Justice Canada Accused of Being 'Rife With Racism'

Today's edition of the Ottawa Citizen reports on recent testimony in front of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights to the effect that "overt racism and intimidation" are driving away visible minorities at Justice Canada.

The testimony came at a Feb. 4 hearing from Mark Persaud, a lawyer who left Justice in 2003. So far, committee proceedings on the issue of employment equity in the federal public service are available online for the meetings of November and December 2007.

According to the article in the Ottawa Citizen:

"The Public Service Commission recently revealed that the recruitment rate of visible minorities fell last year despite an increase in hiring overall. Visible minorities now make up 8.6 per cent of federal employees, below their workplace representation of 10.4 per cent, based on the 2001 census. "

"According to the Canada Public Service Agency, the representation of visible minorities in the public service has nearly doubled over the past decade. Between 2001 and 2006, their numbers expanded by almost 6,000, the agency says, bringing the total to more than 15,000 (...)"

"Justice officials say they're doing better than most departments. Visible minorities represent 10.6 per cent of the department's 4,500-member workforce, including 231 visible minority lawyers."