Smart Serve sexual violence training welcome for Timmins bar, bartender
The addition of new training on how to handle sexual violence in the Smart Serve program, officially announced Friday, is a welcome one for bars and bartenders in Timmins.
For Kim Sergerie-Donovan, general manager of the Surge Sports Lounge, it's a move that she was surprised hadn't come sooner.
"I think it should have happened a long time ago," said Sergerie-Donovan. "Sexual harassment in the workplace or violence has been in workplaces forever, so I'm glad they added it to the Smart Serve."
Pre-COVID Statistics Canada numbers show that the most common location for reported cases of serious unwanted sexual behaviour is in restaurants and bars.
The new training module takes people through different scenarios where sexual harassment and drug-facilitated sexual assault could be taking place, highlights issues to look out for and suggests ways to handle them.
Local bartender Ben Nash said he's always tried to be diligent about noticing and dealing with unwanted sexual advances in his work. Having some additional guidance is helpful.
"We're always down with things that are going to make people feel more safe with coming out to the bar," said Nash, adding it's also important for customers to alert staff when they're feeling unsafe.
"Obviously, that's part of our job to make people feel safe and welcome, so ... if it helps other people, it helps us out and it keeps everything running smoothly."
The new module is meant to be complementary to existing sexual violence policies and people already Smart Serve certified don't need to retake the program.
Sergerie-Donovan said she's hoping to update her staff about the module when the bar gets a routine visit from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, which oversees the program.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
College students, inmates and a nun: A unique book club meets at one of America's largest jails
An unconventional book club inside one of America's largest jails brings college students and inmates together to tackle books that resonate with the mostly Black and Latino group members.