Black staff at Global Affairs Canada allege systemic racism

President and CEO of the Black Class Action Secretariat Nicholas Marcus Thompson looks on as Global Affairs Canada employee Madina Iltireh speaks during a news conference on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA — Current and former Global Affairs Canada employees who are Black say the department doesn’t take their complaints about racism seriously.

“I was representing Canada but Canada did not represent me,” said Madina Iltireh, who spent more than 20 years working on the administration of foreign aid programs.

She spoke Wednesday on Parliament Hill at a news conference held by the Coalition Against Workplace Discrimination. The coalition includes the Black Class Action Secretariat, which is mounting legal challenges claiming systemic racism and discrimination in the public service.

The group is appealing a broader case involving the entire public service. It estimates the Federal Court of Appeal will take a year to rule on the case.

On Wednesday, the coalition cited three Global Affairs Canada staff who say their complaints were rejected by internal panels before being upheld by the courts or outside commissions, without compensation.

They include Iltireh, who is Black and wears a hijab.

In May, a Global Affairs Canada investigation found the diplomat overseeing Canada’s embassy in Kuwait “bullied” Iltireh and “adopted discriminatory practices” against her.

The investigation -- which only came about when a court ordered the department to stop dismissing her claims -- found the embassy head “failed to ensure that Madina Iltireh worked in a healthy work environment.”

“The place I was (for three years) was toxic, and it was suffocating,” she said.

Nicholas Marcus Thompson, executive director of the Black Class Action Secretariat, cited other cases of GAC employees who identify with a range of minority groups and who filed complaints that were dismissed.

He said they include a staffer who made complaints against an executive who was later found by the public sector integrity commissioner to have berated and slapped staff members.

“It is as bad at Global Affairs as we found in other departments,” Thompson said.

“There is a mechanism to report discrimination. That mechanism blocks it. Workers are silenced and while those workers are held back, the leaders advance.”

The foreign service is undertaking changes aimed at more merit-based promotion and a healthier work culture, as part of a broader reform launched in 2022. The Future of Diplomacy initiative has led to public disclosures of cases of wrongdoing at GAC, a streamlined complaint system and a well-being ombudsperson.

Thompson said those changes don’t adequately address the needs of Black employees, who have called for stronger anti-discrimination legislation and expert panels independent of the public service to investigate claims of discrimination.

“We’re not seeing deep-rooted reforms, simply Band-Aid solutions that pass over quickly with change of management,” he said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told reporters Wednesday that discrimination in any form is unacceptable.

“We need to have a public service where inclusivity and diversity are stronger because that makes our government stronger, our organizations stronger and our country stronger,” she said.

Anand said she is looking into at least one of the cases cited by the secretariat to address systemic issues within Global Affairs Canada.

“It’s a priority for me as a minister at this time, and it’s a priority for me as a racialized woman,” she said in French.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2025.