The Calgary Police Commission (CPC) will invite a third-party review of its workplace, in light of allegations posted to social media by the former human resources director of the Calgary Police Service (CPS).
Meanwhile, the Calgary police have taken legal action to force the removal of the posts.
Angela Whitney, who served as CPS HR director in a civilian capacity from 2019 to 2021, spoke during the public portion of the Calgary Police Commission meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
Whitney said her appearance was to bring transparency and awareness to “serious systemic and cultural issues” at CPS, with the hope that there’s a pathway to a safer workplace.
“I care deeply about the city, Calgarians and importantly, the city’s first responders. By sharing my own experiences with toxicity and harassment as a high-ranking senior leader at the CPS during a time of reform, I hope to create that safe pathway for others to blow the whistle,” she told the commission.
“Allegations of the dysfunctional toxic culture at CPS that have warranted reforms in the past are not new, with reports dating back to greater than a decade, detailing gender inequality, sexual harassment, sexual assault, abuse of authority and reprisal for those who file complaint.”
CPC Chair Shawn Cornett began Wednesday’s meeting with a chair’s report, and in it she mentioned the third-party review. She referenced work that began in 2011 to review the CPS workplace culture, 2013 workplace audit recommendations that hadn’t been implemented and employee surveys from as far back as 2016 that showed concerns about the Calgary police workplace.
She said that recent allegations made by Whitney have ramped up conversations among commission members to take further action.
“We recognize that it’s time for a more fulsome evaluation of whether the actions taken to date or create the desired change,” she said.
Problems persist: Chair Cornett
Cornett did outline the ongoing work that’s being done to address workplace issues at CPS. She also said that there’s work being done provincially to allow for the implementation of modern human resource practices at CPS.
“While a lot of work has been done, we also know that problems persist,” she said.
“When we look at the employee surveys. We have not seen the change when it comes to employees’ trust that harassment and bullying, including gender-based harassment is being addressed properly.”
Calgary police Chief Mark Neufeld said it’s not uncommon for people to direct remarks towards the police and the police chief. But he said that some of Whitney’s comments cast “long shadows” over the organization.
According to CBC Calgary, the statement of claim filed at the Court of King’s Bench reads that Whitney disclosing HR information has a “chilling effect” on employees’ willingness to trust the HR processes moving forward. Whitney, however, said that a lawsuit against employees coming forward with alleged impropriety has an equally chilling effect.
Chief Neufeld said that the lawsuit doesn’t block any channels for legitimate reporting of information.
“On the other side of the coin, I think there’s a chilling effect when you’ve got individuals who are former employees, high-ranking HR people, who come into information as a result of their position,” he said.
“Then years later, take that information into the public realm. I think that’s where the chilling effect is.”
He said employees must have confidence in the process inside the service.
Chair Cornett said the review would happen expeditiously – likely within the next six to 12 months. She said the CPC had already been discussing a review to understand where they’re at, particularly around gender-based issues. It’s needed to look at where there are gaps in the CPS HR practices.
“At the same time, there are things that are already going on in the organization, education and training and support for people, so those things need to continue,” she said.
“We’re not asking those to stop; we’re going to add this to that mix and see what we can do to speed the whole thing up.”
Neufeld said he’s confident they’re on the right path forward.
“It’s not perfect, as I said before, we will continue to work on it,” he said.
“But at the end of the day, we do need to be able to continue to work in the direction that we’re going and as I said, I believe it’s a positive direction.”
