by Bonnie Robichaud
BETWEEN THE LINES
2022/$25.95/208 pp.
It Should be Easy to Fix is Bonnie Robichaud’s memoir about the sexual harassment she endured and her 11-year fight that led to the 1987 landmark Supreme Court of Canada case that recognized employers’ responsibility to ensure a harassment-free workplace for women. After years working at dead-end jobs, Robichaud was relieved to be hired for the cleaning service at Canadian Forces Base North Bay. She had better wages, predictable work hours and benefits, enabling her to make a more significant contribution to her family economy. Hired in 1977, she was among the first women to work on the base and was promoted to a supervisory position just before Dennis Brennan became her foreman. The intimidation began immediately, and the abuse was both on the job and outside of work hours. Brennan’s harassment began with jokes and comments that “slowly, slowly, bit by bit” escalated to sex acts without her consent. Robichaud was in a probationary period and was terrified that if she didn’t comply with his demands, she would be demoted or lose her job. The surveillance, isolation and economic control echo the patterns of wife abuse; both were problems that feminists had only recently named.
Robichaud admits it was difficult to revisit this period, but she did so because while activists talk about how horrible their experiences were, they don’t often describe what happened. Writing about her campaign exposes how men collaborated to maintain male power in the workplace. Even before Brennan arrived, men hung porn in supply closets to make clear their resentment of her. After she filed complaints, they refused to respect her authority and military personnel threw basketballs at her while she cleaned the court. Her union executive and the base camp commander resisted her grievances.
I admire Robichaud’s refusal to quit, her insistence that she had a right to a good job, her determination to take the case to the Supreme Court. Her detailed account of the long hours required to make change is the best analysis of the labour of activism I’ve read. Twenty-three boxes of her work are in Library and Archives Canada, and more is online at the Rise Up! digital archive of feminist activism, including a fascinating pamphlet from 1988 on fighting workplace sexual harassment.
It wasn’t easy to fix then, and it still isn’t. Instead of feeling frustrated, I had tears of joy in my eyes when I finished the book. Why? Because Robichaud had the courage to revisit the humiliation and is proud she secured rights for all women. Because union sisters who supported her activism changed labour movement culture and now our brothers stand with us. And because, with women like her as inspiration, we still fight.
Nancy Janovicek is a professor of history at the U of C.
