Earlier this week, I blogged that hundreds of current and former female Mounties from across Canada had launched a class-action lawsuit alleging harassment within the ranks of the RCMP. Yesterday, Valerie MacLean, a well-known British Columbian and former head of the Better Business Bureau, joined the lawsuit, according to the CBC News.

That was part of Ottawa Senator Colin Kenny‘s take on the ongoing harassment and reputational issues currently bedeviling the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). In an opinion piece published by the Ottawa Citizen today, the Senator posited that: “When it comes to harassment at the RCMP, sex is only the tip of the iceberg.”

Canada’s national police force is currently facing real serious issues. In March, Janet Merlo, a 19-year with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), filed a lawsuit against the force. In May, Corporal Catherine Galliford filed a claim of being sexually harassed by her male superiors during her 16 year career with the RCMP. This week, hundreds of current and former female Mounties from across Canada launched a class-action lawsuit alleging harassment within the ranks of the RCMP. More details from this CBC News report.

Senator Kenny further suggests:

Harassment at the RCMP rears its head in many other forms: bullying, exclusion, contempt, ridicule, and retribution — to name a few. Female members are prime targets in all these categories, which isn’t exactly surprising, given the RCMP’s long-standing macho culture. Visible minorities get more than their unfair share of contempt as well. No surprise here either — the RCMP was a white man’s club for a long time.

Complete opinion: RCMP harassment claims the tip of the iceberg.

by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, July 18, 2012

In May, Corporal Catherine Galliford filed a claim of being sexually harassed by her male superiors during her 16 year career with our national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Predictably, the responses from the four accused Mounties is denial. But, in this country famous for compassion, how are we supposed to understand the joint response (pdf) from the Canadian and B.C. governments? Denial and victim-blaming. Par excellence.

The accused officers “deny the acts described in Galliford’s suit actually happened.” Not only that. They tell us if Galliford was ever sexually harassed, the acts “were consensual.”

The response from the federal and provincial governments, filed with the B.C. Supreme Court on Monday, illuminates the culture of denial in the RCMP. Both governments attack and blame the victim. They claim that Galliford “had a drinking problem.” One she’d “no interest in dealing with.” She “failed to follow through on treatment she signed up for.” And, she “had plenty of opportunities to make grievance claims over the years, and never did.”