Valerie MacLean joined the RCMP in the mid1970s, only a few years after women were first welcomed into the national police force, with a sense of pride and the belief she would be a game changer in a male-dominated profession.
So when a higher-ranking male officer began propositioning her and urged her to be "friendly" because it would be a good career move, she viewed his behaviour as a product of the times.
More than 30 years later, the 58year-old has joined a class-action lawsuit that spans decades and alleges widespread, gender-based discrimination within the RCMP.
"We felt that we were really advancing things - that we would be paving the way for women.
And I don't feel that way now," said MacLean, who went on to become the public face of the Better Business Bureau in sa国际传媒
"I thought, well, what did we pave? What did we make different? It would seem that nothing's changed."
MacLean attended sa国际传媒 Supreme Court in Vancouver on Thursday as lawyers filing the civil suit appeared before a judge for the first time.
She is among 200 current and former female RCMP members who have contacted the firm for representative plaintiff Janet Merlo, a 19-year RCMP veteran from Nanaimo who launched the suit in March.
Though her suit appears to be the broadest in scope, it joins several similar actions filed since Cpl. Catherine Galliford broke her silence last November and unleashed a torrent of allegations.
Since then, the force's top brass have vowed to address complaints, even as more women come forward with their stories.
A lawyer jointly defending the federal attorney general and sa国际传媒 minister of justice told the judge Thursday that he will argue some portions of the class action must be struck.
That includes part of the suit alleging that governments bare direct responsibility for systemic negligence.
"This is a unique case, which alleges that there are problems with the system," David Klein, who represents the women, told reporters after the hearing introduced the case to the judge.
The suit has yet to be certified. Klein said hearings won't commence until at least 2013, and he expects it could take years to wind through the courts.
MacLean, who ended a post as executive director of the Vancouver Police Foundation in March, said she faced similar discrimination and harassment as a young policewoman.
Between 1977 and 1979, one superior male officer repeatedly harassed her, especially while she drove a cruiser on the graveyard shift. He would sit beside her for eight hours and goad her into starting a relationship with him, all the while suggesting it would be good for her career.
MacLean refused the man's advances and he ended up not writing her a favourable assessment. She made complaints, but said he never faced any discipline.
