PMO team to handle harassment

O T TAWA • The Prime Minister’s Office has set up a team to handle harassment complaints from political staffers working for cabinet ministers.

Eleanore Catenaro, a spokeswoman f or Justin Trudeau, says the two senior aides on the team respond to questions and complaints from ministerial staffers — including those in the PMO — regarding sexual harassment and other inappropriate workplace behaviour.

The Harassment Resolution and Investigation Office, which was set up last October, can also arrange for an independent investigation into allegations.

“We have been working with various experts and counsellors and lawyers on making sure that we have all the right processes in place,” Trudeau said Monday on his way into question period in the House of Commons.

The office is being led by Brett Thalmann, who Catenaro said is responsible for human resources in the PMO, along with Sabina Saini, deputy director of policy.

News of the office came to light after HuffPost Canada published allegations by Myriam Denis, who alleges she was contacted by ClaudeÉric Gagné — then a senior official in the PMO — with a flirtatious message months after he had interviewed her for a job she did not get. Gagné resigned last week after being the subject of a sinceconcluded third-party investigation into other allegations, which he denies.

According to HuffPost Canada, Denis said after she had shared details on social media, Thalmann asked her about the incident and said he could refer her to the third-party investigator.

Catenaro said he was doing so in his capacity as the head of the new office.

HuffPost Canada also disclosed allegations by Denis against Vahid Vidah, a former policy adviser in the office of Small Business and Tourism Minister Bardish Chagger, when he contacted her about a job. Denis accused Vidah of making sexually suggestive remarks during their meetings, after which she came to realize he lacked the authority to interview her.

After she was t urned down for the position, Denis wrote that she i nformed Rachel Bendayan, then chief of staff to Chagger, about her experience with Vidah.

Bendayan confirmed she had not asked Vidah to contact her, called the encounter inappropriate and noted he was no longer working there, Denis wrote.