Jennifer Espey s work also formed part of the discussions held at a series of cross-Canada roundtables on inclusiveness, sponsored by the task force and carried out by the Centre for Collaborative Government in Ottawa. These roundtables featured an impressive collection of public servants, academics and leading thinkers in diversity, multiculturalism and employment equity initiatives. The report on these roundtables, titled Diversity, Learning and Cultural Change, also pinpoints the need to move the employment equity discussion to a conversation about diversity. Over the last two decades, the cornerstone of the federal government s strategy to promote greater equality in the Public Service of Canada has been the Employment Equity Act. Its primary goal is to promote a more representative Public Service by introducing measures to increase their numbers in government.
Full participation requires that the practices be supported by a culture of inclusiveness.
Using numbers as an indicator of inclusiveness is attractive because it seems to be a simple, objective and democratic means to ensure that all groups have access to public sector careers. And so over the years, representation reflecting population share has become the key indicator of success in promoting an inclusive Public Service. But numbers do not provide an adequate measure of success. Professional practices within government such as hiring, budgeting or policy development often reflect or are affected by particular social and cultural values that are not shared by, and may even be in conflict with, those of members of the designated groups. This can create an unworkable situation for them.