‘Unless this is challenged, it will never stop’

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This article was published 11/10/2022 (708 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Liberals have called on the Progressive Conservative government to hold a public inquiry into reports of sexual harassment and assault in the labour movement — and for the NDP to support it.

“Unless this is challenged, it will never stop,” Dougald Lamont said in question period.

The Liberal leader cited high-profile cases involving a former union president who will go on trial in December for sexual assault, and another former labour executive who was suspended in 2013.

Lamont said his private member’s bill, which would restrict the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in cases of sexual harassment and discrimination, is a response to complaints from women in labour organizations who were silenced by their employers through the use of NDAs and harassment and intimidation.

“Are we alone in this or will the government give victims a voice by calling an inquiry?” he asked.

Deputy premier Cliff Cullen responded by saying the government would take the matter under advisement.

The PC government takes harassment in the workplace seriously and in 2018 introduced “the strictest workplace policies” in terms of protecting all who work in the legislative assembly, said Rochelle Squires, the minister responsible for the status of women.

She chided Lamont for using question period to ask for an inquiry into what she called “individual incidents.”

“If there’s individual incidents the member would like to have looked at, there is a process for that and it is not the legislative chamber,” Squires said.

The Liberals asked for all-party support for an inquiry last year after a number of reports emerged, Lamont said, noting they include the case of Abe Araya, the CUPE Manitoba president who was charged with sexual assault in relation to a February 2019 union event in Brandon.

“While the minister of justice did respond (then-justice minister Cameron Friesen thanked Lamont for bringing the matter to his attention), the NDP did not. We have to ask whether it’s because one of the NDP’s senior advisers, Bob Dewar, would rather keep it quiet,” Lamont said in the house.

In 2013, Dewar and another senior staffer at the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union were suspended because they hired back an employee who was subject to a restraining order into the complainant’s workplace, Lamont said during question period.

Two sources close to the incident confirmed that was the reason for the suspension.

“That judgment call did not stop Mr. Dewar from being hired again and again by (B.C. Premier) John Horgan, (national NDP Leader) Jagmeet Singh and the Manitoba NDP,” Lamont told the house.

Dewar said Lamont is incorrect, and suggested he’ll take legal action.

“Once again, and to nobody’s surprise, Dougald Lamont has his facts wrong,” Dewar said in a prepared statement Thursday.

“The accusations and attack on my character by Mr. Lamont and the Manitoba Liberal Party – and repeated in the Winnipeg Free Press – are completely false. I am in contact with my lawyer about next steps.”

As for the February 2019 sexual assault allegation against Araya, he wasn’t stopped from campaigning for NDP candidates in that year’s Manitoba election or from running for CUPE Manitoba president, even though members of the labour movement were aware of it, Lamont said during question period.

“They knew and he was elected anyway. When the victim complained to her union, she was called a liar and fired, but the Brandon police found enough for a criminal charge in January 2021,” he said.

“These cover-ups have never stopped.”

Araya’s sexual assault trial is set for Dec. 19-22 in Brandon.

When asked if the CUPE executive knew about the February 2019 sexual assault allegation against Araya when he ran successfully for CUPE Manitoba president, spokesman David Jacks said Wednesday the national organization was unaware of it.

“Our organization’s taken this seriously” ever since, he said.

When Araya was charged by police in 2021, he refused to step down. The national union dissolved the board and he was removed.

Gina McKay, who is LGBTTQ+ and Métis, was elected president of CUPE Manitoba and “has undertaken a comprehensive process to make our union spaces safer,” said Jacks.

“We’re hoping that our work at CUPE could be an example for any labour organization to look at our systems and structures.”

The MGEU said Lamont is raising an old issue that has been addressed.

“The complex human resources situation raised by the Liberal leader was addressed nearly a decade ago,” a spokesperson for the union said in an email. “The former staff he named have not worked for MGEU since 2013. MGEU regularly reviews our human resource policies to ensure current policies and procedures related to sexual harassment and respectful conduct are up to date.”

The Manitoba NDP, which is hosting its annual convention this weekend, said it didn’t know about the February 2019 sexual assault allegation against Araya when he was campaigning for candidates in that year’s election.

The issue of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace is serious, a spokesperson said.

“Our party is committed to ensuring its policies and practices reflect our values and commitments to fight gender-based violence.”

Former longtime MGEU president Michelle Gawronsky, who lost her leadership re-election bid earlier this year said Wednesday she thinks a public inquiry into sexual harassment in the labour movement “could serve a purpose.”

“I think that the labour movement should be held to the same standard that any other other employer across this province, this country, would be held to,” she said. “We’re no different. As a labour movement, as employers, we have a responsibility to our employees as well.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca