CBSA dog handler says she was 'terrorized' after fighting maternity leave rule
CBC
For years, Danielle Getzie had her dream job. One of those all-consuming, nothing-else-matters-because-I've-made-it jobs.
She was part of the Canada Border Services Agency's selective dog handler program, tracking down contraband at the Vancouver airport with her drug-sniffing canine partner Nova.
"I would have considered, and I did consider, not having a family for my job, because it was that important to me," she said from her Vancouver home.
"It was very well known that to be a female dog handler you could not have a family or think about having a family, or else you would be removed based on the policy."
That policy caps the length of time trainers in the CBSA's Detector Dog Service can be away from their animals at 90 days — making maternity leave and life as a new mom almost impossible.
Getzie said her superiors even told her she had better not get pregnant.
"And then as time went on, I started questioning that ... and then I realized how wrong it was."
That realization set off a years-long fight with the border agency — one that has landed on the desk of the CBSA President Erin O'Gorman.
"The levels that retaliation reached far, far [exceeded] what I thought could have happened," Getzie told CBC News.
In 2018, Getzie said she decided to grieve the detector dog policy, arguing it discriminated against those taking maternity and paternity leave. She filed the grievance after watching a colleague come back within 89 days of having a baby.
"It was horrible what she had to do to sort of accommodate to be back in the workplace," she said.
Getzie said the fight became personal when she realized during the grievance process that she was pregnant.
During the initial grievance period, the regional director general agreed with her and, according to a copy of the decision obtained by CBC News, deemed her complaint was valid. The adjudicator also wrote that the dog handler manual should be amended.
"I'll never forget at the end of it," Getzie said, tearing up. "She stood up and she gave me a big hug and she said, 'You just go and take care of your family because this should never have happened.'"
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This First Person column is the experience of Shannon Flaman, who lives in Red Deer, Alta. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
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