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VANCOUVER – The federal and B.C. governments are denying allegations in a high-profile sexual harassment lawsuit that prompted several other female Mounties to come forward with claims of abuse.

Cpl. Catherine Galliford, who was a police spokeswoman on the Air India and Robert Pickton cases, first outlined her allegations in a series of media interviews last fall and filed her lawsuit in May.

The provincial government and Ottawa, which acts on behalf of the RCMP, have now filed a joint statement of defence.

The statement denies all of Galliford’s allegations and instead paints her as an alcoholic who refused treatment and rejected the RCMP’s efforts to keep her away from one of the men she alleged harassed her.

The statement of defence says Galliford never alerted the force to her allegations before 2011, when she filed a formal complaint that was investigated immediately.

The governments also dispute Galliford’s claim that a medical report provided to an RCMP doctor diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress.

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