Black civil servants file lawsuit against Canadian gov’t

Jamaica-born lawyer Courtney Betty has joined protest action by Black public service employees in Canada to put an end to what they say are ‘systemic discriminatory barriers in hiring and promotional practices’.

The group has filed a class action lawsuit in the Federal Court of Canada, arguing that the federal government’s systemic practice of Black employee exclusion has led to economic and psychological harm to thousands of employees dating as far back as the 1970s.

“Black Canadians are overwhelmingly under-represented in the upper echelons of the public service,” Toronto-based Betty, a former crown attorney, said. “We are asking the federal government to fulfil its legal obligations of equality as guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights. This systemic practice of Black employee exclusion has for decades turned the dreams of many Black employees into a lifetime of pain and suffering.”

A release from the group noted that the claim calls on the federal government to “implement a concrete plan to diversify the public service and empower Black employees”. The claim also seeks restitution for the approximately 30,000 Black public service employees who have been subjected to these racist systemic practices for decades.

“Canada’s public service presents itself as a ‘merit-based, representative and non-partisan organization that serves all Canadians’. While laudable as a principle, many Canadians, particularly Black Canadians, have experienced a different reality,” said Chris Aylward, National President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. “The government must do what is necessary to right these wrongs and ensure that these injustices do not continue.”