Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

source: The Globe and Mail

OTTAWA — Gurcharan Singh Gill’s grandfather was a stout man - and could just barely see over the rails of the Komagata Maru when it docked in Burrard Inlet 94 years ago.

Despite that, Daljit Singh, the personal assistant to the man who led the voyage, was proud as he looked out over the water to Vancouver after a month-long voyage that began in Asia, Mr. Gill said.

But after a two-month standoff in British Columbia, the Komagata Maru was turned away, marking one of the most shameful chapters in Canadian immigration history.

Now, the federal government is preparing to apologize for its exclusion of 376 would-be immigrants from India.

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TORONTO - The Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) is the co-recipient of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation Award of Excellence. In a ceremony May 2 in Calgary, representatives of CCNC shared the spotlight with co-recipient Le Carrefour BLE and 5 other Award finalists. CRRF also anounced the establishment of a new fund to recognize the efforts of CCNC, redress-seeking groups and the Chinese Canadian community for its efforts in seeking redress of the Chinese Head Tax, Newfoundland Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion Act.

Sid Chow Tan, CCNC National Chairperson and President of the Head Tax Families Society of Canada and Victor Wong, CCNC Executive Director attended the CRRF Gala. Over the last 24 years, CCNC has worked in coalition with head tax families, redress-seeking groups and activists and allies including the Head Tax Families Society of Canada and the Ontario Coalition of Chinese Head Tax Families and lobbied the administrations of seven Prime Ministers in seeking a just and honourable resolution.

“We are honoured to share this recognition with Le Carrefour BLE and with all of the finalists, the honourable mentions and all of the groups that participated in the CRRF Award of Excellence this year,” Sid Tan, CCNC National Chairperson said today. “We share this recognition with the head tax families, redress-seeking groups and activists and allies from coast to coast to coast who assisted us over the years in the 24-year campaign for justice.”

The Chinese Head Tax (1885 - 1923), Newfoundland Head Tax (1906-1949) and Chinese Exclusion Act (1923 - 1947) were racist legislation targeted directly at people of Chinese descent. On June 22, 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered a Parliamentary Apology in the House of Commons and announced direct redress in the form of $20,000 ex-gratia payments to living head tax payers and surviving spouses and a $2.5 million community education fund. More than 82,000 Chinese paid the Chinese Head Tax, yet only 800 living head tax payers and surviving spouses will receive direct redress.

CCNC continues the campaign for inclusive redress by calling upon the Canadian Government to extend a meaningful apology in the form of direct redress to all head tax families. There are some 3000 families where the head tax payer and spouse have both passed away and these families are excluded under the June 22, 2006 Parliamentary Apology and redress announcement. The sons and daughters of the head tax payers were also directly affected by this legislation and experienced poverty, racism, family separation and lost educational opportunity first hand.

Founded 28 years ago on April 20, 1980, CCNC is a national non-profit organization with 27 chapters across Canada and a community leader for Chinese Canadians in promoting a more just, respectful, and inclusive society.

For more information contact: Victor Wong at (416) 977-9871.

From Libby Davies

Dear friends,

Recently the Conservative government in Ottawa tried to sneak controversial changes into the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) through the House of Commons via C-50 (the Budget Implementation Act). These sweeping changes give enormous powers to the Minister to decide which categories of immigration applications will be processed, and which would be ignored or discarded. It also restricts several kinds of applicants based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds that Canadian sponsors can use to bring their relatives into Canada, and gives the Minister extraordinary powers to deny visas to those who meet all the immigration criteria and have been waiting for years to have their cases conclude. NDP Immigration Critic Olivia Chow has done excellent work in opposition to these unfair and misguided changes. To learn more about the changes, visit her website.

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PSAC National Aboriginal Peoples’ Conference - “Maawangiteeng”: Where The Journey Begins.

Conference Objectives

The objectives of our 2008 PSAC National Aboriginal Peoples’ Conference are to:

• Connect with our Aboriginal Brothers and Sisters
• Educate and build capacity within Aboriginal communities and the Union
• Politicize Aboriginal Rights around the eradication of poverty (clean water, housing, education), for quality public service and a clean environment
• Raise awareness of the Union’s role in advancing Aboriginal Peoples’ Rights in the workplace, community and society as a whole

Delegates

A PSAC member who is a member in good standing and who self-identifies as Aboriginal can apply to be a delegate to this Conference. The selection of delegates will take into account union and equality rights activism, as well as representation criteria (i.e., Region, Component, language and other equity group representation such as gender, disability, etc.).

Delegates will be selected by their respective Regions and Components. The delegates will be entitled to full voice and vote during the conference, including the resolutions and elections processes.

Funding for Delegates:

Delegate costs to the 2008 PSAC National Aboriginal Peoples’ Conference will be fully covered as per the 2003 PSAC Triennial Convention decision and PSAC Travel Directive. Costs covered are as follows:

• travel costs, including ground transportation;
• hotel accommodation costs at the Winnipeg Fairmont Hotel;
• loss of salary;
• per diem for meals;
• incidental costs;
• child care as per the Family Care Policy;
• costs related to accessibility requirements.

Observers

PSAC members who are members in good standing and who self-identify as Aboriginal may also attend the 2008 PSAC National Aboriginal Peoples’ Conference as observers; however, observers will be responsible for all costs associated with their participation, including:

• loss of salary and meals;
• hotel and travel arrangements and costs;
• the conference registration fee of $150.00;
• any additional accessibility needs and childcare arrangements (subject to meeting deadline requirements).

Please note that the number of Observers will be limited to the space available at the Conference. They will have voice only during the discussion period after panel presentations. They can attend the sharing circles, if space permits, but may not be able to select the topic. Observers do not have the right to voice or vote during the resolutions debate and elections processes.

For more information and online registration, visit the Conference & Convention section of the PSAC national website or download the attached package (pdf).

Transsomatechnics: Theories and Practices of Transgender Embodiment
A Transdisciplinary International Conference, May 1- 3, 2008, SFU Harbour Centre

Keynote Speakers and Plenary Speakers

Cabral, Mauro - Bio, “My Name is Truth”, Trans Issues within Human Rights Frameworks
Murray, Samantha - Bio, Banded Bodies: The TransSomatechnics of Obesity Surgery
Noble, Bobby - Bio, Transed-Nationalisms: On the Limits of Whiteness
Najmabadi, Afsaneh - Transing and Transpassing Across Sex-Gender Walls in Iran
Namaste, Viviane - BioKnowledge for whom?  Trans Women, HIV and the Field of “Trans Studies
Pugliese, Joseph - Transpositions of Transsomatechnics
Sullivan, Nikki - Bio, The Matter of Transsomatechnics

My name is Kiran Arora and I am a Ph.D. student at Syracuse University, in the Marriage and Family Therapy department. I am conducting a research study which seeks to understand the impact of political violence in Punjab India, on Sikh diaspora in Vancouver.

Specifically, I would like to understand your views on what it means to be living in Vancouver, Canada as part of the Sikh diaspora. Further, I would like to understand how the political violence in Punjab, India has impacted you, your relationships and your position in the world, as a member of the Sikh diaspora in Vancouver.

This study will be pioneering in the field of Marriage and Family Therapy because this topic area has not been studied before. Bringing forth the unique experiences of the Sikh diaspora will be informative for those working in the mental health field. It will also allow the unique stories and voices of Sikh diaspora to take space in academia, where these voices can be acknowledged, and understood.

I am looking for potential volunteers for my study and hope that you will consider participating. If you wish to participate you must meet the following criteria:

1. You must be born outside of India, to parents who were born in India.
2. You must have experienced (first hand or second hand) some of the events affecting the Sikh community in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
3. You must reside in Vancouver.
4. You must self identify as a Sikh.

Participation in this study would be completely voluntary and you may withdraw at any time if you choose to participate. Your confidentiality is of utmost concern, and measures have been put into place to ensure that your confidentiality is protected.

I would be happy to discuss this with you in detail on the phone. The format of this study will be interviews, where I would be interviewing you for 90 to 120 minutes.

If you are interested in this study, please phone/email me. I will give you further information at that time, and also answer any questions or concerns you may have.

Kiran S.K. Arora
kiransarora@gmail.com
315.383.5400 - Syracuse, N.Y.
604.719.1871 - Vancouver, B.C.

“Challenging the Myths of Migration, Building workers’ solidarity in Canada”

A critical look at the expansion of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Workers’ Program (TFWP)

• Community Forum
• Sunday, April 6, 2008, 2:00 pm
• Kalayaan Centre, 451 Powell Street, Vancouver (between Jackson & Dunlevy Streets)

Speakers include: SIKLAB-B.C. (Advance the Rights and Welfare of Overseas Filipino Workers and their Families), Justicia for Migrant Worker, Other speakers to be announced. For more information: email: ilps_canada@shawcable.com

March 21 is a time to remember those who fought against racism and for equality and human rights. We must honour them by taking up the torch and continuing the struggle, especially at a time of relentless neoconservative efforts to roll back our gains.

A more recent example of these efforts is the Harper minority government’s refusal to participate in the upcoming United Nations International Forum to Against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Xenophobia.

A further look at the Harper government’s record on human rights and equality makes it obvious that the Conservatives have no interest in fighting racism and discrimination.

In two years of government under the Conservative Party, it has:

• eliminated the Court Challenges Program,
• eliminated the Law Reform Commission,
• scrapped valuable literacy and equity programming to communities, including Aboriginal communities,
• reduced social development programs under the Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC),
• reduced programs that facilitate cultural awareness under Multiculturalism,
• refused to recognize Aboriginal rights in Canada and in the international forum, and
• detained racialized people under security certificates without proper due process.

Furthermore, the Conservative government, in its pursuit for corporate profits over the universal welfare of Canadians, continues to make cuts to quality public services and to privatize these services. It ignores the historical role that quality public services have played in Canada in ensuring equality and human rights.

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March 21 marks the anniversary of the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa when police opened fire on hundreds of South Africans protesting against Apartheid’s passbook laws, killing 67 and wounding 186. Join us on March 21, International Day for the Elimination of Racism, to show our communities collective strength in challenging ongoing racism.

• COMMUNITY MARCH
• Friday March 21 at 1 pm
• (Good Friday Holiday)
• Meet at Clark Park on Commercial Drive and 14th
• Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories

Bring your children and family, there will be food, water and snacks during the march. Rest vehicles will accompany the march. All welcome!

Mark your calendars! Multi Union Pride will be meeting on the last Thursday of the month at the PSAC offices. The office is located at 5238 Joyce Street - right at the Joyce Skytrain Station. Meetings will start at 7pm and will generally run 75 to 90 minutes. Many GIANT thanks to our friends at PSAC for their generosity in assisting our group.

So our next meeting will be on February 28 at 7pm.

Proposed agenda is as follows

• approval of the agenda
• approval of the minutes
• Elections of officers
  • Chair (overseeing the organization, chairing meetings, signing officer)
  • Vice-Chair (assist the Chair in various duties as required)
  • Recording Secretary (take notes at the meetings, and send to the Chair for distribution)
  • Treasurer (overseeing the finances of the organization, prepare statement for membership, signing officer)
  • Float Committee Chair (overseeing the logistics of the float construction)

None of the tasks should be too onerous, and if everyone helps out, the year will be a breeze. If you would like to put your name forward, and are not able to attend the meeting, please let me or someone attending the meeting know.

There may be some new activists in your union who may be interested in participating in MUP. Please feel free to invite them to this meeting.

Rights, Not Wrongs: The role of unions in creating a better world

A joint conference for human rights activists in the labour movement sponsored by the BC Federation of Labour and the BC Teachers’ Federation. The conference will focus on emerging human rights issues, featuring leading BC human rights specialists in First Nations, peace, anti-poverty, women’s rights, antiracism, international issues and many more.

• Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
• April 3-5 2008
• Keynote Speaker: Stephen Lewis, Friday April 4th @ 7:30PM

Organized by the BCTF Committee for Action on Social Justice and the BC Federation of Labour Human Rights Commitee. For more information, visit www.bctf.ca or www.bcfed.ca. Download the Rights not Wrongs poster (pdf).

OTTAWA - The picture of employment of historically marginalized Canadians in the federal public service is not as rosy as the government would like to have us believe, says the Public Service Alliance of Canada, a union representing more than 100,000 federal public service workers.

“The report submitted by the Canada Public Service Agency to Parliament on Employment Equity support many of our arguments that we presented earlier this week to the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights,” says Ed Cashman, the PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President for the National Capital Region.

• Read the report submitted to Parliament here (pdf)

For example, the government claims it is meeting its targets with respect to the representation of persons with disabilities relative to their labour market availability. However, the number of persons with disabilities who are hired into the government is below their labour market availability rate.

“In other words,” says Cashman, “the federal government is meeting its legal obligation not through proportional hirings but through injury and illness of workers already on the job. Some workers become persons with disabilities through the course of their careers.”

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Lawyer, senator, union leader agree minorities are unwelcome

Don Butler, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Justice Canada is a “very poisonous, toxic department” that drives visible minorities out the door, says a high-profile former Justice lawyer.

Mark Persaud, who left Justice in 2003, told a Senate committee the atmosphere during the decade he worked there was rife with “overt racism and intimidation of employees.”

His testimony came on the heels of charges by a senator and the Public Service Alliance of Canada that racism is blocking visible minorities from being properly represented within the federal public service. Nova Scotia Senator Donald Oliver, who is black, bluntly asserted at Monday night’s Senate committee meeting that “it is racism that is preventing visible minorities from progressing in the public service.”

And Ed Cashman, a PSAC vice-president, told senators that racism is “the elephant in the room” that nobody in government wants to talk about.

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As the PSAC celebrates Black History Month, it recognizes and honours the contributions of its Black members and members of African heritage. The actions and dedication of these members have helped advance the PSAC and put us in the forefront in the struggle for human rights and equality. Their strength, courage and vibrancy are exemplified in the success of the union in negotiations, membership representation, political advocacy and the various committees, including the Equal Opportunities and Human Rights Committees.

This year, we commemorate the contributions of an astounding labour and human rights advocate who was one of the founding members of the PSAC: James Calbert Best. The son of a human rights activist and a railway porter, his career in the federal public sector began in the Department of Labour in 1949, where he co-founded the Civil Service Association of Canada, one of the organizations that merged in 1966 to form the PSAC.

• More at the Ottawa Citizen: Man of stature remembered as ‘ideal public servant’

Cal was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, and as a young man founded, with his mother, the first African-Canadian owned newspaper in that town, The Clarion. The paper covered local news and sports, but more importantly, delved into the deeper racial issues facing black people in Nova Scotia and across North America. It featured the case of Viola Desmond, who has been referred to as a Canadian Rosa Parks. In 1946, she was arrested and fined for sitting in the “whites only” section of the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow and refused to move when authorities tried to force her to.

After achieving degrees in political science and public administration, he embarked on a 49-year career in the federal public sector, including a term as Canadian High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago.

Even in retirement, his considerable contribution continued. In 1999, he served as a member of the Treasury Board President’s Task Force on the Participation of Visible Minorities in the Federal Public Service.

Cal Best died in the summer of 2007 at the age of 81.

In honour of Cal Best, the PSAC reaffirms its commitment to combating racism in the workplace and extends this invitation to every PSAC member to contribute to the forging of solidarity between all sisters and brothers.

The PSAC is encouraging its members to commemorate Black History Month by organizing or participating in an event that raises awareness about this month, particularly the contributions of Black workers in the Canadian labour movement. Notify the PSAC’s Programs Section of any activities you hold by calling (613) 560-4387 or by e-mail at lambas@psac.com.

Sharon McIvor is a member of the Lower Nicola Band, a practicing member of the Law Society of British Columbia, and a Professor of Aboriginal Law at Nicola Valley Institute of Technology, where she is on the executive of her trade union, the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators. For many years, Sharon McIvor has been a national leader in the Native Women’s Association of Canada and the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action.

Recently, in an unprecedented constitutional case, Sharon McIvor successfully challenged the continuing preferential treatment given to males and those whose Indian status is traced from male ancestors, as a violation of section 15, the equality guarantee of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

On June 7, 2007, in McIvor v. Canada, Judge Carol Ross of the British Columbia Supreme Court ruled that the federal government must remove sex discrimination from the determination of Indian status and restore equal Indian status to First Nations women and their descendants.

This is a ground-breaking decision that may affect the Indian status of more than 200,000 Aboriginal women and their descendants.

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Picket and Rally

Wednesday, January 30, 4 pm
Picket outside the U.S. Consulate in Vancouver (1075 W. Pender)

War and Occupation are a Health Crisis.

The Israeli occupation is a health crisis for Palestinians. In particular, the total siege by the Israeli Occupation Forces in Gaza effectively detains Palestinian men, women and children in what amounts to a giant open air prison, creating a mounting health emergency by denying even the basic necessities of life. In addition to the Israeli-created public health crisis, Palestinians face arbitrary and criminal military violence from the Israeli occupiers.

The conditions in Gaza demonstrate clearly the criminal nature of the Israeli occupation:

Ongoing killings, assassinations and air attacks by Israeli occupation forces; already in January, 2008, Israeli occupying forces in Gaza have killed 26 Palestinians, including children and women, and wounded 44 others. This death toll does not include the countless others whose physical and mental health hangs in the balance of the siege.

Tens of thousands are denied access to safe water and sanitation as raw sewage runs through the streets. General scarcity of food, clean water, and fuel, resulting in malnutrition, disease are a public health clamity. Gaza is on the verge of a humanitarian, health and environmental crisis, threatening the lives of 1.5 million civilians.

Surgical operations and medical aid are suspended at hospitals due to lack of power and supplies, leaving patients languishing in need of medical attention. Furthermore, medical personal are unable to reach people due to the siege conditions.

Blockade of supplies for UN Relief and Works Agency which supplies over 900,000 Palestinians in refugee camp; humanitarian aid is suspended in a region where 85% of the Palestinian population depends upon humanitarian aid their basic needs for survival.

The U.S. and Canadian governments share culpability for this disaster as they continue to support the Israeli occupation. The U.S.A. provides billions of dollars in aid to Israel annually, much of it military aid. Meanwhile the Canadian government has over the last several years shifted to a position of essentially unconditional support for Israel at the U.N. and was the first government to cut humanitarian aid to Palestinians following their democratic election in 2006, punishment for not voting for the ‘correct’ representatives.

Peace, justice and health for Palestinians are impossible under conditions of occupation and siege. We must speak out! We must ACT NOW to break the siege and end the occupation.

Break the Siege on Gaza!

Canada & U.S. - stop supporting Israeli war crimes!

End the Israeli Occupation! Free Palestine!

Organized by the Health Now! Campaign, Alliance for Peoples Health, Al Awda – Palestinian Right of Return Coalition, International League of Peoples Struggles participating organizations in Vancouver (BC Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, Grassroots Women, Ugnayan Ng Kabataang Pilipino Sa Canada/Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance, SIKLAB, Bus Riders Union, Filipino Nurses Support Group), Free Ahmed Sa’adat Campaign.

Email contact.

The deadline for nominations for the racially visible delegate to the B.C. Regional Convention has been extended to Friday, January 25th at 4 p.m. The Convention will be held in Vancouver from April 18-20, 2008.

Nominations for the racially visible delegate are open to racially visible members in good standing who have self-identified. Please ensure you have completed the self-identification form.

Please see the attached nomination form (pdf) which may be faxed to the REVP office at (604) 430-0194.

The next Human Rights Committee meeting will be February 12th

• Human Rights Committee meeting
• Tuesday, February 12th, 5:45PM
• PSAC Vancouver RO, 5238 Joyce Street
• participation via conference call is available, if requested in advance

Agenda

• Election of delegate to BC Regional Convention
• More TBA

Please RSVP to Regina Brennan - brennar@psac.com

Recruitment rate drops as pool grows; critics call for penalties if government can’t reach hiring goals

Kathryn May, The Ottawa Citizen (Monday, January 14, 2008)

The federal government’s multimillion-dollar plan to hire and promote visible minorities has failed and it’s time to start imposing tough penalties if departments don’t meet hiring goals, critics say.

Despite the government’s push, visible minorities are losing ground in the public service, and their under-representation will only become more marked as their share of Canada’s population increases.

Staffing watchdog Maria Barrados, president of the Public Service Commission, raised the alarm when she found the recruitment rate of visible minorities fell last year even though overall hiring in departments increased. Despite that hiring spree, recruitment of visible minorities dropped from 9.8 per cent to 8.7 per cent of all hires.

“I was optimistic we could close the gaps more rapidly. I had not expected that downturn and that is quite a significant downturn. … It means that we have reached a level that we seem to be getting into the public service and we are not going beyond that because all of our recruitment is going up and the proportion is not going up,” she told a Senate committee.

In a bid to catch up, Ms. Barrados has asked Statistics Canada to determine how many visible minorities departments will have to recruit “within a reasonable amount of time” so its workforce reflects Canada’s labour force. She also launched a series of surveys and reviews to determine why visible minorities can’t land jobs in the public service in anywhere near the large numbers that apply.

What’s worrisome is that this dip comes at a time when the number of foreign-born Canadians — who are mostly visible minorities — in the labour market continues to climb.

Last year’s census revealed Canada’s foreign-born population grew four times as fast as that of the Canadian-born population during the first half of this decade and accounts for nearly one in five people who live here, a 75-year high.

“One in five Canadians will be visible minorities by 2017. That’s like the population of Quebec, which brings a lot of social, economic and political power with it,” said Errol Mendes, a law professor at the University of Ottawa.

“This is as much about the economy and sustainability of the public service and the private sector has caught onto this much faster.”

Under Canada’s employment equity laws, the government must hire women, people with disabilities, aboriginals and visible minorities in proportion to their share of the labour force. Departments are only trailing in the hiring of visible minorities, who make up 10.4 per cent of the labour force but have 8.6 per cent of federal jobs. Women, people with disabilities and aboriginals are hired at rates higher than they represent in the labour force.

On paper, getting more racial minorities into the public service has been a federal priority since the Liberals approved targets in 2000 recommended by the Embracing Change task force. It called for one in five new hires to be a visible minority by 2003. Similarly, one in five promotions into the executive ranks was to be a visible minority by 2005.

But a recent Senate study found the government went backwards and only one in 10 new hires is a visible minority.

Many say the poor showing will ratchet the pressure for new targets and tough penalties to enforce them.

Fo Niemi, the director general of the Centre of Research-Action for Race Relations, said the problem is Canada’s laws and policies aren’t enforced and there are no consequences.

The Senate’s human rights committee echoed that criticism and urged a cut in pay for deputy ministers, such as withholding their performance bonuses, if departments don’t hire enough visible minorities. Mr. Niemi, however, said ministers should be “accountable” if departments fall short.

The Embracing Change targets, led by Lewis Perinbam, lost momentum and the Harper government has shown little enthusiasm in pursuing them. Ms. Barrados said those targets are now being reworked and will have to be increased to catch up with the growth of visible minorities in the labour market. (Mr. Perinbam, a longtime bureaucrat, died last month.)

Governments have been bedeviled why visible minorities don’t get more jobs because they show such high interest. The commission’s studies reveal they accounted for 25.7 per cent of applications, but have 10.5 per cent of the jobs. This discrepancy is larger in some regions, departments and occupations.

Visible minorities are also more educated than most applicants; half have bachelor degrees or higher. Language doesn’t seem to be a barrier, especially for entry jobs, and neither does the preference for Canadian citizenship.

Ms. Barrados said the commission has been studying the recruitment process for about a year to determine where visible minorities drop out. She said they meet the advertised job requirements; fill in all forms properly and sail through the first screening. She now plans to survey visible minority applicants to ask them why they don’t think they landed the jobs.

Mr. Niemi said he suspects the dropoff happens after the interviews, which are often done by panels without visible minority members. The public service has long been dominated by white men and people tend to hire those who look like them, the Senate report said.

“It’s natural for people to like to hire and retain those they are most comfortable with. That’s the natural rule of selection and why men hire male buddies and work with people from the same cultural group,” he said.

Deborah Gillis, vice-president of the research firm Catalyst, said her studies show visible minority managers, professionals and executives in the private sector feel excluded from relationships that often help people get ahead, such as those forged by networking or with mentors and role models. She said many don’t feel comfortable going for drinks, paying golf or to see hockey games, especially women. She said nearly half felt they were held to higher performance standards and said who you know was critical to getting ahead.

Ms. Barrados said the big problem is departments aren’t strategic in their personnel planning, which should include plans for visible minorities.

She said she hoped that would change now that departments have been ordered to publicly post staffing and business plans on websites by the end of March.

She said the fact that departments rely on term and casual workers as their main pool of talent for permanent jobs also affects the number of visible minorities. These short-term workers are typically hired locally, through networks or contacts. Once hired, they get the inside track on permanent jobs. Visible minorities, however, don’t have the same contacts and are also concentrated in big cities of Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2008

Human Rights Committee Meeting, November 6th

In attendance:

• Chair - Sargy Chima
• by phone – Floyd Knelson
• Food - Wanda Mundy and Sharon Tieman
• Alexander Bishop
• Tracy Shudo
• Carol Pegura
• Rhonda Brain
• Kim Forster
• staff resource person - Regina Brennan

Regrets from Todd Harding, Carolyn McGillivray, and Valerie Hargreaves

Agenda

1. Chair and minute taker
2. Planning for the Human Rights Day dinner
3. Poster contest
4. Announcements
5. Conferences and Conventions
6. Planning for next year

Continue reading below or download the BC Human Rights Committee meeting minutes - Nov 6 2007

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