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Meanwhile, the union reported that nearly one in five respondents had faced some sort of discrimination based on nationality, ethnicity, gender, sexuality or another factor. We should not be having so many instances of harassment discrimination happening within the department, UVAE national president Virginia Vaillancourt said in an interview on Tuesday. And some of these are at the senior executive level.
Vaillancourt said the union, which represents front line workers and administrative staff at Veterans Affairs locations across the country, took its concerns directly to the department’s top managers.
But Vaillancourt, who said she was consulted on five discrimination cases last week alone, was unsatisfied with their answer, alleging they wanted to refer the issue to the department’s human-resources section rather than get personally involved.
Lee Berthiaume
A sign is placed on a truck windshield as members of the advocacy group Banished Veterans protest outside the Veterans Affairs office in Halifax on Thursday, June 16, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan February 02, 2021 - 2:22 PM
OTTAWA - One of the unions representing workers at Veterans Affairs Canada is sounding the alarm over what it alleges is widespread harassment and discrimination within the department.
The Union of Veterans Affairs Employees says it surveyed more than 350 of its roughly 2,700 members in the fall, and found more than one in three had experienced some form of harassment in the workplace.
Meanwhile, the union reported that nearly one in five respondents had faced some sort of discrimination based on nationality, ethnicity, gender, sexuality or another factor.
The province’s top doctor says the UK Variant of the COVID virus has now been confirmed in New Brunswick.
Dr. Jennifer Russell says two are in the Saint John region and one is in the Miramichi region. Two are related to international travel and one to travel elsewhere in Canada.
Russell says modelling shows if the 567 COVID-19 cases diagnosed last month had been the more-easily spread variant, we could have had over 6,000 cases by the end of this month. But they say the people are in self-isolation and they are hoping they caught it in time. Premier Blaine Higgs says the province is introducing new travel restrictions and anyone entering the province must self-isolate for 14 days and if they do so in a home with others, all residents of that must also quarantine.
Union alleges systemic harassment, discrimination at Veterans Affairs Canada
by The Canadian Press
Last Updated Feb 2, 2021 at 4:44 pm EDT
OTTAWA One of the unions representing workers at Veterans Affairs Canada is alleging widespread harassment and discrimination within the department following a survey of its members.
The Union of Veterans Affairs Employees says more than one-third of the 350 Veterans Affairs staff members who responded to the survey reported having experienced harassment in the workplace.
The union says the survey also found that 19 per cent of respondents reported having faced discrimination based on their background, gender or sexuality.
The union’s national president Virginia Vaillancourt says she has brought the concerns to Veterans Affairs but that she remains unsatisfied with its response to date.