Premier says Kenney should fire ‘political lieutenant’ over sexual harassment case

Emma Graney
More from Emma Graney

Premier Rachel Notley says UCP MLA Jason Nixon should step down as his party’s house leader, after learning of a B.C. human rights decision involving his company firing an employee after she complained she was sexually harassed.

The 2008 case stems from incidents on a B.C. work site. It went to the province’s human rights tribunal and the woman was awarded $32,000.

Nixon told Postmedia in an interview he would do things differently now, but his comments come as he and his party have been arguing against Bill 30 for days. The legislation would, in part, mandate anti-harassment policies for all Canada workplaces.

The bill aims to ensure women know they’re protected when they report workplace sexual harassment, Notley said Tuesday, calling Nixon’s rejection of the bill “disingenuous.”

“Mr. Nixon has gone into the house and fought against the bill that would have protected someone in Canada in the very same situation as the woman Mr. Nixon chose to fire,” she said.

“To get up and speak to the matter in the house, without disclosing to people his own history and the record of what an administrative tribunal found he did, I don’t know how you can do that everyday.”

In an interview Monday, Nixon told Postmedia sexual harassment is an important issue. It’s not unreasonable to legislate against it, he said, but the government needs to make sure that, a decade from now, there’s significant change on the issue.

“(Legislation is) not enough, or it’s not where we should put the bulk of our attention to this important issue, because I think education is the bigger priority,” he said.

“In my experience, when working through the agencies you get the industry to make more meaningful change than just writing down a piece of legislation.”

Notley fired back that Nixon’s assertion industry would lead the charge in solving harassment is absurd.