MONTREAL – Canada’s federal police force has a “toxic” culture and tolerates misogyny and homophobia, according to a report released yesterday on harassment and discrimination of women and members of the LGBT community.
Former Supreme Court justice Michel Bastarache assessed more than 3,000 compensation claims made by women working for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
More than 600 interviews were conducted for the report, which was submitted to RCMP head Brenda Lucki.
“The 3,086 claims I read lead me to conclude that the RCMP’s culture is both misogynistic and homophobic,” said Bastarache.
About 100 women alleged sexual assault with penetration, the report said, adding evidence of unwanted sexual touching, discriminatory comments and inappropriate jokes.
“The level of violence and sexual assault that was reported was shocking,” said the former judge, who recommended that reforms have to be led by outsiders rather than from within the force.
Among the 52 recommendations is the screening of recruits “to determine if they have demonstrated misogynistic, homophobic or racist tendencies”.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadians have to be able to trust police, adding that “no one deserves to work in a workplace where they are not protected, where they are not feeling safe when they are subject to harassment, intimidation and worse”.
The government has had to pay more than C$125 million (RM391.9 million) in a class action case that sought to compensate women who suffered while serving in RCMP. – AFP, November 20, 2020
