LILLEY: Report calls Ontario Public Service a 'White supremacist' organization
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Publishing date:Jun 04, 2021 • 20 hours ago • 3 minute read • 337 Comments
Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park, Toronto, Canada
Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park, Toronto, Canada
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According to members of Ontario’s public service, and the leadership at the top, the province’s civil service is built on “White supremacy.”
A new report using such language has just been released and an email sent to all staff apologizing for the work culture was signed by deputy ministers across the government. The report was compiled by an outside consulting firm and distributed to government workers in an email Thursday.
In his email to staff, Steven Davidson, the province’s top civil servant, apologized for racism within the civil service.
“The society we live in – its history, its culture and its institutions – has been shaped by colonialism, slavery, racism and xenophobia,” Davidson wrote.
He went on to say that this system has privileged White people while restricting opportunities for Indigenous, Black, racialized and LGBTQ+ communities.
The report was even harsher.
“Many employees in discussion groups felt that the OPS was a fundamentally racist organization. One employee stated, with the agreement from discussion group participants, that ‘the OPS is a White supremacist organization and those at the top have no real desire to see anything change because it will mean diminished power and control for them,’” the report states.
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The entire Ontario Public Service is a White supremacist organization? That’s some pretty strong language and a strong accusation.
No one should tolerate racism or discrimination in the workplace but this is the Ontario civil service, supposedly one of the wokest places to work. Diversity and inclusion in the unionized civil service have been more than buzz words, they have been reality for decades.
There are entire departments within the Ontario government dedicated to ensure an inclusive and diverse workplace. This report, which mostly deals with much more than race, describes the public service in the most horrible of terms.
Strangely, this report, damning as it is, doesn’t actually break down the demographics of the public service to see if they actually match society at large. It’s tough to say the workplace is racist and keeping people down if you don’t measure it.
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Yet, according to the most recent socio-demographic profile from 2019, the Ontario Public Service is a fairly diverse body including at the executive level.
While not everyone is equally represented, most are. In fact, women, Francophones and the LGBTQ+ community are all overrepresented throughout the public service compared to their share of the workforce.
Women make up 48.3% of the total workforce but 58.8% of the OPS and 51.1% of the top executive positions. The groups most underrepresented are East/Southeast Asians who make up 9.9% of the Ontario’s total workforce but just 8.1% of the public service and 3.5% of top executive positions as well as South Asians who make up 8.4% of the total workforce compared to 7.8% of the public service and 5.2% of the executive ranks.
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Indigenous Ontarians make up 2.5% of the provinces workforce and have similar representation throughout the public service, even taking 3.3% of jobs at the top. Black Ontarians meanwhile make up 4.5% of the workforce and are fairly equitably represented in most areas but fall to 2.9% of the top executive positions.
White workers make up 74.2% of the Ontario workforce, a similar number to lower ranks of the OPS, but White workers make up 80.4% of the top executive positions.
The numbers don’t show a racist public service or a “White supremacist” organization, but we all know numbers don’t tell the whole story. That the civil service, all 63,000 members, could be such an organization stretches belief though.
There is no place for racism in the workplace, or anywhere else, but there is also no place for casually throwing around labels like “White supremacist.”
blilley@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Publishing date:Jun 04, 2021 • 20 hours ago • 3 minute read • 337 Comments
Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park, Toronto, Canada
Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park, Toronto, Canada
Article content
According to members of Ontario’s public service, and the leadership at the top, the province’s civil service is built on “White supremacy.”
A new report using such language has just been released and an email sent to all staff apologizing for the work culture was signed by deputy ministers across the government. The report was compiled by an outside consulting firm and distributed to government workers in an email Thursday.
In his email to staff, Steven Davidson, the province’s top civil servant, apologized for racism within the civil service.
“The society we live in – its history, its culture and its institutions – has been shaped by colonialism, slavery, racism and xenophobia,” Davidson wrote.
He went on to say that this system has privileged White people while restricting opportunities for Indigenous, Black, racialized and LGBTQ+ communities.
The report was even harsher.
“Many employees in discussion groups felt that the OPS was a fundamentally racist organization. One employee stated, with the agreement from discussion group participants, that ‘the OPS is a White supremacist organization and those at the top have no real desire to see anything change because it will mean diminished power and control for them,’” the report states.
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STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Article content
The entire Ontario Public Service is a White supremacist organization? That’s some pretty strong language and a strong accusation.
No one should tolerate racism or discrimination in the workplace but this is the Ontario civil service, supposedly one of the wokest places to work. Diversity and inclusion in the unionized civil service have been more than buzz words, they have been reality for decades.
There are entire departments within the Ontario government dedicated to ensure an inclusive and diverse workplace. This report, which mostly deals with much more than race, describes the public service in the most horrible of terms.
Strangely, this report, damning as it is, doesn’t actually break down the demographics of the public service to see if they actually match society at large. It’s tough to say the workplace is racist and keeping people down if you don’t measure it.
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Article content
Yet, according to the most recent socio-demographic profile from 2019, the Ontario Public Service is a fairly diverse body including at the executive level.
While not everyone is equally represented, most are. In fact, women, Francophones and the LGBTQ+ community are all overrepresented throughout the public service compared to their share of the workforce.
Women make up 48.3% of the total workforce but 58.8% of the OPS and 51.1% of the top executive positions. The groups most underrepresented are East/Southeast Asians who make up 9.9% of the Ontario’s total workforce but just 8.1% of the public service and 3.5% of top executive positions as well as South Asians who make up 8.4% of the total workforce compared to 7.8% of the public service and 5.2% of the executive ranks.
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Article content
Indigenous Ontarians make up 2.5% of the provinces workforce and have similar representation throughout the public service, even taking 3.3% of jobs at the top. Black Ontarians meanwhile make up 4.5% of the workforce and are fairly equitably represented in most areas but fall to 2.9% of the top executive positions.
White workers make up 74.2% of the Ontario workforce, a similar number to lower ranks of the OPS, but White workers make up 80.4% of the top executive positions.
The numbers don’t show a racist public service or a “White supremacist” organization, but we all know numbers don’t tell the whole story. That the civil service, all 63,000 members, could be such an organization stretches belief though.
There is no place for racism in the workplace, or anywhere else, but there is also no place for casually throwing around labels like “White supremacist.”
blilley@postmedia.com
LILLEY: Report calls Ontario Public Service a 'White supremacist' organization
According to members of Ontario’s public service, and the leadership at the top, the province’s civil service is built on "White supremacy."
