Ask Me Anything: Workplace Harassment

January 19, 2023 - Defence Stories

Event Description

This January, the Ask Me Anything stage is shining its light on harassment awareness. In a study by Employment and Social Development Canada, Harassment and Sexual Violence in the Workplace, 60% of survey respondents indicated that they have experienced harassment in the workplace.

This month we have invited speakers to share with us what to do if you believe you have experienced harassment. Who can help? Who should we talk to? What are the steps? We acknowledge that harassment in the workplace is a particularly difficult topic, but nonetheless necessary.

Join us this month on the Ask Me Anything stage as we share with our colleagues the resources available to us regarding harassment in the workplace.

About the Ask Me Anything Series

This session is part of a series of Ask Me Anything sessions that give us a platform to share stories, listen, ask respectful questions and continue on our journey to have more inclusive organizations.

As individuals, you can’t necessarily change where you live. You certainly can’t change your past, but you can adjust who influences you—through the authors you read, the music you listen to, movies you watch and interactions with your community. The Ask Me Anything series provides you with an opportunity to increase your perspective—to learn from the lived experiences of individuals who are bravely sharing their stories to help educate and move the public service towards a culture where equity is embedded.

The series also provides an opportunity for you to know that you aren’t alone. These experiences, especially the negative ones, are systemic and happen all too frequently throughout the public service. The objective by shining this light is to continually increase the network of public servants ready to take action and move forward towards a culture of inclusivity and belonging.

Opening Remarks by Adele Racine

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  Adele is a daughter, sister, mother of one living adult and four sky babies. Adele’s life experiences have been her greatest teachers. She began her formal journey in Health and Wellness almost 30 years ago when wellness was a newer term being explored. She first made her drum twenty years ago and connected with her Métis heritage. Over the years Adele has been a drum carrier and a drum circle facilitator and has shared beautiful medicine with thousands of hearts.

  Adele is also a Horse Medicine Guide who rescued two horses in 2016. Up until Covid she worked to help many connect with their own intuition and super powers. Adele knows first hand the powerful ability we have as humans to heal and feel whole once again.

  Over the past two years, Adele has been focused on her own healing and recovery and has focused on spiritual work and song catching. Adele has overcome many life challenges including sexual child abuse, domestic violence, addiction and workplace harassment. Working on yourself is a continuous life journey and she has been on aspiritual healing journey since the start of covid to continue her healing from past traumas.

Meet Our Amazing Panelists

Ausama Alsousi (he/him), Director, Member Complaints, Ombudsperson’s Office, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

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  Ausama Alsousi has been Director of Member Complaints with the Immigration and Refugee Board since May 2021. His professional background and passion are in the fields of administrative investigations and values and ethics. Most recently, he was Director of Branch Planning and Management Services in the Appeals Branch at the Canada Revenue Agency. Prior to this, Ausama held various managerial positions at Employment and Social Development Canada, including leading the Office of Values and Ethics where he strived on instilling a departmental values-based culture. Ausama holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Ottawa and a Master's in Public Ethics from the University of Saint-Paul.

Magalie Brabant, Director General, Healthy Workplaces, People and Culture, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

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  Magalie comes from Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), where she held the position of Ombuds for Mental Health since March 2021. In this role, Magalie provided a safe, independent, impartial and informal space for employees who needed to talk about situations affecting their mental health. Her office served as a central point of contact for PSPC's support programs and services. It also addressed concerns by making departmental recommendations for improvements to the Deputy Minister regarding mental health.

  In her previous role, she was the Director General of People Development Services within the Human Resources (HR) Branch also at PSPC, where she led the modernization of services that support talent development, with a focus on improving the employee experience from hire to retire. Magalie has extensive experience in HR, having led programs in avariety of HR disciplines in increasing leadership roles. She is a strong collaborator, who is passionate about people.

  Magalie has also been heavily involved in working with communities of practice and employee networks over the years. She has served as the President of the National Staffing Council for four years.

  Magalie holds a bachelor of commerce with a specialization in Human Resources from the University of Ottawa and a Master's degree in Project Management from the University of Québec.

Susan Pickrell, Senior Director, Fleet, Canadian Coast Guard, Western Region

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  Captain Pickrell graduated in 1990 summa cum laude from the Canadian Coast Guard College in Sydney, Nova Scotia and was immediately posted to the Pacific Region. Susan worked her way up through the ranks on board various buoy tenders, Search and Rescue (SAR) cutters, and Fishery vessels in positions from Third Officer to Commanding Officer. In 1996 she was deployed to Coast Guard’s Hovercraft Unit at Sea Island in Vancouver and operated the earlier generation hovercrafts (SRN-6 gas turbine vessels) as well as the newer AP1-88 air cushion vehicles. Captain Pickrell operated these vessels as Commanding Officer and was recognized for several major SAR incidents throughout her career such as Pacific Charmer, Cap Rouge II, and Incisor.

  In 2010, Captain Pickrell transitioned shore side as the Regional Supervisor Maritime SAR (RSMS) of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) Victoria and cycled through other programs such as Environmental Response and Coast Guard’s newest program, Vessels of Concern (VOC) before returning to her first passion, Search and Rescue, as Superintendent, SAR in 2019.

  Captain Pickrell has encountered a high number of critical incidents during her career and was a member of the Critical Incident Stress Peer Team for 14 years. During this time she provided support to employees, including those impacted by the Swiss Air Tragedy and L’Acadien II. She is a strong advocate for mental health and is a trained Trauma Resiliency Trainer.

  In 2012-2013, Susan sailed to New Zealand and back with her husband and three children on their 42 ft sailboat, thereby honing both her marine navigation and family-relationship skills. She and her family continue to enjoy the waters off the west coast.

Norma Domey, Vice-President, National Executive of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada

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  Vice-President Norma Domey is the first Black woman elected and recently re-elected to the Executive of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada in its over 100 year history. As such VP Domey is representing over 70,000 public servants across Canada.

  In this role, VP Domey was recently appointed to the Advisory Board for Mental Health in the Federal Service workplace. Norma is also Co-Chair of the Women’s Federal Black Employee Caucus. VP Domey was a strong advocate with the largest ever Canadian delegation to United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York, New York where harassment was the focus of our discussions.

  During her more than 30 years with the Federal Public Service as a Senior Scientist, Norma is well-known for her commitment to create improvements in the public service and moreover to be of service to others.

  VP Domey earned an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and a Master of Science degree in Toxicology from the University of Western Ontario and is a Distinguished Toastmaster. She is the mother of three university graduates and a mentor to many.

  Decades of the Public Service Employee Surveys confirm what we know to be true—racism, discrimination and harassment are serious issues within the Canadian public service. VP Domey’s continued leadership will be essential in moving our Public Service Employees forward.

Meet Our Co-Hosts

Quinn Arruda, Marine Navigation Senior Analyst, Canadian Coast Guard

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  Quinn began her career with the Canadian Coast Guard in 2007, with Marine Communications and Traffic Services in Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland. She then moved to the Marine Security Operations Centre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, where she also became a volunteer crisis line counselor for the Niagara Sexual Assault Centre. This experience as a counselor was both highly educational and deeply meaningful for her. While working at the Regional Operations Centre in Montreal, Quebec, she saw an opportunity to pass along some of her training and help the Canadian Coast Guard support its members. She wrote training materials, an operational procedure, and a list of resources to be distributed to the Fleet. The pilot project in the Central Region was well-received, and Quinn was the recipient of the 2020 Department of Fisheries and Oceans Prix d’Excellence for Values in the Workplace for this work. Quinn is currently back with the Marine Communications and Traffic Services program at National Headquarters, and is looking forward to returning to crisis line counseling when she and her wife move to Ottawa in late 2023 or early 2024.

Lamare Robinson, Planning Advisor, DG Culture Change (DGCC), National Defence

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  Lamare has been a public servant for over ten years, serving in various roles across Parks Canada and, currently, in National Defence. She has had the great privilege to work in and visit most regions of Nunavut, and her love of the territory – the people, the culture, the languages, and the land – endures. She is a storyteller, first and always. She is a lifelong student, a survivor, and an optimist. She is working to co-create meaningful and lasting change in our workplaces and in our communities, where we all feel – and are – safe to be our authentic selves and where inclusion, diversity, equity, andtrue belonging are expected and assured. Her vision:  One day, people will look back on this time and think us silly and tragic. They’ll say, Of course, diversity is our strength. Of course, we belong here.

Mission - Ask Me Anything Series

We recognize that individuals are composed of a multitude of layers that make us who we are. We do not fit easily in one box or another and we can’t be neatly counted. We represent the mosaic of Canada.

It is important that we find value in each other’s experiences, differences and unique characteristics. When we build our cultural competencies, we are able to work better together in our teams and respond to each other with relevance, empathy and compassion. By celebrating and sharing our authentic selves, we gain greater appreciation of each other and the diversity that surrounds us.

We know through diversity, that workplaces and communities are stronger, more successful and resilient. And most important, it creates spaces of inclusion and fosters a workplace of belonging where people feel valued.

#AMAChallenge

We encourage others to have courageous conversations with their peers. Use the monthly Ask Me Anything sessions as an opportunity to have brave conversations in your workplaces with your teams.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Invite your leaders and colleagues in your organization to an Ask Me Anything watch party, tune in live and watch the session together. Make sure it’s in their calendars.
2. Before the watch party, book an “After the AMA – TeamSession” with your immediate team for the day after the event for 30-60 minutes. Share the resource guide and have these questions for discussion.

After the AMA – Team Session Discussion Questions

1. What was my main takeaway – expand and share an amazing quote, story or moment
2. What made me uncomfortable/ what was one of my blind spots?
3. What is an example of systemic discrimination that I am aware of in my life?
4. What am I not going to do anymore?
5. How can I use my voice/influence? – both overtly/covertly
6. Where am I going to dig in and learn more?
7. How will I continue this conversation?

It is important that we find value in the experiences, the unique characteristics of each other. When we develop our cultural competence, we are able to work better together within our teams and respond to each other with relevant empathy and compassion. By celebrating and sharing our authentic selves, we gain a greater appreciation for each other and the diversity that surrounds us.

Thank you to our contributors

Thank you to our contributors from across the Public Service of Canada – Canadian Coast Guard, National Defence, Immigration and Refugee Board, The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

MCs:

Quinn Arruda and Lamare Robinson

Speakers:

Magalie Brabant, Susan Pickrell, Norma Domey and Ausama Alsousi

Production Team:

Terri-Ann Hurst, Tara Lockhart, Shelby Racine, Michel Mainville, Melissa Michaud, Chyanna Belaire, Liliya Ishkaeva, Lamare Robinson, Kelly Brewer-Balch, Theresa Graham, Katherine Hogan, Bernadeth Betchi, Lyrique Richards, Danielle MacKinlay, Terri Graham

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