March 17, 2023 – OTTAWA – The Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) met with executive members of the Indigenous Federal Employees Network (IFEN) to better understand the distinct challenges Indigenous federal sector employees face, and ways for unions to help advocate for their community.
A lack of awareness of Indigenous peoples’ culture and experiences results in cultural incompetence, according to IFEN, and is one of the root causes of discrimination and hostility towards Indigenous employees. To help build cultural awareness and sensitivity, the network recommended CAPE use its platform and influence to educate and inform its membership about the unique history and experiences of Indigenous peoples.
IFEN brought attention to the underrepresentation of Indigenous peoples at the executive level in government. The result is a lack of proper representation and Indigenous voices and perspectives in government, which contributes to poor cultural understanding. The network attributed this in large part to the language requirements and proposed an exemption for Indigenous employees to be bilingual through an amendment to the Treasury Board’s Directive on Official Languages.
The need for more Indigenous voices in the union space was also raised, with the suggestion that unions should explore creative ways to involve the community leaders that are active in federal sector networks in union leadership. They often find themselves playing many formal and informal roles within their communities and in the workplace, leaving them burdened with an excess of responsibilities. It was also pointed out that Indigenous women often bear a higher burden when it comes to community care and representation, an important factor to consider.
CAPE and IFEN remain committed to working together to continue addressing the challenges faced by Indigenous employees – both in the workplace and within the Association.
As of March 31, 2022, there were 12,366 federal public service employees who identified as Indigenous. To live up to our values and our standing responsibility to champion human rights for all, CAPE is committed to strengthening its support for Indigenous communities’ rights and encouraging its members to join in the effort in every way they can.
Outreach to equity-deserving groups
The meeting with the IFEN is part of a broader effort by CAPE to better understand the unique challenges faced by various equity-deserving groups in the federal public sector.
To fulfill that commitment, CAPE has been reaching out to networks representing various equity-deserving groups within the public sector to discuss the specific barriers they have met.
Through these meetings, CAPE aims to:
- Learn more about members’ unique challenges in the federal workplace when it comes to matters of diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as discrimination and harassment.
- Explore ways to collaborate to spark members’ interest in union life, to improve representation at the local and national levels within these communities.
- Explore areas of collaboration for advocacy within the federal government.
CAPE has and will continue to meet with other employee networks, including the Jewish Public Servants’ Network, the Network of Asian Federal Employees, the Muslim Federal Employees Network, the Federal Black Employee Caucus, the Network for Neurodivergent Public Servants, and the Public Service Pride Network, to learn about the challenges these communities also face within the public sector.
If you belong to another federal network representing a group of equity-deserving employees not listed above, please reach out to CAPE so that we can arrange a discussion with members of their executive team.
You may contact us at general@acep-cape.ca.
Meeting attendees:
Sayyedya Francis IFEN executive
Meagan Commonda IFEN executive
Leah Wherry IFEN executive
Ashlyn Quesnelle IFEN executive
Greg Phillips President, CAPE
Katia Thériault Director, Communications and Public Affairs, CAPE
Dina Epale Senior Advocacy and Public Affairs Advisor, CAPE
