Two former employees of Global Affairs Canada (GAC) delivered emotional testimony this week, describing what they called a culture of systemic racism and harassment inside the federal department responsible for promoting human rights abroad. The accounts came during a press conference organized by the Coalition Against Workplace Discrimination, led by activist Nicholas Marcus Thompson.Thompson said the coalition has heard from roughly 100 current and former GAC employees, most of them racialized women, who describe experiencing racism, discrimination and retaliation across Canada and in diplomatic missions abroad. .He alleged that ambassadors and senior officials have targeted employees “with impunity,” while internal mechanisms meant to protect workers instead shield managers from accountability.“The discrimination is not isolated,” Thompson said. “It is institutionalized. It shapes who is given opportunity, who is denied it, and who is punished for speaking out.”Among those speaking was Madina Iltireh, who worked as an assistant to the Canadian ambassador in Kuwait..Iltireh said she faced racial harassment and isolation while serving overseas. When she filed a complaint, she said the department’s Values and Ethics Committee dismissed it without interviewing key witnesses.Iltireh later took her case to Federal Court, which ruled in her favour, finding that Global Affairs’ internal process had been “unlawful” and violated principles of fairness.A subsequent investigation confirmed that her ambassador had bullied and discriminated against her, but she said there has still been “no apology, no accountability, and no justice.”.Another former employee, Rosaline Mouana, shared a similar experience of prolonged harassment within the department’s Public Affairs branch.Mouana said she suffered severe mental health impacts, was forced to take medical leave, and ultimately resigned after her complaints went unanswered. She said the experience left her financially and emotionally devastated.“I lost my career, my pension, my benefits, my home, my mind,” Mouana said. “There was no respect, no reintegration, and no support.”.Thompson said the stories highlight a systemic problem across the federal public service. He noted that Canada’s Integrity Commissioner found in 2022 that GAC committed “gross mismanagement” by failing to protect employees in one of the harassment cases mentioned.He argued that the existing complaint system, where departments investigate their own misconduct, is inherently flawed. “The system is incapable of policing itself,” he said. “Workers cannot seek justice from the same systems that failed to protect them.”The coalition is calling on the federal government and Defence Minister Anita Anand, who now oversees Global Affairs, to implement three key reforms..The creation of a resolution committee within Global Affairs Canada to review outstanding cases of discrimination, staffed by independent experts and worker representatives; the establishment of an independent investigative body separate from federal departments to handle complaints of racism, harassment and discrimination across the public service; and the implementation of Employment Equity Act reforms recommended by a federal task force in 2023, which the government has yet to act on.“These are the basic steps needed to restore trust, integrity and fairness in Canada’s public institutions,” Thompson said. “We don’t want more reports or empty promises, we expect action.”The allegations outlined by Iltireh and Mouana span a period during which Global Affairs was overseen by several Liberal ministers, including Chrystia Freeland, François-Philippe Champagne, Marc Garneau, Mélanie Joly and now Anita Anand..Thompson said that despite repeated government promises to address systemic racism within the public service, little has changed for affected employees.Global Affairs Canada has previously acknowledged that systemic racism exists within the department and has pledged internal reforms to promote equity and fairness.However, Thompson and other speakers said the measures so far amount to “band-aid solutions” that fail to address the root causes of discrimination.
