Female MPs say ‘Me Too’

The sexual harassment and assault that have been reported by female members of Parliament are totally unacceptable even if, regrettably, they are not surprising.

In the latter months of 2017, powerful men in politics, the entertainment world and mass media in the United States were exposed and brought down for sexually mistreating women and, in some cases, men.

Around the world, millions of women joined the #MeToo movement to share their stories and shout for an end to the abuse.

There was never any reason to believe Canada was an island of sexual propriety or that Canadian women were shielded from the predatory behaviour women in other countries endured.

Even so, the sexual misconduct to which democratically elected women in our national government are being subjected is shameful and troubling.

Nearly 58 per cent of the 38 female MPs who responded to a Canadian Press survey said they had been the target of one or more forms of sexual misconduct while in office, including inappropriate or unwanted remarks, gestures or text messages of a sexual nature.

Included in this group were three female MPs who said they were victims of sexual assault and four who said they were targets of sexual harassment, which the survey defined as repeated sexual advances. That’s astonishing.

Nearly half the respondents said they were subjected to inappropriate comments on social media.

Out of the MPs who said they had personally experienced some form of sexual misconduct in office, five said the perpetrator was an MP from her own party while 10 said it came from an MP in a different party.

And eight respondents said the perpetrator was a lobbyist, constituent or other stakeholder known to them in their role as a politician.

It doesn’t matter that 63 per cent of the respondents don’t believe sexual harassment in political circles is worse than in other workplaces.

No workplace should tolerate sexual abuse — and that includes the House of Commons. It should be safe and welcoming for all.

The MPs who enjoy power and privilege as the people’s representatives should be held to the highest standards. So should all of Ottawa’s political establishment.

This is Canada, a country that champions equality of the sexes. This is also Canada where only 89 of its 338 MPs are women.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made much of his decision to appoint as many women as men to his cabinet and establish feminist principles in free trade talks with other nations.

So why hasn’t there been more proactive work to rid our federal political parties, Parliament and the entire federal government of sexual misconduct?

When sexual harassment allegations surfaced in the House of Commons in the fall of 2014, then-Liberal whip Judy Foote revealed there was no pre-existing mechanism to deal with the issue.

It’s clear that too little has been done since then to make things better.

The damning results of this survey should be a catalyst for change, even though change should have happened long ago.