Federal employment discrimination: Blacks demand 2.6 billion
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The former RCMP officer notes that over time, the federal government has settled similar claims out of court made by LGBTQ+ communities, women, and Indigenous peoples.
He is director of advocacy (francophone) for the Black Class Action Secretariat which is seeking $2.6 billion from Ottawa on behalf of some 30,000 Black civil servants, former and current, who have lost "opportunities and benefits" because of their ethnicity, since 1975.
The Class Action was filed in 2020 and the group is still at the authorization stage before the courts. The request, rejected in 2024, is currently in Federal Court of Appeal. There are 14 plaintiffs in this action against various federal agencies, including the RCMP, Customs, Correctional Service, Justice among others.
"David versus Goliath"
Only three lawyers represent Black people in this Class Action, while the government has an imposing battery of lawyers on this file. "It's a battle in the manner of David versus Goliath, points out Alain Babineau, we discovered, through a request to the House that the government has spent $15 million to date to defend itself."
The former RCMP officer notes that over time, the federal government has settled similar demands made by LGBTQ+ communities, women, and Indigenous peoples out of court. "We Black people, the government says no and spends our money," denounces Mr. Babineau.
However, the government agrees to create a Committee on the Review of the Employment Equity Act. "This implicitly indicates that Ottawa admits there is a problem," emphasizes Alain Babineau.
The Group has just won another round in the battle. The Canadian Human Rights Commission has just referred, on February 27th, their complaint on anti-Black systemic racism in the federal public service to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal for investigation.
"There will therefore be a public and independent process to study cases of hiring discrimination, barriers to promotions, unfair disciplinary measures and harassment incidents denounced by Black civil servants for decades," indicates, in a press release, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).