Policy Statement
Cultural attitudes about harassment, violence and assault have kept victims and survivors silent for too long. Victims and survivors, especially women and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, are routinely blamed for the actions of their perpetrator(s). In addition, organisations have too often prioritized the reputation of the organisation over the safety of staff, volunteers and other people interacting with representatives of the organisation.
Harassment, assault, and violence—whether sexual, physical, or emotional—are about power and control. These acts are often carried out by people in positions of power, or perceived positions of power over those in subordinate or perceived subordinate positions. This includes volunteers, part-time and temporary workers. A person’s actual or perceived race, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, country of origin, and employment status can all influence how this power dynamic plays out.
It’s important that everyone involved in the Joel4MP campaign feel safe and able to fully participate. Everyone, including the candidate, has a responsibility to create a safe environment. It is the goal of the Joel4MP campaign to take responsibility and model the change we want to see. This includes not protecting perpetrators at the expense of victims and survivors, preventing incidents of harassment and assault from happening, and creating structures within the campaign that prevent harassment, violence and assault.
In the event of sexual, physical or psychological harassment, violence or assault being perpetrated by the candidate, staff, or volunteers on the campaign against staff, volunteers, or voters, victims must have a clear mechanism for reporting this behaviour and faith that their complaint will be taken seriously. Perpetrators must be held accountable and their access must be limited to positions where power cannot be exploited and where they do not feel insulated from repercussions.
Joel Harden and the Federal NDP believe survivors. Every complaint will be taken seriously and investigated.
The complaint and accountability process is organised with the goal of being survivor-led. It is understood the great personal risk that victims and survivors take by coming forward with a complaint. The goal is for the complainant to be in the driver's seat and ensure confidence in the process and confidentiality of those involved.
Scope
This policy applies to complaints of discrimination, harassment, bullying, and sexual violence that involve the candidate, campaign staff and volunteers. This policy covers complaints of discrimination, harassment and sexual violence as defined below.
Definitions
Harassment is any behaviour by a person involved in the campaign (including the candidate, staff and volunteers) that is directed at and is offensive to the recipient; endangers the recipient’s job or current and future involvement in the campaign or the Federal NDP; undermines the performance of the recipient; or threatens the economic livelihood of an employee of the campaign. Harassment may be defined as repeated, intentional, offensive comments or actions deliberately designed to demean an individual or to cause personal humiliation. This includes blatant acts of misuse of power and microaggressions, including but not limited to, intimidation, threats, blackmail, discrimination and coercion.
The above-mentioned behaviour will not be tolerated and persons conducting such behaviour will be appropriately reprimanded.
For clarity, those acts that may constitute harassment might include, but are not limited to:
- unsolicited physical contact (e.g.pushing, grabbing, or other touching);
- comments, looks or suggestions which might reasonably be found by the recipient to be unwelcome, objectionable, offensive, or to cause discomfort on the job;
- insults or taunting (e.g.,based on looks, ability, gender identity, sexual orientation, sex, education, ethnicity or cultural background, skills, etc.) ;
- sexual harassment, which involves any act, conduct, comment, gesture or contact of a sexual nature, whether on a one-time or recurring basis, that might reasonably be expected to cause offence or humiliation and which may include, but is not limited to: demands for sexual favours or sexual assault; inappropriate or unwanted physical contact; insulting comments, gestures or jokes of a sexual nature that cause discomfort or embarrassment; or inappropriate enquiries or comments about an individual’s sex life;
- psychological and physical harassment which would include conduct, comment, display, action or gestures that adversely affect the psychological well-being of a person that one ought reasonably to know would cause a person to be humiliated or intimidated; and
- harassment complaints that are frivolous or made in bad faith.
Normal social conduct between people based on mutual consent and reasonable action taken by the candidate, staff of the campaign or Federal NDP, or volunteers, does not, for these purposes, constitute harassment.
Complaint process
The campaign has designated two people to act as anti-harassment officers for the duration of the campaign. These people are neutral third-parties whose only campaign responsibility is to act as the anti-harassment officer. No complaint shall be acted upon that is not initiated by the complainant directly
To contact the anti-harassment officers and/or make a complaint, please email [email protected]
The anti-harassment officers are not employed by the campaign and have no responsibility to protect the reputation of the candidate or the Federal NDP. Their mandate as anti-harassment officers is to be the first point of contact for all harassment complaints. They will also provide the complainant with the information they need to make a decision if they want to move forward, support the complainant through the process, liaise with the campaign for information and investigation purposes once a formal or informal complaint has been initiated by the complainant, and provide recommendations to the campaign for action to be taken following the informal or formal complaint process.
Once a complainant has consented to pursue a complaint, the anti-harassment officers will have full authority to investigate a complaint and, while respecting the complainant’s wish for confidentiality, conduct as quick and as thorough an investigation as possible. At any step in the process, the complainant may be accompanied or supported by a person of their choosing.
It is recommended for anyone involved in the Joel4MP campaign who feels they are being harassed to keep a written record of dates, times, witnesses and nature of behaviour. These records and specific information will be helpful for the purposes of investigation.
Informal process
The goal of the informal process is to allow the complainant and respondent to come to a mutually agreed-upon solution to ensure safety, confidentiality, and continued involvement in Joel Harden’s campaign.
This mutually agreed-upon decision can be achieved in the following ways:
- A direct conversation between the complainant and respondent with the presence of the anti-harassment officer. Both the complainant and the respondent may be accompanied by a person of their choosing.
- Individual conversations with the anti-harassment officer, the complainant, and the respondent.
Once a decision is reached, the anti-harassment officer(s) will inform the candidate and the campaign leadership team. It is the responsibility of the candidate, campaign leadership team and any additional staff with the campaign to work with the anti-harassment officer to ensure the campaign supports the outcome of the informal process.
If the informal agreement is violated by either the complainant or the respondent, the complaint will be registered with the anti-harassment officer. In this event, the anti-harassment officer will work with the complainant and respondent to recommit to the previous resolution or to achieve a new resolution. If the anti-harassment officer cannot achieve this, the anti-harassment officer will make recommendations to the candidate and campaign manager on ways to resolve the complaint.
At any time during the informal process, the complainant has the capacity to trigger a formal complaint.
Formal process
The complainant must submit a written complaint to trigger the investigation. The complainant and the respondent will be kept informed of the progress of the investigation and the entire process will be explained at the outset and any concerns of the complainant dealt with immediately.
Without sharing any identifying information, the anti-harassment officer shall notify the candidate and campaign leadership team when any formal investigation is initiated and at each further stage of the process.
The investigation will be commenced within three (3) days and the complainant’s identity will normally be made known to the respondent.
The investigating anti-harassment officer will complete an impartial investigation within seven (7) days. The officer will review the formal written complaint and the facts, and then interview the complainant, respondent and witnesses. Each individual will be interviewed separately and will be required to sign their statement, indicating agreement. The investigating anti-harassment officer will then determine, based upon a balance of probabilities, whether the complaint is substantiated, partially substantiated, not substantiated or frivolous or in bad faith.
If, for reasons outside of their control, the anti-harassment officer is unable to complete the investigation within seven (7) days, they may inform the complainant and respondent how much further time is required to complete it, up to a maximum of seven (7) further days.
Once the investigation is completed, the findings will be made known to the complainant and the respondent by the anti-harassment officer. This will be done within three (3) days in a confidential written report and in separate meetings.
With the help of the candidate and the campaign manager, the anti-harassment officer will attempt to achieve resolution of the complaint at this point within fourteen (14) days.
Once the resolution is achieved, the decision of the anti-harassment officer will be implemented within two (2) days.
If the candidate or staff of the campaign are found guilty of the alleged harassment or assault, the anti-harassment officer will work with the campaign director of the Federal NDP to resolve the matter, including removing the candidate, staff or volunteer from the campaign.
If the candidate or someone on the campaign leadership team is the respondent, they will solely occupy the role of the respondent while the investigation takes place, and they will not take part in the investigator's meetings and updates with the broader campaign leadership team.