Harassment complaint prompts probe into legislature office policies
EDMONTON A complaint against Alberta’s new election commissioner has a committee looking into who exactly is responsible for handling harassment policies in independent offices of the legislature.
The complaint was sent to legislative offices committee chairman David Shepherd, NDP MLA for Edmonton-Centre, and former committee member Nathan Cooper, UCP MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, over the summer.
On Tuesday, it reared its head at a committee meeting before being shunted to in-camera discussion.
After a long and sometimes heated discussion (if sound coming through the door was anything to go by), the committee voted to write to all independent offices to ask about internal harassment policies and processes.
Shepherd told Postmedia after the meeting the allegations in the letter “greatly concerned” him, so he immediately reached out to
Committee has a duty to ensure all of the appropriate policies and procedures are in place in each of the offices.
committee advisers to figure out what to do.
“Obviously our government does not believe that harassment should be tolerated in any circumstance,” he said.
One of the big problems, he said, was that the woman who made the complaint didn’t know where to turn. First she was referred to the public interest commissioner, who found no wrongdoing in two circumstances outlined in the letter, while the third issue was deemed outside the commissioner’s jurisdiction. Then the woman was directed to the Speaker’s office, which also didn’t have authority to deal with the situation in question.
Cooper told Postmedia he raised the issue at committee to make sure public servants have clear processes.
“The committee has a duty to ensure all of the appropriate policies and procedures are in place in each of the offices so whistleblowers are protected, anyone with concerns about harassment feels supported, and their complaint is handled with the appropriate respect it deserves,” he said.
Postmedia has contacted the office of the election commissioner for comment.