The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE), and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) held a rally and march in front of the Privy Council Offices (PCO) to demand accountability after damning reports detailing the persistent culture of anti-Black racism within their walls.

PCO employees describe, in a report accessed through the Access to Information Act, a workplace culture where racial stereotyping, microaggressions and verbal abuse are normalized.  Black, Indigenous, and racialized employees are also shut out of career-advancing opportunities and clustered in temporary and lower-level positions, compared to their white colleagues.

Emancipation Day marks the liberation of enslaved Indigenous and Black peoples in the British Empire on August 1, 1834. Black communities have celebrated Emancipation Day since the 1850s, but it was only officially designated in Canada in 2021.

“Emancipation Day is a time to reflect on the legacies of slavery in Canada and celebrate the strength and perseverance of Black and Indigenous communities who have endured decades of discrimination,” said Sharon DeSousa, PSAC National President. “But today, we are yet again faced with new allegations of anti-Black racism, this time in the highest civil office in Canada.”

“On a day that should be about celebration and learning, we again have to stand united to demand for accountability and change, after another federal institution fails to combat systemic racism within its ranks,” said Nicholas Marcus Thompson, Executive Director of the BCAS. “Black federal public service workers are fed up with the government’s empty words. They want justice.”

“The ongoing anti-Black racism in Canada’s public service constitutes a grave violation of multiple international laws, including the UDHR, ICCPR, and ICERD. This breach undermines global human rights commitments and equality principles, demanding immediate action to rectify these injustices and uphold fundamental human rights for all citizens,” said David Matsinhe, Director of Policy, Advocacy and Research at Amnesty International Canada’s English-speaking section.

The coalition demands:

• The immediate resignation of Deputy Clerk Natalie Drouin, who was responsible for the discrimination file since 2021; and the resignation of Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Ministerial Services and Corporate Affairs, Matthew Shea.
• The appointment of a Black Equity Commissioner.
• The establishment of a department of African Canadian Affairs to centralize anti-Black racism work.
• That Black Canadians be added as an employment equity group, as promised by Employment Equity Act amendments.

“It is shameful that this government has yet to settle the Black Class Action lawsuit,” said Yolanda McClean, CBTU President. “We will continue to fight for employment equity in the workplace, recognition of Black workers in the legislation and an end to discrimination and racism in all its forms, today and everyday.”

“Abolition took place 190 years ago, but destructive ideas of White Supremacy and Black and Indigenous inferiority are still very much present in Canadian society and our institutions,” said Nathan Prier, CAPE President. “Systemic discrimination runs so deep in Canada’s public service that it can be found in every branch of the government. On Emancipation Day, we are taking a stand and telling the federal government, we will not stay quiet in the face of blatant racism.”