Dane Gibson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 01/99) - A woman went to her boss and complained she was being sexually harassed. The next day she was fired.

This is the type of case that would be handled by the Fair Practices Office.

NWT fair practices officer, Elaine Keenan Bengts, is the sole operator of the Fair Practices Office, located on the third floor of Yellowknife's Panda Centre. She works independent of government and is funded by the Department of Justice.

"I handle complaints from anybody who feels they've been discriminated against in the workplace," Keenan Bengts said.

"Also, if a person has been denied accommodations because they are, for example, native, black or female, then they can file a complaint."

Once a complaint is lodged, Keenan Bengts commences an investigation. Her primary goal is to resolve issues by bringing the parties together through mediation and arbitration.

"There have been few, if any, matters that have gone to a hearing that has ruled there was discriminatory behaviour," Keenan Bengts said.

"Most things are resolved before they get to a hearing because they are time consuming, they can be expensive and the outcome is always a question mark."

Keenan Bengts was one of the delegates who attended a Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Workshop, held recently at the NWT Status of Women Council. It was clear that few of the different unions, labour, Workers' Compensation Board and advocate organization representatives at the meeting knew what the Fair Practices Office was responsible for.

The fact that anybody in the NWT can file a complaint with Keenan Bengts' office if they have been discriminated against is not widely known.

"Any order I make can be registered with the territorial court and is enforced as a court order," Keenan Bengts said.

"In most cases, I think the people who deal with my office, at the very least, feel something has been done. Whether they win or lose, at least they had an independent third party look into the complaint."

The NWT Status of Women office is currently in the process of collecting statistical information on harassment, violence and abuse in the Northwest Territories. Rae Raymond is the Alberta/NWT Canada Human Rights Commission director. He flew in from Edmonton for the meeting. The Canada Human Rights Commission is federal, so they deal with federally regulated companies such as airlines, uranium mines, banks and trucking companies.

"It's very important for us to know what's happening at the territorial and community level and it's important to know what services deal with human rights issues at that level," Raymond said.

"At the most basic level, we try and educate people to raise the consciousness of human rights in Canada."