We cannot count on management or Council to deal with workplace racism, misogyny, ableism and sexism at Halifax City Hall. Matt Whitman says, let’s get the city’s Auditor General involved, and that’s a good idea.
I keep thinking we need a public enquiry into racism and bullying at the city’s workplaces. Council and city management had years to fix the widespread malaise. They were awful at it.
Judy Haiven: “What is the point of the city declaring downtown Halifax’s Schmidtville a Heritage Conservation District when hundreds of houses in the area are at risk of cracking, shifting and even falling apart? Why should local people have to put up with more excavations and blasting so some rich guys can get richer?”
Halifax city employees who suffered racism, misogyny and bullying at work, can now call a tip line. As well, the process to hire a consultant to look at safe workplace issues has been set in motion. But are these measures designed to really fix this problem, or are they a distraction?
Liane Tessier , the former Halifax firefighter and co-founder of Equity Watch, believes that Halifax employees who suffered racism, misogyny and bullying at work deserve a public inquiry, not just some quarterly updates to Council and a review by an external consultant. Tessier fought the city for 12 years after suffering abuse by management and fellow workers before she was vindicated.
Two more former councillors join Jackie Barkhouse in her call for a public inquiry into workplace bullying and racism at HRM.
We’re making good progress addressing racism at the workplace, said Halifax CAO Jacques Dubé. The numbers tell a different story.
Former Halifax Councillor Jackie Barkhouse says that during her term she often told management and Mayor Kelly of staff being harassed and bullied, but that these reports were ignored. Barkhouse believes now is the time for an independent and public inquiry into the toxic workplace that HRM has become for many employees.
Our mayor and Council don’t have the political will to put an end to the bullying and racism that sp many HRM workers are being subjected to.
An HRM lawyer argued that racist comments made by employees at Halifax Transit are protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Very smooth.