PCH response to the Clerk of the Privy Council Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion
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March, 3, 2021
Recently, the Clerk of the Privy Council required that all Deputy Ministers identify three measures to advance measurable changes in their organization for anti-racism, equity and inclusion. As such, a working group consulted with different groups of employees who have lived experience with racism and discrimination, in order for them to express their views on what these three commitments should be at PCH. The exercise identified the following three commitments on diversity and inclusion:
- Actively supporting the promotion, sponsorship and career development of Black people and other racialized groups, Indigenous People, and persons with disabilities;
- Actively supporting the recruitment and retention of Black people and other racialized groups, Indigenous People, and persons with disabilities; and
- Establishing and overseeing a review of all internal systems, policies, programs and initiatives.
Please see PCH's response to the Clerk as well as a copy of the letter sent to us by volunteers from the Executive cadre that lead the exercise. I also invite you to first get acquainted with the Clerk’s Call to Action, as well as his message to us in this regard.
We will soon be able to share with you the strategy detailing the actions we will put forward at PCH to meet these commitments. It goes without saying that achieving our goals will require the participation and commitment of our staff at all levels. Achieving these three commitments will also be an integral part of your deputy minister’s performance agreements for 2021 and 2022.
In closing, remember that commitment to equity and inclusion is a journey, not a destination.
Hélène Laurendeau
Deputy Minister
Canadian Heritage
Gina Wilson
Deputy Minister, Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, and
Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage
Letter to the Clerk of the Privy Council
Mr. Ian Shugart
Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet
Privy Council Office
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
J8X 4B3
Dear Mr. Shugart,
We are writing to you to share the process we undertook at the Department of Canadian Heritage and our three commitments on diversity and inclusion to advance measurable change at Canadian Heritage. We expect these executive commitments will require continuation into fiscal year 2021-22 and beyond.
We asked for volunteers from the Executive cadre to lead the exercise and seek input from employees with lived experience of racism and ableism. Thus, signaling our openness to do things differently and to make real change.
The exercise identified the following three commitments on diversity and inclusion:
- Actively supporting the promotion, sponsorship and career development of Black people and other racialized groups, Indigenous People, and persons with disabilities;
- Actively supporting the recruitment and retention of Black people and other racialized groups, Indigenous People, and persons with disabilities; and
- Establishing and overseeing a review of all internal systems, policies, programs and initiatives.
Enclosed is a copy of letter sent to us by those who led this exercise outlining the steps they took and their results in selecting diversity and inclusion commitments for Canadian Heritage. We wanted to let their voices speak for themselves.
We believe that the Department of Canadian Heritage has a unique role and responsibility to play in the federal public service as we serve the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth. We also have a number of leaders, committees and employees poised to advance on these important themes.
As the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean said at our town hall on December 9, 2020, “With action come results.” We could not agree more.
Yours sincerely,
Hélène Laurendeau
Deputy Minister
Canadian Heritage
Gina Wilson
Deputy Minister, Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, and
Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage
Letter to the Deputy Ministers of Canadian Heritage
Ms. Hélène Laurendeau
Deputy Minister
Ms. Gina Wilson
Deputy Minister, Diversity and Inclusion and Youth and
Senior Associate Deputy Minister
Department of Canadian Heritage
15 Eddy Street
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0M5
Dear Ms. Laurendeau and Ms. Wilson,
We are writing to share the recommended commitments on diversity and inclusion to advance measurable change at the Department of Canadian Heritage. The approach you have taken to identify the Deputy Minister commitments from the measures outlined by the Clerk of the Privy Council is an important step towards making space for marginalized voices to be heard. We applaud this as an anti-racism measure itself as it disrupts the “normal” way of doing things in order to expose new points of view and uncover systemic biases. Your decision to ask for volunteers from the EX cadre to lead the exercise and seek input from employees with lived experience, signals your openness to do things differently and to make real change. We thank you for trusting us.
The Methodology and Results
As volunteers, our first step was to develop a process for identifying the departmental commitments. After examining various options and having some important conversations, we agreed that employees with lived experience of racism and ableism should have an opportunity to express their views. Given the short time frame and the need for a principled approach, we consulted the employees in our self-identification database. We asked the HRWMB Employment Equity Unit to contact, by email, a group of employees who had both (1) self-identified as a visible minority, an Aboriginal person or a person with a disability, and (2) agreed to be contacted by HR for specific purposes.
While we recognized the limitations of this approach (given that there were employees who had not self-identified nor had given consent to be contacted further), we felt it was justifiable as it ensured that we directly reached employees with lived experience, and remained consistent with self-identification data collection and confidentiality policies.
Citing the exact words of the Clerk’s eight commitments, and with assistance from the Policy Research Group, participants were asked to identify their top three priorities. The survey launched on November 6 and closed on November 16 with a response rate of 30% or 117/384 respondents, which is a statistically sufficient response rate to be reliable.
The three commitments that received the most votes were, in order:
- Actively supporting the promotion, sponsorship and career development of Black people and other racialized groups, Indigenous People, and persons with disabilities (71 votes);
- Actively supporting the recruitment and retention of Black people and other racialized groups, Indigenous People, and persons with disabilities (65 votes);
- Establishing and overseeing a review of all internal systems, policies, programs and initiatives (55 votes).
The others were:
- Fostering inclusive leadership (40);
- Engaging in dialogue that will destigmatize discussions on racism and systemic barriers (36);
- Reviewing and adapting all external public oriented policies and programs to ensure they meet the government requirements for accessibility, equity and transparency (36);
- Providing adequate support (25);
- Increasing accessibility internally (22).
Consulting on the Results
As a second step in the process, recognizing the limitations of working with only self-identified employees, we wrote to the champions and chairs of the four Employment Equity and Diversity Committees and asked them to consult their membership to see if these top three commitments resonated. We also sought their feedback, considerations and input on risks to proceeding with these commitments first and their implementation.
As a final step, before presenting the results to you, we convened a meeting of the champions and chairs, ADMs and Heads of Corporate Resources (including HR, Communications and Finance). At that meeting on December 2, we shared the results of the survey, answered questions about the methodology, engaged them in their concerns, and asked if they could identify barriers or considerations to the successful implementation of these commitments.
While not everyone invited was able to attend, we heard these highlights:
- This is going to require transformational change in the department and will require time and resources to move the needle on these commitments;
- We need to work on the environment and climate that we have in the department, which is not something specifically identified in the commitments. We can work to bring people into the department, but an inclusive environment is what motivates people and encourages them to stay;
- Mandatory training/learning at all levels of the organization is key as leaders and staff will need to internalize the importance of the work, and develop individually the competencies to be effective in this work. Everyone needs to have the skills to address issues related to harassment, retention and support to employees;
- Data, language and intersectionality will be important to consider when identifying barriers and in communications. We need to continue the discussion as a department and as a public service on how we collect data, who is identified (e.g. LGBTQ2+ data is not collected like other Employment Equity data), how they are identified (e.g. inclusive of gender diversity) and how they are engaged so their voices are heard; and
- Leaders in the organization will need to communicate more about what actions are being taken, demonstrate incremental change is happening and not just talk about diversity and inclusion.
The top three commitments are being cross-walked against the draft departmental Employment Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan, currently in circulation to key departmental partners and stakeholders to ensure full alignment.
Our Advice
Our conclusions from this experience are:
- Making space and inviting new approaches to the “way things are done”, and how decisions are made is a critical first step. We are in a collective project to create truly diverse, respectful and innovative workspaces, and this objective cannot be easily achieved by doing the same things we have always done;
- Positive change requires a personal AND professional commitment. The environment for equality requires deep engagement through learning (personal reflection through reading and training), intentional preparation for meaningful and respectful conversation followed by sustained, measurable actions and clear results;
- The department will need an approach to Anti-Racism, Anti-Indigenous Racism and Anti-Ableism that is authentic and tailored to our culture and mandate. We will need to be creative so that emphasis on Black people and other racialized people, Indigenous Peoples and persons with disabilities do not mean that other forms of discrimination and marginalization are secondary;
- Commitments on diversity and inclusion must be permanently embedded in Executive performance agreements beginning with the period covering 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 with an assessment for accountability and adaptation. Commitment to diversity and inclusion is a journey and not just a destination.
We believe that the Department of Canadian Heritage has a unique role and responsibility to play in the federal public service as we serve the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth. We also have a number of leaders, committees and employees poised to advance on these important themes.
We look forward to supporting both of you as you develop your next steps on how to implement the three commitments. We remain committed to be at your side as you turn these priorities into action. As the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean said at our town hall on December 9, 2020, “With action comes results”.
Sincerely,
Erica Tao
Regional Director General
Western region
Jillian Lum
A/Regional Director General
Ontario region
Jenny Ratansi-Rodrigues
Corporate Secretary
Anick Bailie
Deputy Director General
Human Resources and Workplace Management
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