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WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2017
John Rathwell stands outside the barricaded entrance to Bate Island. Local surfers want the NCC to open the Island back up, while the waves are available. RYAN TUMILTY/METRO
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Widening the thin blue line GENDER EQUALITY
Police make some moves so women can be promoted as easily as men Alex Abdelwahab Metro | Ottawa
SURF’S DOWN NCC says safety issue keeping island closed — and it’s bumming some people out metroNEWS
The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) has overhauled multiple policies in a bid to make sure women can move up through the ranks just as easily as their male counterparts. The force has developed six new policies and procedures, and amended three others, as part of the third phase of their mandated gender project released Tuesday. Among the new changes is a transfer policy that allows officers on parental leave to apply for job postings while they are away, something they could never do before. Another change is that all promotional panels must have both women and men on every panel, and everyone doing interviews or reviewing appeals now completes bias-free interview training with an outside expert. “It has really opened up the eyes of a lot of our people who
have done a lot of interviewing, so we know the training is valuable,” said Deputy Chief Steven Bell. There will also be a new “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion” office responsible for monitoring policies and procedures to ensure they take human rights into account. These changes form Phase 3 of an Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) settlement reached after a female Ottawa police officer filed a complaint in August 2012. In a letter to Police Services Board chair Eli El-Chantiry, the OHRC chief commissioner commended OPS for its work. “The OPS has demonstrated a sincere commitment to improving gender equality and has recognized the significant benefits to an organization of an equitable work environment,” wrote Renu Mandhane. The new policies and procedures fell short of the force’s own goals for gender equality. An independent gender audit completed during an earlier phase of the project set goals for the force, but they are meeting them in only one of four key areas. Bell said the force knows it has more work to do and it will be focusing on changing the culture.