TORONTO —
A former Alberta government staffer is suing the premier’s office, alleging her contract was terminated after speaking out against a toxic workplace that included on-site intoxication and sexual harassment.
Ariella Kimmel, a former chief of staff for Alberta’s minister of jobs, economy and innovation, alleges that she was subjected to a “poisoned work environment,” and was eventually let go after provincial staff believed she had leaked news of former Chief of Staff Jamie Huckabay’s international holiday.
“Everyone deserves a safe work environment free from harassment,” Kathryn Marshall, Kimmel’s lawyer, wrote in a statement. “Political staffers are often forced to suffer in silence and have little to no recourse. It is wrong, and it needs to end.”
“Politicians must lead by example. Every political office should have a clear sexual harassment policy and no political staffer should ever be fired from his or her job for blowing the whistle on sexual harassment, as was done in this case.”
According to the statement of claim, Kimmel had been at a gathering at a minister’s office in October 2020 when she told Devin Dreeshen, the former minister of Agriculture and Forestry, that he should stop drinking as he had become intoxicated.
As the two left, she claims Dreeshen yelled at her for telling him to stop drinking, to the point where Kimmel was brought to tears and a bystander had to intervene. Kimmel and Dreeshen had been in an “on again and off again romantic relationship” prior to Kimmel’s employment with the province, according to the document.
Just two days later, Ivan Bernardo, a principal secretary in Premier Jason Kenney’s government, allegedly made an inappropriate comment toward one of Kimmel’s female colleagues while at another gathering. It’s claimed that Bernardo said: “I haven’t seen you on this floor before because with a body like that, I would have noticed you.”
According to the statement of claim, Bernardo was “known for making sexually inappropriate comments to female staff members.”
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
In a statement to CTV News Calgary, Bernardo declined to go into detail about the allegations.
“It would be inappropriate for me to comment in any manner on the statements made within the claim, as I will likely be called as a witness in any proceedings,” he wrote. “I welcome an independent and impartial review by the court, and I look forward to providing my testimony.”
The day following the alleged inappropriate comment, Kimmel reported the allegation against Bernardo and was later told that he “would not be fired” as he already decided to leave at the end of the year. She also told Kenney’s principal secretary about the incident with Dreeshen and expressed concerns surrounding his excessive drinking and the issues that it had caused for herself and others.
In December 2020, Kimmel raised concerns that the alleged sexual harassment had not been addressed and was assured that it would be, but Bernardo was only told that his contract would not be renewed and there were no support measures for the victims involved.
In January 2021, Kimmel found out that others had been told that she leaked the Bernardo incident and information surrounding Huckabay’s trip to the United Kingdom over the Christmas holidays to reporters, even though she was not the one who leaked the information.
Huckabay’s holiday trip eventually led to his resignation later that month.
Kimmel was terminated on Feb. 5, 2021, and eventually found out that office rumours from senior staff members indicated that she had been terminated for “leaking” the Huckabay travel story to reporters.
In a statement, Pam Livingston, chief of staff to Premier Jason Kenney, called sexual harassment “abhorrent” and “has no place in our workplaces or society.”
“Any government employee who believes they have witnessed or been personally subjected to harassment is strongly encouraged to come forward so that appropriate action can be taken,” she wrote in the statement.
“This government has zero tolerance for harassment and takes all allegations of this nature very seriously. We are fortunate to have a highly skilled and diverse public service and we are committed to providing a safe and productive workplace for all of them. In that light, we previously mandated mandatory ‘Respect in the Workplace’ training for all government employees, including political staff.”
Livingston adds that the reason for Kimmel’s termination is “unrelated to the matters contained in the statement of claim.”
The province has also begun an “independent review of human resource policies for political staff” to ensure that everyone is aware of the procedures and policies.
Kimmel is suing for $199,233 in damages for breach of contract, $100,000 in punitive damages and $100,000 in moral damages for failing to implement a sexual harassment policy, subjecting Kimmel to a “poisoned work environment” and spreading “malicious” rumors about Kimmel.
Kimmel claims that her treatment with the provincial government has caused mental stress, embarrassment, hurt her reputation and hurt her future employment opportunities.
She is also seeking a declaration that she was wrongfully terminated and a declaration that the government “breached its contractual duty of good faith and honesty in contractual performance.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
