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However, the grilling started early at Queen's Park, with Premier Kathleen Wynne taking the heat over revelations that not only were two MPPs accused of sexual harassment but one, Kim Craitor of Niagara Falls, Ont., was forced to re- sign in 2013 over what he calls "unfound- ed, unsubstantiated allegations." It's a tad ironic that the premier is dousing the f lames on a sexual assault controversy just as a slew of changes to several pieces of legislation have kicked in and more are about to take effect govern- ing sexual harassment and assault. By the time Canada Day arrives, some aspects of Bill 132 take effect. The bill itself passed back in March, more formally known as the Sexual Vio- lence and Harassment Action Plan Act (Supporting Survivors and Challeng- ing Sexual Violence and Harassment), 2016 after a remarkably speedy passage through the process. It tinkers with a slate of statues, referencing sexual violence, sexual harassment, domestic violence, and related matters. Ostensibly, the bill is about workplace safety, referencing the Occupational Health and Safety Act. How- ever, it also applies to schools and communities, and other areas. Under the Residential Ten- ancies Act, for example, the bill waives the requirement of notice from a tenant or child f leeing domestic or sexual abuse. This change went into effect Jan. 1. The Compensation for Victims of Crime Act has also been amended to lift the two-year limitation in com- pensation applications for domestic as- sault or sexual violence. And under the The Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act, there are new require- ments on colleges and universities. These institutions must have policies regarding sexual violence involving students with a defined process for dealing with com- plaints, if they don't already. It takes ef- fect Jan. 1, 2017. As lawyer Norm Keith at Fasken Martineau notes, the big change in the workplace is that as of July 1, the definition of "workplace harassment" in s. 1 (1) of the OHSA will include "work- place sexual harassment." "It's now defined as 'engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker in a workplace because of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression,'" he said. "This is where this behaviour is known or ought reason- ably to be known to be unwel- come." Changes to the act also include making "sexual so- licitation or advance where the person making the solici- tation or advance is in a posi- tion to confer, grant or deny a benefit or advancement to the worker and the person knows or ought reasonably to know that the solicitation or ad- vance is unwelcome." Cathy Chandler, a paralegal OHS consultant at Fasken, notes that Bill 132 requires employers to develop and main- tain a program to implement their policy with respect to workplace harassment. They must also have it all in writing as per all other OHS-required policies. These include measures and proce- dures to report incidents of workplace harassment to a person other than the employer or supervisor, if the employer or supervisor is the alleged harasser, and how harassment will be investigated and dealt with. But Keith and Chandler say there are issues with how these policies will play out in the workplace. For ex- ample, there are problems around disclo- sure, identifying those involved, and how the parties are notified of the results. The new regime also provides for a Ministry of Labour inspector to order a third-par- ty investigation, by an entity approved by the inspector. Keith says this is a problem. "The mandatory requirement for an 'independent/outside' investigator is a slap in the face to all Ontario employers who have conducted internal investiga- tions fairly and objectively and will only serve to make the process slower, more complex, and more expensive for Ontario employers," he says. Further, he says, it undermines former premier Dalton McGuinty's promise to have one clear and reliable limitation pe- riod for all civil claims. "It elevates a civil harassment lawsuit above serious personal injury lawsuits from catastrophic events like automobile accidents and medical malpractice," he says, referencing changes to the limita- tions statutes. Oh, what irony. No doubt Premier Wynne and her government will be grate- ful for the impending summer break to get away to the real BBQ circuit and leave all those uncomfortable details behind. LT uIan Harvey has been a journalist for more than 35 years writing about a diverse range of issues including legal and political affairs. His e-mail ad- dress is ianharvey@rogers.com. Queen's Park Ian Harvey Stuck in the Stone Age The unwillingness to move with the times can be extremely arrogant, self-destructive, and even plain old unreasonable. The government of Ontario is being criticized for moving at a gla- cial pace when it comes to updating technology related to the courts. That's why when the Ministry of the Attorney General announced recent changes to digitize small claims filings, it was a small crumb of good news. Now, complainants will be able to file and pay fees online for small claims up to $25,000. The truth is, in the absolutely woeful progress by government on modernizing court technologies in the province, even the tiniest whiff of change is notable. But it also serves as a reminder that there is much, much farther to go. Law Times spoke to lawyers who point out notable gaps in the new system. Defendants are not able to file their documents through the system, says one lawyer. Another notes physical paper documents will still be required in court, and he points the finger at lawyers themselves. In 2013, in a move maligned by this newspaper, the Min- istry of the Attorney General scrapped plans to implement the Court Information Management System, which cost at least $10 million and took several years to develop. Law is one corner of the world that is stuck, in some ways, in decades past. At least it is in Canada. In some firms, some business is still routinely conducted with fax machines. Some senior partners refuse to embrace technology of any sort, and they get away with it, leaning on their more tech-savvy juniors to pick up the slack. Innovation in government can be tricky. Sys- tems that require massive institutional change to achieve success can be ill-fated in bureaucracies prone to inertia. That's why, for all its pathetically slow movement on this front, the digitization of small claims courts needs to be applauded. That's because it shows how far there is to go on digitization of records and bet- ter technology in the courts system. It is lofty hu- bris to think one can stay in the Stone Age, when the public and the legal profession deserve entirely more. LT

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