Question Period Note: DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE

The Government of Canada is working to promote diversity and inclusion in the public service.

• Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is broad and deep. It is reflected in mandate letters, in the establishment of an anti-racism strategy and program, in the appointment of a Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, and in the creation of the Office for Public Service Accessibility.

• Today, the public service broadly reflects the workforce availability of three out of four Employment Equity groups. But we cannot ignore the racism that is a lived reality for Black people and other racialized groups. We have to make sure that our public service is not only representative of the population it serves, but that it offers an opportunity for all employees to express their full potential.

• To help us get there, we are improving our data and addressing representation in the most senior ranks of the public service. And we are inviting public servants from equity-seeking groups to join us in co-developing initiatives that will address barriers and help sustain a culture change.

The work of building a representative public service is a concerted effort that must be taken across the enterprise given these responsibilities are held by many organizations, with different areas of influence and control. To name a few:

• the Clerk sets out expectations and appoints deputy heads
• the Public Service Commission administers the PS Employment Act and delegates to deputy heads the authority to appoint public servants
• Treasury Board sets the policy frame for the core public administration, and sets terms and conditions of employment
• The TB Secretariat collects and researches data, and supports senior executive talent management; and, of course,
• Minister Tassi as Minister responsible for the Employment Equity Act, sets the definition of equity-seeking groups for all federally-regulated organizations.

The Employment Equity Act has provided impetus for progress on increasing representation of the EE designated groups in the public service in the last two decades. But as our focus shifts to a broader definition of diversity, more needs to be done.

In 2016, the President of the Treasury Board of Canada established a Joint Union/Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion in the Public Service, with a one-year mandate to define, establish the case, and recommend a framework and action plan for diversity and inclusion in the public. This Task Force was comprised of 14 members, half Employer and half Bargaining Agents, and released its Final Report with 44 recommendations in December 2017 for a way forward for the public service. The Many Voices One Mind report on Indigenous representation and several other such reports have made similar recommendations for a way forward for the public service.

Recent events including the Pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement have highlighted inequities and further underscored the importance of promoting inclusion.

The Federal Black Employee Caucus (FBEC) has advocated strongly for disaggregated data and initiatives to increase representation of Black employees in senior levels in the public service. FBEC’s recommendations and the steps being taken in the public service are aligned with the recommendations of the above-stated reports.

In Budget 2018, the Government announced funding for a new Centre for Wellness, Inclusion and Diversity in the public service. The Center was officially launched in June 2019, and its resources will continue to support the evolving diversity and inclusion agenda in the public service.

• Diversity and Inclusion are key priorities of the Government. Mandate letters include commitments to increase representation for minorities. Inclusion is one of the three priorities articulated in the Clerk’s Beyond 2020 initiative.

• Overall, representation of women, Indigenous peoples and members of visible minorities in the public service is currently above workforce availability. Representation of persons with disabilities is below workforce availability.

• 16.7% of employees in the core public service have identified as a member of visible minority and 19% of these are Black employees.

• In January 2018, the Prime Minister announced that the Government of Canada would recognize the United Nations’ International Decade for People of African Descent (2014-2025) and commit to addressing systemic anti-Black racism in Canada.