The City of Montreal recognized systemic racism in June 2020. In the process, it created its Office for the Fight against Racism and Systemic Discrimination and then committed last year to “become an exemplary employer” in this area. As part of this investigation, some thirty racialized employees told the Duty have been victims of racism or discrimination. Experts and unions believe that, despite the City’s commitments, the situation has not really changed on the ground.
The Commissioner of the Office for the Fight against Racism and Systemic Discrimination (BRDS), Bochra Manaï, witnessed a racist incident last fall which took place in her presence during an awareness workshop given to Saint-Léonard managers.
An email obtained by The duty dated October 24, addressed to the borough’s management committee, relates the remarks made to the workshop’s Afro-descendant facilitator, Nathalie Carrénard, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisor at BRDS.
“To describe the lived realities of racism, I referred to the fact that employees were called monkeys in certain boroughs. A manager commented by saying “here, we would have rather thrown bananas at him”, indicates Mme Carnard.
Other racist remarks will be made throughout the workshop. In particular, a manager describes a situation taking as an example a Muslim blue-collar employee fasting during Ramadan, in the middle of summer. Mme Carrénard asks him if it is a real case. “He laughed and told me ‘you said there will be more and more like them, so I’m getting ready'”, says Mme Carrénard in his email.
“I was deeply shocked and humiliated by the words, the laughter, the outbidding in the provocation. I came to lead a workshop, but part of the room used this space as a vent and, me, the black woman, fighting against racism and discrimination, I felt treated like a target on which one can vent rather twice than once without there being the slightest consequence”, indicates the employee of the commissioner’s office in her email, specifying that the second day of this workshop had been just as difficult.
It’s like a puzzle, an endless bureaucracy in which you end up drowning. It’s not acceptable.
According to our sources, Mr.me Carrénard went on sick leave a few days after sending this message. The latter refused to speak to us, invoking her duty of reserve.
Questioned about this incident, Dominique Ollivier, president of the executive committee of the City of Montreal and elected person in charge of the fight against racism specifies that, during such training sessions, it is necessary that “a climate of trust is established for make sure that people “take out the bad guy”, that they don’t feel judged, observed”.
“Then, a good facilitator of this kind of workshop must confront them with what they said. I can imagine that Mme Carrénard, who had to do about thirty workshops like that, at one point, had an overflow,” adds Ms.me Olivier.
In his email, Mr.me Carrénard is worried. “How do these words translate into the management of diversity employees? […] Knowing that any prejudiced person can turn their prejudice into discriminatory actions, the situation concerns me greatly. […] I’m eager to […] to know what actions will be taken. »
In interview with The duty, his boss, Bochra Manaï, confirms having met the management committee of the borough of Saint-Léonard. “They were asked if they were aware of the level of human risk (for their employees confronted with the comments of these managers) and legal (for the risks of lawsuits) that they had. A support process with the borough has since been underway.
Another employee of the Office of the fight against racism has meanwhile thrown in the towel. Alain Babineau left his post a year after being hired as expert in racial and social profiling. “When I arrived, the General Directorate of the City asked me for an “accelerated change”, that my work “be an electric shock in the services of the City”. But it took me four months to meet with the SPVM, when that was my priority objective” Mr. Babineau affirms that the sense of urgency weakened after the municipal elections in the fall of 2021. “We went from “actions” to “commitments”. »
Towards a one-stop shop
No more fine words, place for action, says the Syndicat des cols bleus de Montréal. “When a situation arises, action must be taken immediately to stop it,” says Marilou Lamoureux, vice-president of member services at the Canadian Union of Public Employees in Montreal (CUPE).
Dominique Ollivier is well aware that “the City is a big boat to turn […] But above all, the political message must be clear: zero tolerance in the face of systemic racism. We will find the biases and we will fight them, ”she adds.
For Angelo Soares, full professor in the Department of Organization and Human Resources at ESG UQAM, the opacity of the complaint system that employees must use to obtain justice is the main problem that the City must tackle. “It’s like a puzzle, an endless bureaucracy in which you end up drowning. This is not acceptable,” he sums up.
Dominique Ollivier specifies that the complaints process was being revised to create a one-stop shop. “You have to ask yourself the question: are the people who accept your request well trained to receive it? You have to take the time to train them, to make sure that they are going to put the right resources in place. That’s what the Commissioner’s office does,” she explains.
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Respect for Persons Division is responsible for enforcing the Respect for Persons Policy for the entire municipal system and for handling related complaints. “This policy is being revised to include the notions of racism and systemic discrimination,” the city said by email.
The Syndicat des cols bleus de Montréal regrets that Respect for Persons is not yet well equipped to adequately respond to complaints in this area. “Sometimes, we have main witnesses who are not even called for the investigations”, specifies Marilou Lamoureux, vice-president of member services.
“In 2022, the DEI and Respect for Persons Division carried out 192 interventions in the boroughs. Of this number, one intervention specifically had a ground of racial discrimination, ”indicated the City of Montreal by email.
The Office headed by Bochra Manaï currently has two employees. Pending the creation of the one-stop shop mentioned by Mrme Ollivier, the commissioner and her team must redirect the employee testimonials they receive to the right place.
“It can take time, and I’m not saying here that it’s satisfying that a person who experiences trauma finds a long institutional response, but that’s transformation. »
” It’s too slow “
Dominique Ollivier specifies that she has intervened on several occasions over the past few months, in particular to review the examination and promotion process. “We linked this to the performance evaluation of managers. Once a year, they will have to report, and I asked for an audit with the commission of the public service to evaluate the last 50 cases of promotions , specifies it.
Mandated in 2021 by the union as an independent investigator in the Montreal-North file, Angelo Soares believes that too much effort is being put into awareness and training workshops instead of reinforcing the sanctions. “If it happens in front of people, and there is no sanction, what is the message that is passed on to everyone in this organization? That it’s not serious, that there are no consequences anyway, ”he emphasizes.
Dominique Ollivier indicates that the review of sanctions “is probably the next step in what needs to be reviewed”.
Governance issues
The issues of racism and discrimination handled by the Syndicat des cols bleus de Montréal are very often hampered by problems of governance. “The office of Mr.me Manaï has a power of recommendation only. Afterwards, it is up to the management of each borough to decide whether or not to do what they have to do,” specifies Marilou Lamoureux. “It’s always shoveled into the other’s yard. We go to the central, we are told that it is in the district, and vice versa. Ultimately, it’s never anyone’s fault, but also never anyone’s responsibility,” adds his colleague Alexis Lamy-Labrecque.
A problem that Dominique Ollivier recognizes, who says he is concerned about the testimonies collected by The duty across nine boroughs.
“If what you’re telling me is true, that means it’s even worse than I suspect, […] we will take this extremely seriously and, as soon as possible, we will ask that measures be taken, ”said Ms.me Olivier.
“We are turning the page. Repeat your complaints, we will reopen the files if necessary. We are in a new era, zero tolerance. »