VANCOUVER –
Canada’s spy agency says it has launched a workplace assessment of its office in British Columbia over “serious allegations” from whistleblowers who say they were sexually assaulted and harassed by a senior official.
According to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the officer “implicated” in the allegations – which were published in a Canadian Press investigation this week – has been fired from his job.
An officer says she was raped nine times in 2019 and 2020 by a senior colleague in surveillance vehicles, and a second officer says she was later sexually assaulted by the same man, despite warnings from superiors not to let him date young women to bring together.
A statement from CSIS Director David Vigneault said allegations of a “toxic workplace” should not be taken lightly and that a workplace climate assessment is being conducted in the British Columbia office to “identify potential barriers to a safe, “healthy and respectful workplace”.
The statement said that when the agency first heard of the allegations, it “immediately” launched a third-party investigation.
It says that for too long there has been a culture within the agency that has allowed “inappropriate behavior” to become “perpetuated.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2023.
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