Report alleges rampant discrimination at Privy Council Office

There is rampant discrimination against Black and racialized employees at Canada’s Privy Council Office (PCO), according to a report.

Overall, Black and racialized employees cited dozens of examples of racial stereotyping, microaggressions and verbal violence against them, according to an internal report by Rachel Zellars, who is working with the federal service in the implementation of the recent call to action on anti-racism, equity, and inclusion in the Federal Public Service.

And these workers say their experiences have had a negative impact on their mental health, and have discouraged them from engaging with the employer’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work.

These workers also expressed a distrust for PCO, according to the report released by the Coalition Against Workplace Discrimination. The coalition obtained the report through the Access to Information Act.

With their experiences, two in three (67 per cent) Black workers worked at the PCO for less than six months, including seven per cent who were there for less than three months.

“It is shocking that this level of blatant discrimination occurred in one of Canada’s highest offices,” said Nicholas Marcus Thompson, president, Black Class Action Secretariat. “Once again, those who have been perpetrators of discrimination are being tasked with implementing change. This approach has consistently failed, and it’s time for real arms-length accountability mechanisms, and structural changes to meaningfully address anti-Black discrimination.”

A report released earlier this month noted that the PCO failed to look into the aliases that the new Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) head allegedly used to make controversial social media posts.

Groups call for action from government

In 2021, then Clerk of the Privy Council, Ian Shugart, issued a Call to Action to public service leaders to take specific and meaningful actions to address racism, equity, and inclusion.

In coming up with the report, Zellars – from November 2021 to May 2022 – had 53 employees attend group sessions and 58 workers in total participated in the Safe Space initiative at PCO. She interviewed 13 racialized individuals and eight Black workers.

In her report, Zellars made the following recommendations, among others, for the PCO:

• Develop and implement a Black-centric lens, with best practices, inside PCO.
• Create and ensure the use of data-supported, equitable staffing methods
• Set clear, department-wide guidelines regarding the evaluation and promotion process.
• Increase transparency and build trust with employee networks engaged in DEI work within PCO.
• Create an anti-racism secretariat or chief diversity officer position that is divorced from corporate services.
• Design an internal messaging campaign that clearly communicates the importance, purpose and historical rationale for the Call to Action within public service.

Meanwhile, the Coalition Against Workplace Discrimination is calling for the resignation of several leaders at the PCO, along with:

• The appointment of a Black Equity Commissioner to address systemic anti-Black racism across all levels of government (similar to the two representatives appointed to address Antisemitism and Islamophobia)
• The establishment of a department of African Canadian Affairs to centralize and give priority anti-Black racism work.
• The implementation of Employment Equity Act amendments promised in December 2023, to add Black Canadians as an employment equity group.
• The restitution of Black public sector workers who have launched a class action lawsuit based on years of discrimination, as identified in multiple federal reports.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is also calling for:

• The federal government to appoint a Black Equity Commissioner to address systemic anti-Black racism across all levels of government (similar to the two representatives appointed to address Antisemitism and Islamophobia) 
• The federal government to implement the Employment Equity Act amendments it promised in December 2023, to add Black Canadians as an employment equity group. 
• The federal government to provide restitution to Black public sector workers who have launched a class action lawsuit based on years of discrimination, as identified in multiple federal reports. 

Meanwhile, Black Class Action Secretariat president Thompson, Christian Fox, deputy clerk and associate secretary to Cabinet at the PCO, noted the actions the PCO has taken since the internal release of the report, including the appointment of PCO’s first chief diversity officer (CDO) in September 2023 and the establishment of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Anti-Racism (IDEA) Secretariat.

In February, a coalition of Canadian human rights groups and unions filed a systemic discrimination complaint against the CHRC.