New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh and Amnesty International Canada support this latest action by black officials who filed a class action lawsuit against the federal government back in 2020. In this petition, they denounced the government’s systematic discrimination in hiring new civil servants and granting promotions.

It has become clear that the federal government is not acting in good faith on this matter, said Nicholas Marcus Thompson, director of the black class action lawsuit that initiated the lawsuit. The reason we are raising this issue is because Canada remains reluctant to use its vast resources to deny black workers the ability to argue this in court.he explained.

” Black Canadians will be waiting a long time for justice in Canada, so we reached out to the international community to hold Canada accountable for its international obligations. »

Mona Fortier, President of the Treasury Board, is due to meet with Mr. Thompson this week. In a written statement, she acknowledged that far too many black Canadians still face discrimination and hatred.

The government is actively working to address harm and create a diverse and inclusive public service free from harassment and discrimination, she argued. We’ve legislated, created support and development programs, and released disaggregated data, but we know there’s more to do.

damage

In the motion to register a class action lawsuit in federal court, the group alleges that since the 1970s, approximately 30,000 black government employees have lost opportunities and benefits afforded to others because of their work identity.

The group would seek damages to compensate black government employees for the psychological and economic hardships they faced. Plaintiffs are also demanding a plan to finally diversify the federal workforce and remove obstacles that even worker equality laws have failed to remove.

MM. Singh and Thompson in particular claim that the federal government is deliberately reluctant to go to court. This liberal government keeps telling black Canadians one thing and then ends up doing the othersaid Mr Singh.

For her part, Ms. Fortier assures that Ottawa will respect the Federal Court’s timetable in this case.

Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary-General of Amnesty International Canada, believes Ottawa is violating its international human rights obligations, including the right to non-discrimination, by failing to address systemic racism.

Under international law, Canada has a positive obligation to fight discrimination, she said. This means that it must take specific and concrete measures to eliminate discrimination in employment.