Harassment on Parliament Hill: Tom Mulcair proposes all-party plan

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair is calling for all parties to work together to fight harassment on Parliament Hill and get their own "House in order."

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Mulcair says the "reality of a hostile work environment is one that is far too common for many Canadians, especially Canadian women."

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The letter comes a week after allegations of harassment made by two NDP MPs against two Liberal MPs, who have since been suspended from the Liberal caucus.

The nature of the allegations is not known and the suspended MPs, Scott Andrews and Massimo Pacetti, have denied any wrongdoing.

But the incidents have exposed the lack of process for dealing with such complaints on Parliament Hill.

Mulcair suggests a number of solutions, including: a clear definition of harassment, a new code of conduct, a third-party officer of Parliament to review incidents and a confidential process for complainants.

At this stage, the NDP MPs have not filed a formal complaint, nor have they come out publicly.

Anger over public disclosure

The NDP was angered last week with how the story unfolded when Trudeau announced his MPs would be suspended from caucus. Mulcair said that his party should have been informed of the suspensions beforehand and that his MPs were being revictimized.

Trudeau said he had no choice but to act when one of the NDP MPs making the allegations brought them directly to him.

The NDP is now calling for a meeting within the next week with party representatives and the Speakers office to start working on a "framework" for going forward.

Meanwhile, the House's board of internal economy, made up of MPs from each party, is scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss how to handle the allegations involving Andrews and Pacetti.