Note pour la période des questions : Rapport final sur la mise en œuvre de l’accord de règlement de Merlo Davidson

L’accord de règlement dans le recours collectif Merlo Davidson porte sur le harcèlement et la discrimination fondés sur le genre ou l’orientation sexuelle dans le milieu de travail à l’égard de femmes à l’emploi de la GRC. Les modalités de cet accord prévoient que l’évaluateur indépendant rédige un rapport contenant des observations et des recommandations à la suite du processus d’indemnisation. Son rapport final a été rendu public le 19 novembre 2020.

• Le gouvernement du Canada s’est engagé à veiller à ce que tous ses lieux de travail soient exempts de violence, de harcèlement et de discrimination.

• Le gouvernement est conscient des répercussions dévastatrices que peuvent avoir la violence, le harcèlement et la discrimination en milieu de travail sur les personnes, les familles et les milieux de travail.

• Le gouvernement reconnaît la gravité des actes décrits dans le rapport et continuera d’examiner de près les recommandations visant la mise en œuvre d’une démarche holistique à long terme pour faire de la GRC une organisation moderne et saine, par les moyens suivants :

o un nouveau régime indépendant de prévention du harcèlement et de règlement des plaintes en la matière;
o l’élimination des obstacles systémiques touchant divers groupes de personnes;
o la modernisation des pratiques de recrutement et d’intégration des employés;
o l’amélioration du développement du leadership et de la formation connexe.

Merlo Davidson Class Action
The Merlo Davidson class action settlement concerns gender and sexual orientation-based harassment and discrimination of female RCMP members and public service employees in the workplace from 1974 to 2017. In 2017, the Federal Court approved a settlement that established a confidential and independent Claims Process and compensation scheme overseen by former Supreme Court of Canada Justice, the Hon. Michel Bastarache, C.C.,Q.C. as Independent Assessor.

A total of 3,086 claims were filed between August 2017 and May 2018. The Assessor determined that 2,304 claimants were entitled to compensation under the settlement agreement, for a total of $125.4 million in compensation awards.

The terms of the Settlement Agreement provide for the Independent Assessor to “draft a report that will provide an overview of [his] observations and recommendations stemming from his work in assessing claims.” Two other Assessors were added to help with the volume of claims.

The Final Report and Findings
The final report, Broken Dreams Broken Lives: The Devastating Effects of Sexual Harassment on Women in the RCMP, was publicly released on November 19, 2020.

The final report concludes that the RCMP culture is “toxic” and “tolerates misogyny and homophobia at all ranks and in all provinces and territories.” While the claims covered a 40-year period, the Assessor observes that the conduct reported persisted over time and his report speaks to the culture that currently exists. The report acknowledges the positive changes that have been made in response to past reports on workplace harassment and discrimination; however, it finds that despite these efforts, the RCMP has failed to resolve this pervasive problem.

Additionally, the report sets out the treatment that claimants described to the three Assessors, including use of offensive language; discrimination in access to promotions and training; frequent incidents of sexual misconduct; and fear of reprisals if complaints were filed. LGBTQ2S women or women of Indigenous or racialized heritage were found to often be treated even more poorly.

The report also addresses the impact on the lives of the claimants and their families, including loss of mental health (sometimes including post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal ideation), loss of family and connection, and personality changes.

The report sets out 52 recommendations grouped as follows: systemic barriers; recruitment, training, recruit field training, postings, ongoing training, human resources and staffing, maternity and parental leave and employment flexibility, grievances and discipline, mental health, promotions, leadership, specialized teams, medical examination and civilian members and public service employees. Ultimately, the report indicates that “there are strong reasons to doubt that the RCMP has the capacity or the will to make the changes necessary to address the toxic aspects of its culture” and that “true change can only take hold in the RCMP if independent external pressure is brought to bear on it.”

RCMP Response
The RCMP response to the final report was posted its external website on November 19, 2020.

Building on efforts to date under Vision 150, the RCMP’s modernization plan, the RCMP response commits to a holistic approach to culture change and an RCMP free of violence, harassment and discrimination.

The RCMP response acknowledges the recommendations within the final report and commits to actions in four key areas:
• Harassment prevention and resolution: e.g., a new independent, civilian-staffed harassment prevention and resolution regime, outside the chain of command and reporting to the Chief Administrative Officer.
• Addressing systemic barriers: e.g., identifying, preventing and removing barriers from our policies, programs and operations through the use of Gender-based Analysis+ and a new RCMP Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
• Recruitment and onboarding: e.g., recruitment modernization plan, examining large-scale changes to Depot and continuing to review the Cadet Training Program.
• Leadership development and training: e.g., integration of Character Leadership in recruitment, training and promotion processes.

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