The morning after sexual misconduct allegations against ex-Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown made headlines, Premier Kathleen Wynne reminded her staff about workplace harassment rules. But advocates say such rules fall short in legislatures across Canada, leaving women in politics vulnerable.

CTV reported last Wednesday that two women had accused the Barrie politician of sexual misconduct when they were teenagers, which Brown vehemently denied. By Thursday morning he had resigned as leader.

Brown reportedly hired one of the women to work in his constituency office.

The drama unfolded amid allegations of other Canadian politicians acting inappropriately toward employees — spurring criticism of the mechanisms available to political staff dealing with sexual harassment.

“The gap between well-entrenched harassment policies available to public service employees who work on behalf of governments, and the absence of any such policies to oversee and protect those working within legislatures, is far too wide, and must be quickly closed,” said Nancy Peckford of Equal Voice, a national advocacy organization dedicated to electing more women.

Only the House of Commons, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia — where last week PC Leader Jamie Baillie stepped down following an investigation into harassment accusations — have clear legislature-wide policies, according to Equal Voice.

Maintaining the status quo would only breed more “cynicism in the political process during a time when we need far more diverse and talented women” in politics, Peckford said.

She’s among a chorus of advocates calling for harassment policies that are well understood and clearly map out what could happen if someone files a complaint. That process should be confidential and overseen by a neutral third party, the group said.

Many political staffers are young and just starting out in their careers. Job security is scant, and coupled with an old boys club culture, fear of personal or political blackballing, and a desire to uphold the party’s reputation, it can be especially tough for young men and women in the political ream to speak out about harassment or seek recourse.

“Sometimes, it’s easier to see those risks weighing against you . . . so you end up tolerating the status quo or you move on and nothing changes,” said Jane Hilderman, executive director at Samara Canada, a democracy think tank. “Our politics would not run but for the passion and talent of young people . . . and yet we’ve left them quite vulnerable.

“More and more as we’ve learned from others speaking out, (the) reporting procedures we have in place probably aren’t good enough,” she said.

Ontario’s system seems to favour politics over people, said former NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo, who recently left the legislature to be a minister at a downtown Toronto church — and has previously spoken out about challenges she’s experienced as a female politician.

“There has to be a neutral body that members can go to complain that has nothing to do with their political careers, nothing to do with their political party and whose only interest is their protection and their safety. That policy and that procedure is not in place,” DiNovo said.

The non-partisan Speaker’s HR office has a harassment policy that covers legislative assembly staff, but the policy isn’t public, and the Star’s request for a copy was turned down. The office says it handles payroll, staffing, compensation, benefits and “staff relations and counselling.” But it isn’t clear how it deals with harassment complaints, and does not guarantee those won’t be referred back to the party brass, DiNovo said.

It depends on the office but most provincial political staff are also governed by caucus services — a partisan entity.

“We have to make it so this isn’t about your political future — it’s about a safe place to work,” DiNovo said. “That’s exactly what women need and that’s exactly what people who don’t have power need in that environment.”

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Employees in cabinet ministers’ offices fall under the neutral Ontario Public Service policy, while people who work for Liberal MPPs at Queen’s Park and in their constituency offices are covered by Liberal Caucus Services Bureau. Most Ontario NDP workers have a collective agreement and may seek recourse through their union. In the wake of the Brown allegations the Tories pledged to beef up their own rules.

In Ottawa legislation was proposed last fall that would, among other things, bring Hill staffers under tougher workplace sexual harassment rules.

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