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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 8 21 to those in the workplace and whether they're ever accessed. "It's one thing to have a policy with a complaint investigation mechanism, but if it's not being used, because there's a culture of silence, which flows from huge power imbalances in law firms, then you actually also need to change the culture. I've been pushing for work- places and law firms to actually imple- ment bystander training for all levels of the organization," she says. In the wake of Canada's own ser- ies of Weinstein moments involving sexual harassment and sexual violence in the workplace that weren't handled well — the CBC/Jian Ghomeshi scandal and issues revealed in the Canadian Armed Forces, the RCMP and the Can- adian Olympic Committee — the CBA launched a podcast Not Just a Bystander in March 2017 to highlight the legal principal that applies to harassment in the workplace. That was a follow-up to the CBA national lawyers' forum campaign, Write Your Wrong, which invited law- yers and articling students to write anonymously about their experience with sexual harassment in the work- place. And law societies in every prov- ince have adopted their own approach including the assigning of an ombud- sperson and implementing a discrimin- ation and harassment counsel, mem- bers' assistance programs and men- toring programs where issues can be raised. In Ontario, the survey of articling students raised alarm bells, prompting the law society to take further action. "You can always do more. Saying we have done enough is unacceptable. You have to be proactive. One of the things we did when we got the results of this survey was to take a look at all things we are doing," says treasurer Paul Schabas, a Toronto partner with Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP. "But we need to do more, we need to reach out more to firms to raise awareness of the problem" to prevent abuse from happening, he says. Schabas is keen on sending out the message to the legal community that there are services available to those who have been wronged and that lawyers and law firms need to be proactive in preventing harassment and have a process in place to deal with it should it occur. "I think many law firms and many lawyers appreciate if they're not addressing these issues today, 2018, then they're going to suffer. They're going to suffer in recruit- I THINK MANY LAW FIRMS AND MANY LAWYERS APPRECIATE IF THEY'RE NOT ADDRESSING THESE ISSUES TODAY, 2018, THEN THEY'RE GOING TO SUFFER. PAUL SCHABAS, Law Society of Ontario © 2018 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited 00249ED-90335-NP Get up to speed. Get down to business. With Practical Law Canada's expertly written resources, you get time-saving legal know-how that lets you respond faster to client requests, quickly familiarize yourself with new practice areas, and stay on top of key changes in the law. thomsonreuters.ca/practicallaw

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