren’t any disciplinary measures,” she said. “We will have identified the organizational causes that contributed to the situation, but that doesn’t provide satisfaction that the individual behavior will stop.”