The law must be amended quickly so that the amnesty clauses contained in the collective agreements of CEGEPs and universities can no longer make it possible to erase offenses of a sexual nature from the disciplinary files of the personnel.
This is what some thirty unions and student associations are pleading with, co-signing a letter on this subject.
Under the very common amnesty clauses in collective agreements, an employee can have reprimands they have received erased from their file after a certain period of time.
According to the collective agreements in force in the universities of the province, amnesty can be granted in certain cases barely a year or two after the facts, denounce the signatories of the letter, according to which it is crucial “to take into account the offenses committed in the past” when it comes to sexual violence.
“The application of amnesty clauses in the case of offenses of a sexual nature therefore allows a person to commit sexual violence, to wait for his deletion from his disciplinary file after one or two years and to reoffend without the sanction to which it is exposed takes into account the repetitive nature of the violence for which it is responsible”, observe the signatories.
A person guilty of recidivism can therefore maintain his employment relationship with a higher education institution, provided that the offenses of which he is guilty have been committed at intervals of a duration consistent with his collective agreement.
Excerpt from a letter co-signed by some thirty unions and student associations
Radia Sentissi, secretary general of the Federation of student associations on the campus of the University of Montreal, recalls that the law aimed at preventing and combating sexual violence in higher education establishments nevertheless provides that sanctions must take into account the nature, gravity and repetitiveness of sexual violence.
“But how to get there, how to take into account the repetitive nature of the gestures, if there is an amnesty and everything is erased from the file after a year or two? asks M.me Sentissi.
“The recidivism must not go unpunished”, it is specified in the letter.
Ministerial reactions
In the office of Pascale Déry, Minister of Higher Education, it is indicated that “although certain establishments have already withdrawn these clauses of their own accord, we wish to favor a negotiated solution before considering a legislative amendment. With regard to the college network, following steps taken by the Ministère with the Conseil du trésor, the question will be addressed in the context of the collective negotiations in progress. All options are on the table to end these provisions which are unacceptable, while many efforts are made to counter sexual violence in all its forms, and we call on the parties to act quickly”.
Jean Boulet, Minister of Labour, for his part underlined that “in Quebec, we have a law to prevent sexual violence in higher education establishments, and the amnesty clauses go against the spirit of this law.
“We encourage the union and employer parties to review their practices,” he added.
Radia Sentissi is not satisfied with these ministerial reactions which put the responsibility for all this in the hands of the unions, whereas legally it is the duty of CEGEPs and universities to ensure that the campuses are safe.
According to her and according to the student associations signatories of the letter, it is up to the government to quickly modify the law so that violence of a sexual nature is explicitly excluded from the amnesty clauses, in all the collective agreements of CEGEPs and universities.
Asked by The PressCharles Tremblay Potvin, professor of law at Laval University, believes for his part that from a strict legal point of view, we have in hand in Quebec all the tools necessary to fight against sexual violence.
But a legislative amendment, he adds, would have the advantage in his opinion “to make this very clear”, by specifying for example that “in the context of sexual violence, the disciplinary file cannot be erased”. .