Advancing Anti-racism, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

Kirstan: Hi I’m Kirstan Gagnon, Assistant Commissioner of Communications and Engagement. I’m also CSC’s champion for anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion.

Michael: Hi I’m Michael Olotu, Director General of Rights, Redress and Resolution. I’m the champion for multiculturalism at CSC.

Michael: Today, we wanted to share that our 2021-2023 progress report on anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion is available to read online. While we are proud to share this progress with you, we also recognize that there is much more work that remains to be done.

Kirstan: This progress report outlines the concrete actions we’ve taken towards systemic change for our employees, the stakeholders we work with and those in our care and custody in the federal correctional system.

Michael: For our employees, we’ve launched a Comprehensive Plan on Employment Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for 2022-2025 to remove barriers and ensure equal opportunities for employees in our workplace.

Kirstan: For those in our care and custody, we’ve appointed our first-ever Deputy Commissioner for Indigenous Corrections. We’ve piloted new initiatives like the Black Social History and African Canadian Reintegration Officer, and also announced the development of a Black Offender Strategy to address overrepresentation of Black Canadians in the federal correctional system. As well, we’ve created and implemented new policies including Commissioner’s Directive 100 to provide direction on gender-diverse offenders.

Michael: While we’ve accomplished a lot in the last two years, there is more work to do. Our efforts are ongoing and we’ve committed to making this a priority. That’s why we’ve created a new anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion directorate within CSC that is helping us advance this important work.

Kirstan: We invite to you to read the progress report to learn more about what we’ve done and what we’re doing. In the coming months we have also committed to launching a second version of the Anti-Racism Framework, which will be developed with input from consultations that have been taking place across the country.

Michael: You can also find a placemat ‘report card’ version of the report, as well as articles and videos of diversity and representation in action at CSC on our new web page. Thank you.