The civil service glass ceiling

News that a white francophone would be taking the top job at the Quebec Intercultural Council has some local groups questioning just how far a minority member can get in the provincial civil service. Fo Niemi, executive director of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR), says the appointment of Pierre Anctil, an academic and researcher already employed by the PQ government as director of intercultural relations at the Ministry of Citizen Relations and Immigration, sends the wrong kind of message to Quebec minorities.

“There is a problem with the symbolism of the appointment,” Niemi says. “It tells us that if you are a member of a minority, you can’t be appointed to the head of anything. And traditionally, this post has gone to minority members.” Niemi adds that only three provincial agencies are headed by minorities, ethnic or linguistic. “It’s basically telling minorities to go to the back of the bus, because they will only be playing a secondary role.”

The Quebec Intercultural Council is an autonomous research and advisory body attached to the Ministry of Citizen Relations and Immigration. Because it acts, in part, as a bridge between minority groups and the government, and often criticizes government policy, Niemi is worried that Anctil’s political connections will affect the council’s autonomy. He also thinks there are other candidates, notably two black women with better grassroots credentials, more suitable for the job. :
—Patrick Lejtenyi