harassment – mackaycartoons

Thursday May 14, 2015

May 13, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 14, 2015

Sexually explicit taunts must be confronted, justice minister says

Canada’s justice minister is applauding the actions of the Toronto TV reporter who confronted a group of hecklers over a sexually explicit taunt.

Peter MacKay says that while criminal charges could be used to discourage people from shouting profanities during live broadcasts, showcasing the problem also acts as a deterrent.

Hydro One is firing a Sunshine List employee involved in the vulgar incident with CityNews reporter Shauna Hunt at Sunday’s Toronto FC game.

“Regarding the incident at the Toronto FC game between a (CityNews) reporter and fans, Hydro One is taking steps to terminate the employee involved for violating our Code of Conduct,” said Daffyd Roderick, director, corporate affairs for Hydro One.

“Respect for all people is engrained in the Code of Conduct and in our Core Values and we are committed to a work environment where discrimination or harassment of any type is met with zero tolerance.”

Roderick identified the employee as Shawn Simoes, an assistant network management engineer who made $106,510.50 a year.

Earlier today, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment said the Toronto FC fans involved in the incident will be banned for “at least” a year.

CityNews reporter Shauna Hunt confronted several men on Sunday while she was outside of a Toronto FC game. While recording a standup for her report, a number of men shouted the phrase “F— her right in the p—-!”

The camera kept rolling as video shows she confronted some of the men who had shouted at her, as well as a group of men standing behind her waiting for their chance to do the same.

Simoes, the employee being fired by Hydro One, did not shout the previously mentioned phrase, but did speak to Hunt on camera after the incident occured. “It is f—ing hilarious,” he told the reporter. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Wednesday November 19, 2014

November 18, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday November 19, 2014

The Reptiles of Mass Transit

The HSR plans to fight back against a spike in assaults on drivers by outfitting buses with pricey security cameras — and possibly even protective shields.

Statistics obtained through a Spectator freedom of information request show the number of assaults and threats shot up this year, with 37 recorded in the first 10 months. That’s already a five-year high and nearly double last year’s total.

The city refused to hand over incident reports outlining locations and details, citing employee privacy, but union officials describe routine incidents such as punching, spitting and coffee-throwing over the last several years.

Some of the most egregious cases include a female driver beaten with a coil of steel wire and a male driver dragged off a bus and pummelled by a group of teens.

Newly hired transit director David Dixon said he is concerned and will make a budget request for on-board security cameras for 2015. “Operator and customer safety is a critical issue for me,” he said, adding drivers will also receive more training in “de-escalating” disputes and dealing with mental illness.(Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Meanwhile, every day in cities around the world, on buses and subways and trams, women face sexualized abuse, from taunts, to flashing, threats, groping and worse. In London, England, 15% of female riders have experienced unwanted sexual behaviour on public transit, according to a study by the British Transit Police. (Of those, 90% never brought their complaints to the authorities.) In Vancouver, transit police launched a public crackdown on sexual offences in April after seeing a 23% spike in complaints year over year.

In Toronto, neither the TTC nor the police could provide up-to-date stats on sexual assaults on public transit. Brad Ross, a spokesman for the TTC, said “in general” the numbers aren’t going up. But anecdotally, women say this city’s transit system is rife with sexual predators.

On Monday, police announced they were hunting for a man wanted for three sexual assaults committed on the same bus route since Oct. 21. Last week, a Brampton man was arrested and charged with four counts of sexual assault for attacks that took place on TTC buses between November, 2013 and November, 2014. (Source: National Post)

Saturday November 8, 2014

November 7, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday November 8, 2014

Uncharted waters on Parliament Hill

Of all the utterances in the wake of yesterday’s revelation that two Liberal MPs have been removed from caucus pending the outcome of an investigation into sexual harassment allegations, perhaps the most prescient was this: This is uncharted territory.

It’s not, unfortunately, that sexual harassment is a new thing on Parliament Hill. Far from it. Those who have worked there confirm by the dozens that it’s a unique hothouse work atmosphere where strange and often inappropriate things happen. Which raises an interesting question. If Parliament is indeed a hotbed of questionable moral and ethical behaviour, why hasn’t the Ottawa press corps written about it before now? Could it be that they’re too close to it, that the press gallery has actually become part of the machine?

What is unprecedented here is what happened after the alleged harassing incidents in which the two Liberal MPs are said to have displayed inappropriate conduct toward two female NDP MPs. They took their concerns to their party leader, Tom Mulcair, who determined the situation would be dealt with internally while safeguarding the identities of the MPs.

Then one of the two took her concerns directly to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, and Parliament Hill hasn’t been the same since. After having senior advisers investigate, Trudeau announced the two Liberals were suspended. The resulting firestorm of controversy led to Mulcair accusing Trudeau of “revictimizing” the already traumatized MPs, who weren’t given any notice of the plan to go public.

Mulcair may be sincere, and he may be playing partisan, but regardless he’s off base. What would he suggest Trudeau have done? Had he kept things quiet, he would have been accused of sweeping the matter under the carpet. That’s not a perception he can afford, nor one anyone should find appropriate given the current climate around sexual harassment.

Trudeau is on solid ground here. If anything, he erred on the side of transparency. He didn’t do anything to identify the complainants. In fact, the circle of people who know their identities is small enough that it’s hard to buy Mulcair’s claim of revictimization.

That doesn’t make this outcome satisfactory. This matter will now be investigated by the House board of internal economy, the body that governs administrative and financial policies of the House.

Will the details of the allegations ever come out? Probably not, as that would tend to identify the complainants. So the two Liberal MPs could be branded without really facing their accusers, which isn’t ideal.

While little is clear in this unfolding story, this much is: Parliament needs a better and less politically weighted process to facilitate this sort of complaint. This one seems ad hoc, imprecise, and probably ultimately unfair to one or perhaps all parties involved. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Thursday, November 6, 2014

November 5, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday, November 6, 2014

How common is harassment on Parliament Hill?

Parliament Hill was rattled with story, on Wednesday, that some senior press gallery types noted that they hadn’t seen before.

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau was forced to suspend two members of his party’s caucus — ethics critic Scott Andrews and Quebec MP Massimo Pacetti — after two female New Democrat MPs alleged they were harassed by them.

“I am aware of how difficult it is for people to come forward. I believe strongly that those of us in positions of authority have a duty to act upon allegations of this nature,” Trudeau said, according to CBC News.

“It’s 2014 — we have a duty to protect and encourage individuals in these situations to come forward. The action must be fair but decisive.It must be sensitive to all affected parties but, recognizing how difficult it is to do so, it must give the benefit of the doubt to those who come forward.”

It’s unclear, at this point, what kind of harassment the NDP MPs are alleging. We don’t know if it was sexual, verbal, physical or otherwise.

While no MP has ever been suspended for harassing another MP, that doesn’t mean that there’s not a culture of harassment on the Hill.

Political consultant Marcel Wieder sayst that harassment — sexual or otherwise — has happened on the Hill for decades.

“While blatant examples of sexual harassment on the Hill are few and far between there have been some less overt situations. All parties have made an effort to keep things quiet and deal with these sensitive issues internally,” Wieder, President of the Aurora Strategy Group, told Yahoo Canada News.

“Given the nature of the environment in Ottawa where people are separated from their families for long stretches coupled with the high pressure jobs, an active social scene and attraction to power has caused some people to lose their moral compass.

“This has contributed to strained relationships that resulted in a number of divorces among MPs and staffers in Ottawa and resulted in some unpleasant situations involving accusations of sexual harassment.”

Again, we don’t know exactly what Andrews and Pacetti are being accused of or even if they’re guilty of anything.

What is clear however, is that not many people are surprised by the allegations. People understand that this stuff exists on the Hill — enough people that something now needs to be done about it. (Source: Andy Radia | Yahoo News)

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/how-common-is-harassment-on-parliament-hill-210455295.html