Secret harassment report costs Esquimalt $22,000
Email
Print
Letter to Editor
Share
An allegation of harassment against the Esquimalt Fire Department cost the municipality $22,000 to investigate, but the municipality is keeping the details tightly under wraps.
And the fire department’s union representative said more openness could help prevent similar things from happening in the future.
Esquimalt hired lawyer Peter Lawless to conduct an investigation and offer recommendations for action.
Mayor Barbara Desjardins refused to divulge the recommendations, but said they have been followed.
A letter of complaint was filed against the department in late August. Esquimalt officials cannot identify the person or people involved, under the township’s harassment policy.
Details of the allegation are also private, although there is speculation it was racially fueled.
International Association of Fire Fighters union rep Alex Halliday said he’s been left out of the loop, and is trying to get a copy of the report.
“If you have an absolute void of information then rumor and innuendo run rampant. And that can cause you more harm or as much harm as the original complaint,” he said.
It can also get in the way of preventing the same thing from happening again, he added.
“I think the heightened stress level is what sometimes causes smaller things in police, fire and ambulance services to balloon into something a bit bigger, a bit quicker.”
Desjardins said she was pleased with the thoroughness of the report.
She said the cost was slightly higher than it would have been if it was just rolled into an ongoing and separate fire department audit.
“We appointed an external investigator because we had already acknowledged there were internal issues with the fire department ... so we felt that it was important to go outside the municipality,” Desjardins said.
A preliminary report for that audit is expected at the end of the month.
lweighton@vicnews.com
v2
