OTTAWA — Federal government departments and agencies will now have to evaluate whether their hiring practices are discriminatory after changes to the Public Service Employment Act came into effect this week.
Public Service Commission spokeswoman Élodie Roy said the changes will strengthen diversity and inclusion in the federal government workforce.
The amendments were first introduced in the budget implementation process in 2021.
They require the public service to evaluate how staffing methods, such as interviews and written exams, might discriminate against women, people with a disability, or those who identify as Black, Indigenous or LGBTQ.
The Public Service Commission will also have more resources to investigate mistakes or misconduct that affect hiring processes.
Previous amendments revised the job qualifications for members of equity-seeking groups and ensured permanent residents were given the same hiring preferences as Canadian citizens.
But a group representing thousands of Black public servants who filed a class-action lawsuit against the government alleging decades of discriminatory hiring practices said the changes do not go far enough.
The Black Class Action Secretariat, which formed when the $2.5-billion suit was filed in 2020, has been calling on the federal government to settle claims for financial compensation and to create a mental health fund for trauma caused by racial discrimination in the public service.
The creation of that fund, which was promised in the 2022 federal budget, has also been mired in complaints of racist behaviour.
Back in March, the Treasury Board Secretariat ruled that the Canadian Human Rights Commission discriminated against Black and racialized employees.
Nicholas Marcus Thompson, the executive director of the Black Class Action Secretariat, said the agencies responsible for implementing the new changes have also contributed to systemic discrimination within the workplace.
"Frankly, there's no trust," said Thompson.
He pointed out that individual employers within the government separately control their staffing processes.
"If you look at the legislation, and if you look at the direction that the Public Service Commission is now empowered to take action on, it doesn't appear to have any teeth," he said.
"It's mind-boggling that employers who have discriminated against workers — you have employers like the Canadian Human Rights Commission that has been discriminatory towards its own Black employees — would now be the subject of this system."
Thompson called for more accountability in the public service, and said agencies that have engaged in discriminatory practices should take responsibility.
He said the government and public service sector have displayed that they have the willpower to make meaningful changes toward diversity and inclusion, citing the increase of women in the federal workforce.
"So the excuse that there is no magic bullet to this problem, it's quite frankly nonsense," he said.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada, a union that represents more than 120,000 federal workers, called the changes a good start but said more is need to address systemic barriers.
In a written statement, the union said legislative changes are also needed to overhaul to managerial powers in hiring practices, and that the Public Service Commission should have the authority to ensure transparency and make changes to hiring practices.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2023.
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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
Liam Fox, The Canadian Press
