The Pallister government has unveiled a workplace harassment policy for people working for the province. It's a 5-point response to recent allegations of sexual misconduct by government workers.

Premier Brian Pallister acknowledges there's been a perceived culture where senior officials were untouchable.

"Two MLAs have expressed concerns about incidents that happened where they, themselves, said they were reluctant to communicate them," he says, "If someone in a senior elected position in government is afraid to come forward with a concern, how would the rest of the Civil Service feel about that. I don't care who you are -- harassment is not okay. Everybody deserves to feel safe in the workplace."

Pallister adds, "What is most critical, is for everyone of our government employees, and political staff, and I have communicated this to our political staff already, that they need not fear reprisals from me or anyone else in our organization for raising concerns. That knowledge was not there in the past. There was a culture of concealment, and it is over."

A Province of Manitoba news release lists the 5 key initiatives to this new policy as:
- Instituting a ‘no wrong door’ approach for political staff

- Launching consultations with government employees to gain insight into their experiences, and to hear about the impacts of policies, practices and other tools that address workplace sexual harassment

- Engaging an external expert to review the province’s policies and procedures, and make recommendations 

- Implementing a public reporting process on statistics related to instances of harassment that occur across government

- Mandating respectful workplace training for all cabinet and political staff.