The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE), the Black Class Action Secretariat (BCAS), the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), and Amnesty International are holding a rally and march in front of the Privy Council Offices to demand accountability after damning reports detailing the persistent culture of anti-Black racism within their walls.
PCO employees describe, in a report accessed through the Access to Information Act, a workplace culture where racial stereotyping, microaggressions and verbal abuse are normalized. Black, Indigenous, and racialized employees are also shut out of career-advancing opportunities and clustered in temporary and lower-level positions, compared to their white colleagues.
Emancipation Day marks the liberation of enslaved Indigenous and Black peoples in the British Empire on August 1, 1834. Black communities have celebrated Emancipation Day since the 1850s, but it was only officially designated in Canada in 2021.
When: August 1, 2024 at 11:45 a.m.
Where: Human Rights Monument by Ottawa City Hall and march to the Privy Council Offices at Elgin and Wellington.
Who:
- Nicholas Thompson, BCAS Executive Director
- Alex Silas, PSAC National Executive Vice President
- Nathan Prier, CAPE President
- Laurie Antonin, CBTU Activist
Media Requests
CAPE Media Relations: lgauthier@acep-cape.ca, 613-261-6526
