Harassment complaints in federal jobs surge

OTTAWA • Complaints of workplace harassment and violence have risen sharply at several federal departments and agencies in recent years, internal data show.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) saw harassment complaints jump 82 per cent to 166 between 2016-17 and 2018-19.

The RCMP says it received 1,132 harassment complaints over a five-year period, with numbers increasing by more than 50 per cent between 2015 and 2017 before levelling off. The RCMP figures follow an independent report in November on misogyny and homophobia in its ranks that called for fundamental change to rid the Mounties of a toxic culture.

At Canada Post, the number of complaints about workplace violence has grown every year since at least 2011, doubling to 641 between 2011 and 2015 and swelling to 870 in 2019.

Harassment complaints filed to Fisheries and Oceans Canada shot up to 66 in 2018-19 from four in 2016-17.

In a response to an order paper question from the NDP, the CRA said the figures “are not necessarily an indication of more discrimination and harassment,” but rather the result of greater public awareness and beefed-up internal processes that encourage victims to come forward.

“It is not clear whether these statistics can be attributed to an increase in reporting or an increase in incidents,” Mary-liz Power, press secretary for Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said in an email.

She highlighted efforts that include an Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution set to launch this summer and a management advisory board established in 2019 to identify internal policy improvements around violence and harassment at the police agency.

New Democrats sought to link the higher complaint tallies to the Liberal government, which the NDP says has avoided reforms toward a healthier environment for federal employees.

“In the context of the investigation report on the former governor general that led to her resignation … the Liberals knew that federal workers were increasingly subjected to a toxic and insecure working climate and failed to take the right measures to improve the working conditions of civil servants,” NDP labour critic Scott Duvall said in an email.