The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
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2019 Human Rights and Diversity Committee

Mandate

The Human Rights and Diversity Committee advises and makes recommendations to the Board to address concerns or issues identified in the workplace which contravene the human rights of members. The Committee monitors issues in the field of human rights, coordinates and distributes information on human rights, and provides a forum where human rights issues can be discussed and studied.

2019 Committee Members:

  • Mario Guertin, AV, Quebec, Chair,
  • Tracy Thornton, AFS, British Columbia/Yukon
  • Samah Henein, AFS, Prairie / NWT
  • Imam (Din) Kamaldin, AFS, Ontario
  • Charlotte Young, RMG (AV), NCR
  • Sonia Richard, SH, Quebec
  • Muhammed Z. Abudulai, CFIA-VM, Atlantic
  • Waheed Khan, SP, Friend of Committee, Board Liaison
  • Gordon Bulmer, CS, Friend of Committee

The 2019 Human Rights and Diversity Committee of the Board held its first meeting on Friday March 11, 2019 at the PIPSC National Office in Ottawa. The Committee is planning to have at least 3 more meetings this year.

During the last year, the Committee reviewed the National AGM & other events in respect of Duty to Accommodate to ensure all mobility, visibility, hearing impairment, dietary restrictions/allergies, scent sensitivities, childcare needs, family and work-life balance concerns were being addressed prior to events. Steps were taken to ensure accommodations requests for members attending the AGM were identified and acted upon. The Committee also attended the AGM to assist delegates with accommodation requests during the event and wore identifying scarves in order to identify themselves to the rest of the delegates.  

The Committee reviewed the Joint Union/Management’s “Building a Diverse and Inclusive Public Service: Final Report” which provided many recommendations to develop government wide policies and procedures to ensure the public service is representative of Canada’s population, diverse and welcoming, inclusive and supportive, aligned with Canada’s human rights and committed to innovation and achieving results. The Committee focused on two of the recommendations:

1)Undertake deliberate, centralized and measurable action to address racism, discrimination, harassment and bias in the public service, including establishing deputy head accountabilities, tracking incidences and ensuring timely resolution.
2)Institute human resources planning to ensure diversity and employment equity representativeness within workplaces, monitor the representativeness and review staffing actions through the diversity and inclusion lens

The HRDC Committee will be focusing on the following issues and projects during upcoming year to highlight Human Rights and Diversity issues: 

1.PIPSC Events and Duty to Accommodate : Continue efforts to ensure that all mobility, visibility, hearing impairment, dietary restrictions/allergies, scent sensitivities, childcare needs, family and work-life balance and prayer/silent room issues are addressed prior to PIPSC events.
2.Human Rights and Diversity Days : Highlight and recognize important days on the PIPSC news feed.
4.PIPSC Website : Human Rights and Diversity Page – Improve information and links on the page for easy access to Human Rights and Diversity information. 
5.HRDC Committee & Training & Education Collaboration : Review PIPSC training provided to Stewards and Executives on Human Rights, Harassment and Bullying

This report is respectfully submitted on behalf of the 2019 Human Rights and Diversity Committee.
In Solidarity,
Tracy Thornton
Member from British Columbia / Yukon