QUEBEC CITY — If there’s one thing the Jian Gomeshi controversy has taught us, it is that sexual harassment is complicated, but increasingly more and more women are willing to talk about it.
The hashtag #BeenRapedNeverReported, launched by Montreal Gazette reporter Sue Montgomery, is buzzing with women sharing their experiences.
Now members of the National Assembly want to bring that discussion to a whole new level.
“We would like to have a non-partisan debate, an open debate,” said Parti Quebecois MNA Carole Poirier.
Poirier tabled a motion this week asking the Quebec government to create a multi-party, non-partisan commission that would look at sexual harassment in the province.
“The commission would be just like the one on Dying with Dignity,” she said.
The end-of-life committee first led by West Island MNA Geoff Kelley roamed the province in 2010, taking nearly three years to complete its mandate.
Last spring, the Dying with Dignity bill became law, making Quebec the only province to offer medical aid to die in certain circumstances.
READ MORE: Controversial dying with dignity legislation tabled in Quebec
“We did a tremendous amount of work on the end of life issue, said PQ MNA Jean-François Lisée.
“I think we can in a non-partisan manner do the same kind of work to see how we can be in Quebec at the vanguard of this fight against aggressions.”
“The time is right. Women are telling us we want to talk.”
The Coaltion Avenir Quebec agreed it’s about seizing the moment.
“We will collaborate if this committee takes place,” said CAQ MNA Benoît Charrette.
The committee could also focus on sexual harassment in First Nations communities, as well as in politics.
Parliaments were described this week as “lions’ dens.”
Deputy Premier Lise Theriault said all women have the right to work with dignity.
“Women have the right to work without being victims of sexual harassment,” she said.
READ MORE: Prominent Quebec women speak out about sexual assault
The Couillard government has been working on a policy to fight sexual exploitation, a policy that is being shelved for the time being, as MNAs prepare to hear from men and women from all walks of life share their experiences with sexual harassment, and, most importantly, their solutions.
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