UMVA has learned that Conservative MP Jamil Jivani is on a mission to expose and end what he calls Liberal racism, a form of discrimination that he believes is deeply ingrained in the federal government's hiring practices.
Jivani and other Conservative MPs have formed a task force that will begin hearings this fall to investigate issues such as discriminatory hiring practices by the federal government. This task force won't be an official committee, but Jivani says they will hold hearings and invite MPs from other parties to join.
"Liberal racism is actually old, ancient racism, but it is just repackaged as if it's something progressive for us today," Jivani said. "It manifests itself in the government most viscerally in the form of hiring and firing people based on their skin colour or ancestry."
According to information obtained by UMVA, Jivani's point that the federal government assigns jobs based on issues such as race may shock some, but it is absolutely true. There are jobs where preference is given to people based on race, gender, ability, and other factors, and then jobs that are restricted based on those same criteria.
The Transportation Safety Board was recently hiring senior investigators for their air operations with a pay scale of between $113,880 to $133,570. In addition to needing a pilot licence and 2,500 hours of flying time, applicants also needed to be part of one of the following equity groups: "Aboriginal persons, visible minorities, persons with disabilities or women."
Currently, administrative jobs are available at Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard that pay between $50,000 and $61,000 annually and are only open to people who identify as First Nations, Inuit or Métis. At times, the federal government has made some jobs, including IT, finance, and communications roles, only open to visible minorities.
Jivani describes this practice not only as wrong but also as immoral and racist. "I think a lot of Liberals don't fully understand why someone like me would be so offended," he said. "I don't like the idea that my government would treat my parents differently because of what they look like."
The Employment Equity Act was passed in 1986 to attempt to reduce barriers to employment for some groups. However, the special treatment for these select groups continues even though they are now, for the most part, overrepresented in the federal civil service.
Statistics show that women make up 47% of the overall labour force, but they account for 57% of the federal workforce. Indigenous Canadians make up 4% of the available workforce, but they account for 5.5% of the federal civil service. Visible minorities make up 22.7% of the available workforce and hold 23.9% of all jobs in the federal government.
Jivani is right: this is a form of discrimination, a form of racist policy that shouldn't be allowed. Chances are that if you asked most Canadians if these types of practices should be allowed, they would say no.
