by Kelly Hayes - Story: 28639April 11, 2007 / 10:30 am Castanet
Kelowna's top cop wants to set the record straight. Superintendent Bill McKinnon says he runs a harassment-free workplace in response to this week's article in The Province that paints a different picture. The article dealt with the recent scandal dealing with corruption, cover-ups and sexual harassment in the RCMP. One of the harassment complaints came from a former Kelowna cop. Glenda Valair, who joined the Kelowna detachment in 1993, alleges in an affidavit that she was the subject of harassment and shunned by her superiors and fellow officers for suggesting women were being excluded from the plainclothes unit. "I was targeted at the detachment and blackballed because I spoke out about the exclusion of women form the plainclothes unit of the detachment," says Valair in her affidavit. "Other members of the detachment went out of their way to make a spectacle out of sitting near me, and laughing at others who did. An individual actually got up and moved away from me." Valair says she was transferred from Kelowna to Ottawa in 2005, but the harassment continued. Valair is currently on medical leave.
Superintendent McKinnon says it's important to note Valair's allegations are dated. "I think it's important that people realize that these alleged incidents happened more than six years ago." McKinnon says he can't comment on the specifics of the allegations because the case is still before the courts, but says he runs a clean shop. "You can question anyone who works in this detachment and they will tell you that we have a harassment free workplace." McKinnon took charge of the Kelowna RCMP detachment in May 2004 from Don Harrison who is now the RCMP district officer of the south-east district of E Division.
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