One of the things I did to resist the anti-Black discrimination I was facing at my department was file a complaint with the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada, or PSIC. PSIC’s mandate is on the front page of its website: “We handle disclosures of wrongdoing and help protect those who blow the whistle.” They protect whistleblowers by keeping their identities secret. The reason I’m revealing my identity now is because of the response I got from PSIC. Below is my response to PSIC Deputy Commissioner, Denis Bilodeau, who signed the letter I got.
“Mr. Bilodeau, I just received your letter explaining your decision not to investigate my complaint. Although, your decision is disappointing, it is not surprising. Your reasons for dismissing my complaint of systemic discrimination and anti-Black racism against my former [managers] at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) are of most concern. You say that my complaint lacked specificity and would be better dealt with by the Canadian Human Rights Commission. This, despite the fact that I cited the results of the 2019 Public Service Employee Survey which had data on Black federal employees – for the first time ever – and confirmed that Black employees, public service wide, and at ECCC, report discrimination levels twice the average. In addition, I provided detailed information about the discrimination I had faced. You further justified your decision based on my assertion that the discriminatory “treatment is subtle in nature but that beyond your own experience, you have not witnessed any incidents involving colleagues.” This seems to indicate that, in order to qualify for investigation, the discrimination must be of a blatant nature like people calling us niggers to our face. This rarely happens whereas subtle forms of anti-Black discrimination are daily occurrences.
Your response is consistent with the Canadian Human Rights Commission that regularly rejects the majority of race-based complaints – and tried to do the same with mine – so your referring my complaint to the Commission is clearly inadequate as a solution.
The ineffectiveness of organizations like PSIC and the Commission in dealing with anti-Black racism complaints is one reason why I advise Black employees, including members of the Federal Black Employee Caucus which I co-founded, to use tools like race-based grievances, Access To Information and Privacy requests, the media and small claims court to seek justice.”
In her book, Race After Technology, Princeton Professor Ruha Benjamin says, “Until we come to grips with the “reasonableness” of racism, we will continue to look for it on the bloody floors of Charleston churches and in the dashboard cameras on Texas highways, and overlook it in the smart sounding logic of textbooks, policy statements, court rulings, science journals and cutting edge technologies.” Regarding the way PSIC and the Canadian Human Rights Commission currently assess race-based complaints, and applying it to a Canadian context, her quote could be reworded as:
“Until we come to grips with the “reasonableness” of racism in the public service, we will continue to look for it on the bloody floors of Quebec mosques, the videos of Canadian police officers abusing Black people, and white public servants calling their Black colleagues niggers, and overlook it in public service hiring, promoting and sanctioning practices.”
Mr. Bilodeau, our harassers no longer wear white hoods – they wear white collars.
[Sept. 4 update – I ended my original email to PSIC Deputy Commissioner Bilodeau with the question, “Given all this, please clarify what would qualify as enough specificity?” Today, I received the response, “It is not the Commissioner Office’s role to pinpoint what specific information should be provided for an investigation to be launched into your allegations of wrongdoing.”]