Code of Conduct: Community Feedback
Ottawa Fringe Community,
Since 2019, a select-team of Ottawa Fringe staff have been working in collaboration with Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women (OCTEVAW) and Project SoundCheck™ to take actionable steps toward creating a safer environment at our festivals and events.
We began by creating a Response Team, made up of staff members Amanda Logan, Brit Johnston, and Patrick Gauthier. Their job was to develop the new policy on Sexual Violence Prevention and Response. This comprehensive document articulates processes and procedures for prevention on- and off-site, reporting and handling disclosures, confidentiality, and our commitment to survivors. This document is currently in development and will be put into action publicly before the June 2021 Fringe Festival.
Part of this work is creating a community Code of Conduct that will be applied to all staff, artists, volunteers, and patrons. It is a unique manifesto that outlines our expectations for the people who wish to participate in any/all of our activities.
We want to be transparent and accountable to the Ottawa theatre community. This means giving you a chance to review and give feedback so that we can make our Code of Conduct as clear as possible.
We invite you to take a read, and let us know via our anonymous survey your thoughts, feelings, and feedback. The survey closes February 28, 2021.
Your responses will only be read and reviewed by the Response Team.
If you would like to talk to someone directly we have included their emails below. Your conversation will remain confidential.
Thank you for taking the time to contribute,
The Ottawa Fringe Response Team
Amanda Logan: marketing@ottawafringe.com
Brit Johnston: brittany@ottawafringe.com
Patrick Gauthier: director@ottawafringe.com
Code of Conduct
Ottawa Fringe is committed to providing an environment free of discrimination, violence and harassment, where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity, can contribute fully and have equal opportunities.
Employees, Volunteers, Artists and Patrons can expect to be treated with respect, and themselves are expected to treat others with respect in the workplace and at all Ottawa Fringe activities.
Sexual harassment and/or violence will not be tolerated, condoned or ignored by the Ottawa Fringe Organization. All complaints under this policy will be dealt with in a timely, confidential and effective manner.
We will not stand by individuals that have been proven unsafe. This includes filing reports with appropriate authorities, termination of employment or, in the case of a participant or patron, banning them from events presented by Ottawa Fringe. All reasonable steps will be taken by Ottawa Fringe employees to protect the victim/survivor from retaliation for reporting harassment, violence or discrimination, or for cooperating with an internal investigation, reporting to police or any other justice or accountability process.
As a community we have a responsibility to stand together to protect one another and hold each other accountable. We value consent and encourage all our employees, volunteers, artists and patrons to work together to ensure Ottawa Fringe is a safer space for everyone at our events.
This Code of Conduct applies to all current employees of the Ottawa Fringe including all full and part-time, casual, contract, permanent and temporary employees. It also applies to all persons who attend Ottawa Fringe activities or spaces (including without limitation, offices, theatres, tents, outdoor spaces). Without limitation, this policy will therefore apply to patrons, volunteers, artists and other third-party participants, independent contractors and members of the Board of Directors.
