Ontario government program that targets black women for promotion labelled ‘repugnant’ by taxpayers group

An Ontario government pilot program that singles out employees in the public service who “self-identify as black female” for career advancement has been labelled a “scandal” by a prominent taxpayers advocacy group.

The program, called Administrative Internship Pilot Program, is a one-year scheme that will accept 10 employees from within the Ontario Public Service — but only those who “self-identify as black female” can apply.

“The purpose of this internship program, which has been developed after considering employees’ feedback and OPS employment data, is to begin to increase the representation of black, female employees in functional roles [such as] communications, finance, policy and procurement,” a December 5 memo to Ministry of Government Services employees says.

Gregory Thomas of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, a government accountability lobby group, said Ontarians should be “appalled” by a program.

“The idea you’d create an advertised program and say ‘We’ll only accept you if have this racial ancestry’…That’s repugnant,” Thomas told the Post. “We wouldn’t tolerate a small business … only advancing people because they are of one race or another. It would be a scandal.

“The idea that this could take root in the Ontario government, it’s got to be troubling to every Ontarian of good conscience.”

The government memo adds that 26% of black employees in the Ontario Public Service are in a administrative position, compared to 17% of the entire organization. Additionally, 46% of black administrative employees are unhappy with their career progression, compared to 27% of the rest of employees.