N.S. Tory leader’s ouster on harassment shows culture shift: observers

REGAN CASE CITED

Party president Tara Miller has said the Tories launched an independent, third-party probe into Baillie’s behaviour after a sexual harassment claim was brought to the party’s attention late last month by a staff person.

Caucus then backed the party’s decision to seek Baillie’s resignation — though few details have been provided to the public about what actually happened.

Multiple Tory MLAs and officials did not return phone calls and emails Thursday.

Miller has said she is only aware of one individual who has come forward with allegations, but she would not say whether the allegations result from one incident or multiple incidents over time.

The legislature’s harassment policy definition of harassment includes behaviour that the perpetrator knows “would be unwelcome and cause offence or harm,” or would “demean, belittle, intimidate, threaten, distress, humiliate or embarrass,” the employee. It may also be discrimination as defined in the province’s Human Rights Act, or would endanger a person’s job.

A spokeswoman for the Halifax Regional Police said the force has not received a report or complaint against Baillie.

Observers of Nova Scotia politics say the handling of the Baillie case stands in contrast to past eras.

Author Stephen Kimber chronicled the trial of former Liberal premier Gerald Regan, who was found not guilty on Dec. 18, 1998, of multiple counts of rape and attempted rape.

In his book, Aphrodisiac: Sex, Politics, Power and Gerald Regan, Kimber wrote the case was an important turning point because “a group of women had come forward to hold a powerful man to account for his behaviour toward them.”

Kimber says the Baillie case is a departure from an era when many with knowledge of harassment were reluctant to come forward.

“It’s a 180-degree turn from Nova Scotia politics of the 1970s . ... It’s important that it’s a political party that decided once it heard the allegations to take actions to find out what happened,” said the writer.

Michelle Coffin, a former Nova Scotia Liberal Party aide who now teaches political science, said the person who came forward required considerable fortitude.

“There’s a lot of pressure there to not rock the boat, to ensure you’re towing the line and not causing any problems for the political party,” she said in an interview.

“When you make such claims you can be seen as turning your back on the party. It takes a lot of courage and for political staffers it takes even more courage.”