NANAIMO REGION
RDN move aimed at improving fire safety The Regional District of Nanaimo board has moved to implement an automatic aid agreement. A3
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Heritage Days draws huge weekend crowds
Vancouver Island Raiders All-Canadian quarterback erback impressive at spring g camp
Fireworks, a street party and a parade all drew massive crowds to downtown Nanaimo. A6
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The newspaper of record for Nanaimo and region since 1874 || Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Speaking Out Former RCMP officer Alice Clark has written a book she hopes will help others who have experienced sexual harassment
WEATHER
Long, hot summer on its way ROBERT BARRON DAILY NEWS
Alice Clark now lives in Nanaimo. She has authored a new book, ‘Blush of the Scarlet’ to help those dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace and elsewhere. [JULIE CHADWICK/DAILY NEWS]
Author plans to offer workshops and other talks
F
or years Alice Clark has struggled to take ownership of her story, but after meeting many other women with similar experiences over the years, she realized she had something to give back. Throughout the 1980s, Clark experienced sexual harassment at the hands of her coworkers and supervisors while working as an RCMP officer in Red Deer, Alta. By 1993, she had sued the force and was awarded $93,000 in damages the following year in a landmark case that served to change the law around how sexual harassment cases are handled in Canada. Now the Nanaimo resident has authored a book, Blush of the Scarlet, which she hopes can help people facing similar situations of harassment in the workplace and elsewhere. “How it changed the law was that before, sexual harassment was not considered a tort, which » Use your smartphone to jump to our website for updates on these stories or the latest breaking news.
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is a personal wrong, in civil they’d tell me what was going law. Back then in the late ’80s on and I would suggest things to and early ’90s it was racism and them, like ‘This is what you can human rights. Sexual harassdo to empower yourself in a situment hadn’t even come to the ation where you feel you have forefront yet,” said Clark. “So no power.’ Even though each what that did was make story is unique, there it a tort, a personal was a common thread wrong, where it never throughout them,” said existed before.” Clark. “So I decided After she left the force ‘maybe I need to write a in 1987, Clark moved book.’” to Nanaimo and began Primarily a self-help work with the provinbook that offers a sercial government. She ies of seven tools on continued to encounter how to work through a numerous women with situation of harassment, Julie stories of workplace Clark will also provide bullying and harassment Chadwick some details of her own that were similar to hers. Reporting case. Though the people From being sexually she spoke with had no propositioned, grabbed, idea what she had expericalled a ‘butch,’ told she enced, Clark realized she had a was a waste of a uniform to havlot of advice to offer on how to ing a pair of plastic breasts taped deal with the issue. to her work station, Clark said “As women over the years came even after she transferred to a to me, not knowing who I was, I station in Beaverlodge, the bullywould sit down with them and ing continued from Red Deer.
The motivation in writing the book is simply a desire to help others, said Clark, who until now has been reluctant to speak publicly about her case. However in advance of the book’s August release, Clark said she now plans to approach educational institutes and women’s centres to offer workshops and talks on the issue of workplace and sexual harassment and bullying. “I grew out of that situation to become a better person and I know other people can, too,” said Clark. “They just need the tools and guidance to do that.” Julie.Chadwick @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4238 » We want to hear from you. Send comments on this story to letters@nanaimodailynews.com. Letters must include daytime phone number and hometown.
Neighbours concerned for Lantzville Forest
Jr. Timbermen host Shamrocks tonight
Different species were catalogued by biologist Elke Wind during a two-day study looking for information on the endagered Coastal Douglas Fir ecosystem. » Nanaimo Region, A5
The Nanaimo Junior A Timbermen have won three straight games ahead of their Island rivalrly tilt tonight against the Victoria Shamrocks at Frank Crane Arena. » Sports, B1
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The Nanaimo area is in for a long, hot summer. Environment Canada is calling for a hotter and drier summer than usual for British Columbians, due to warmer water in the Pacific Ocean. It’s because of something called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, an El Niño-like pattern of oceanatmosphere climate variability in the Pacific Ocean. Meteorologist Lisa Coldwells said as a result, there is a very high probability that local temperatures are going to be above normal for the next three months. She said all of B.C. is being affected by the PDO, with the highest probability of warmer temperatures along the coast and in the mid-to-southern interior of the province. Forest fire-fighting crews across Vancouver Island are now preparing for the fire season and several teams were in Qualicum Beach Wednesday practising hover-exits from helicopters. So far, the fire risk in the midIsland region is considered low and no fire bans have been enacted to date by the Coastal Fire Centre. Donna McPherson, a spokeswoman for the CFC, said the coastal region is different from other areas of the province in regards to fire risks after a snowless winter. She said in other areas that usually have a lot of snow during their winter season but don’t, like in many places in B.C. this year, the grass that is typically under the snow for much of the winter is drier and much more of a fire hazard in the warmer months. But she said the rains over much of the Island this winter kept the coastal areas green and wet, meaning there’s no need to implement a fire ban at this time. McPherson said the amount of fire activity in the coastal region each summer season depends on the amount of rain that occurs in June before the hot and dry period of summer begins. “We’ll have to wait and see what this season brings,” she said. “Our advice to people with campfires at any time of the year is if they are not sitting right next to it, make sure that it is out and cold to the touch.” Robert.Barron @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4234
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