Premier's office eludes any investigation of harassment

Secrecy remains safely intact around allegations of harassment in the premier's office and ministries.

A report by Jamie Pytel of Kingsgate Legal was summarized by the government and released in that form, without a word about what actually happened to provoke former staffer Ariella Kimmel's allegations of emotional and sexual harassment.

The anti-harassment policy attached — dutifully endorsed with signatures from every UCP minister — appears better than the invisible policy that almost existed before.

But the actual allegations were not investigated, and nobody is accountable for what may have happened. All the claims Kimmel makes in a lawsuit were off limits from the start, by government order.

“Specifically outside of the scope for this review was gathering information on any outstanding litigation or speaking to Plaintiff(s) in outstanding litigation,” the government's summary says.

“It would be improper for them to gather that kind of information for the present purposes. Such feedback will naturally flow through any litigation that has been commenced.”

That stricture effectively ruled out consideration of every matter that started the review in the first place.

Premier Jason Kenney is resisting efforts to ask him questions relating to the suit, according to Kimmel's lawyer, Kathryn Marshall. Now, she'll also ask the courts to order release of the full Kingsgate report.

Kimmel's ongoing suit alleges heavy drinking in ministers' offices, sexual and emotional harassment, and untrue rumours that led to her firing.

In the wake of those allegations, Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen resigned his cabinet post, acknowledging that his drinking was an issue. Kimmel was dismissed and is now employed by the Ontario public service.

I've spoken to several people who were interviewed for the report and no longer work for the government.

Two of them said Thursday that they still fear their new work in other fields will be jeopardized if they speak out with their names revealed.

Kingsgate, the law firm that did the study, was never expected to investigate misbehaviour.

“We were retained to develop and update respectful workplace policy for political staff,” says Pytel, who prepared the report with colleague Alex Matthews.

“There seems to be some confusion about this. This was not a public inquiry or investigation,” Pytel says.

“We gathered information in confidence from staff to understand the environment, the types of interaction they may encounter in their workday.

“Staff were assured that we would not release the information we gathered and it would only be used for the purpose of creating a meaningful policy.”

The anti-harassment policy that emerged places a high emphasis on confidentiality.

It also comes with strict warnings about making frivolous or vexatious complaints. The final word rests with the head of Human Resources — in this case, the premier's deputy chief of staff.

Confidentiality is important if it protects an abused person who's complaining. That's standard fare, or should be, in the private world. But this policy prohibits political staff from disclosing any information if they're involved in a complaint “with the exception of disclosure to the Director of Human Resources, legal counsel, or if required by law.”

There isn't a government in Canada that has found a way to stop political staff from gossiping. This policy might just do it.

There is a point where legitimate privacy concerns edge into outright protective secrecy. That's what is happening here.

There is no reason, for instance, why the government couldn't release information on incidents that occurred without naming complainants or anyone else involved.

That's done all the time when the subjects aren't political people. The Child and Youth Advocate, an officer of the legislature, releases descriptions of the lives and deaths of children, always with pseudonyms.

But in this case the public is denied any detail that could suggest something untoward might possibly happen in the orbit of the premier's office.

That's unacceptable in the very heart of Alberta political power; but also, totally unsurprising. There may be some benefit, though.

Ariella Kimmel has thrown an unexpected scare into the insular, elite outfit around the premier's office. Nothing like it has ever happened before.

If nothing else, ministers and staff in that high-octane world will now think hard about how they treat their colleagues — especially women.