Widespread discrimination at highest level of Canada's public service, report reveals

A group of workers' rights organizations is calling for the removal of top executives in the federal public service, after an internal audit revealed a workplace culture of racial stereotyping, micro-aggressions and verbal violence within the Privy Council Office (PCO).

The Coalition Against Workplace Discrimination — composed of several other groups representing public servants, including the Black Class Action Secretariat and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) — released an internal report from PCO on Monday, which it had obtained through an Access to Information request.

The audit and subsequent report was completed more than a year ago, according to the coalition of public servants, and shows what the coalition says is an entrenched and systemic culture of discrimination, where Black, Indigenous and racialized employees are often brought in to pad diversity numbers, but discouraged from speaking out and blocked from career advancement.

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The report found that such discriminatory behaviour is “regularly practiced and normalized, including at the executive level,” that the PCO’s culture discourages reporting of such incidents, and that accountability mechanisms are “currently non-existent.”

Dozens of recommendations listed in the report have not been implemented, but include line items to “develop and implement a Blackcentric lens, with best practices, inside PCO,” create an anti-racism secretariat or chief diversity officer position, set clear, department-wide guidelines, and improve data collection to monitor progress.

The PCO is the highest-level bureaucratic office in Canada, and is responsible for 137 government departments, representing about 270,000 federal public servants.

“We are particularly concerned about the lack of accountability measures against leaders who were at the helm,” said Nicholas Marcus Thompson, president of the Black Class Action Secretariat, at a press conference on Parliament Hill Monday.

“Ultimately we are witnessing a scenario where those who have been perpetrators of harm are now tasked with carrying out the solutions,” he added.

The report shows Black and racialized employees have a distrust for the PCO, and describes an organization that focuses on “self-preservation — and even dishonesty — at the cost of authenticity.”

When asked about the report at a press conference in Toronto on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said, “Racism and discrimination are never acceptable.”

“It is not acceptable anywhere in Canada, least of all inside our government,” she added.

PCO clerk John Hannaford wrote in an emailed statement to CTV News he is “personally committed to ensuring that work continues” to answer the calls to action on anti-racism, equity, and inclusion.

The statement also outlines steps the PCO has taken to answer calls to action, and says the report in question was “shared with all PCO employees in June 2023 to ensure transparency and to catalyze culture change across the organization.”

“Further, disaggregated data showed an increase in the percentage of Black representation at PCO from 3.4 per cent (29 employees) in March 2020, to 5.8 per cent (66 employees) as of March 2024,” the statement reads, while also highlighting an increase in representation among Indigenous employees, racialized employees, and women at the PCO. “Although there have been improvements at PCO, we recognize that continued efforts are needed to attract, develop, and retain employees from various backgrounds, including Black employees.”

Sharon DeSousa, the national president of PSAC, said the report makes it clear that Black, Indigenous and racialized employees experience “separate and unequal realities” in the federal public service.

“(They) are without the same opportunities for career advancement, trapped in a revolving door of tokenism, and brought into temporary positions to give the appearance of racial equity then moving out without meaningful opportunities for advancement,” DeSousa said.

The PCO audit, conducted by Rachel Zellars, a Saint Mary’s University professor in the department of social justice, focuses on the results of a PCO “Safe Space Initiative.”

Of 1,200 Privy Council Office employees, Zellars only had access to 58 staff members to interview as part of the audit, and only 13 were racialized.

In Zellars’ report, released by The Coalition Against Workplace Discrimination, she noted that few racialized employees worked at the PCO for more than a year, and most only worked there a few months.

The professor also noted that although PCO data states Black representation has increased from March 2019 to March 2022, from 22 employees to 38 — about 3.9 per cent of total staff, a ratio higher than the public service overall — the data is “largely symbolic, as it reveals nothing about employment level or length of tenure or employee experience.”

The slow progress is prompting the coalition to call for the resignation of top government executives including Nathalie Drouin, the deputy clerk of the PCO, who has been responsible for the federal discrimination file since 2021, and Mathew Shea, the assistant secretary to the Cabinet.

“We are outraged that such discriminatory practices are allowed to exist. It’s clear that significant structural changes are needed to create a fair and equitable workplace,” said the Canadian Association of Professional Employees president, Nathan Prier.

The coalition members say they believe there is a political will to combat racism in the federal government, but that systemic barriers within the bureaucracy are impeding necessary changes

“The report identifies corporate services as a significant barrier towards addressing discrimination - how can the same leaders who have presided over this harm be responsible for the solutions?” asks Thompson, who says public services leaders have to be held accountable for the “status quo,” and allowing discrimination to go unchecked.

The PCO is standing by Drouin and Shea, writing in the statement on behalf of the clerk that he wishes to “express (his) full confidence and support” for the two senior public servants, adding he recognizes “their dedication to supporting this important work.”

“Together with the Deputy Clerks, the entire management team and I are committed to taking continuous action to identify and address any barriers that may exist in the federal public service,” the statement from Hannaford’s office reads. “We can best serve the government and Canadians when employees feel heard, valued, respected, and included. That is why we will continue to make progress as an organization and to demonstrate leadership across the public service.”