Appointing more women and minorities ‘produces better government’

Jean Augustine recalls looking around the rooms of meetings she used to be in and sometimes realized she was the only minority person present. Augustine was the first African-Canadian woman to be elected to the House of Commons, representing the riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore from 1993 to 2006.

“I just didn’t see the diversity of my own life reflected in the institutions and organizations I had been appointed to,” Augustine told Yahoo Canada News.

That’s an issue the Liberal government says it wants to tackle — by boosting the number of women, minorities and aboriginal people in the hundreds of appointments it will make to agencies, boards and Crown corporations (ABCs).

Olivier Duchesneau, a spokesman for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, told The Canadian Press recently the process would be “open, transparent and merit-based.”

In addition, the party has pledged to create an independent body to make recommendations for positions, including new senators.

“It’s who you know and who put your name in the hat,” explains Augustine, who also served as minister of state for multiculturalism and the status of women and was parliamentary secretary to then-prime minister Jean Chretien from 1994 to 1996.

After arriving in Canada from Grenada in 1960, Augustine earned a bachelor of arts and master of education degrees. She also worked with the separate school board in Toronto and was chair of the Metro Toronto Housing Authority from 1988 to 1993.

In addition, she has sat on a number of community boards including the Hospital for Sick Children and York University. In 2009, she was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada.

“I look back on the opportunities I’ve had and it’s because someone decided to put my name forward because I simply wasn’t in the circle that names are usually drawn.”

Independent selection committee

That’s why Augustine likes the idea of an independent body in terms of the selection process. That view is seconded by Caroline Andrew, director of the University of Ottawa’s Centre on Governance.

“The processes are already there, so what changes is its distance from government,” Andrew told Yahoo Canada News. “It’s a good thing that its transparent….this ought to be wide open and more people should have access to [government appointments].”

Andrew, who has more than 30 years experience studying and writing about female representation in politics, multiculturalism and urban diversity, says the government should create a website to make clear how a person should present themselves as a candidate.

“I think I’ve seen some Ontario government websites that detail what your CV should have when it comes to specific agency or board positions that come up — for instance, what kind of experiences should be listed.”

Andrew recalls that previous governments have tried to increase their pool of female candidates in the past by allowing for the inclusion of volunteer experience as valid background for a position.

“They need to make sure that self-nominating individuals will also be treated equally as those nominated by an organization or someone of importance.”

Andrew says an independent body that’s small, i.e., comprising of five to seven people, and also representative of the country’s diversity would be an “excellent idea.”

“You’d also need a small number of junior staff to do research, make calls for candidates to various groups or organizations and look into getting more regional representation as well.”

High-profile ambassadorships

Although the government hasn’t mentioned what it intends to do with appointments to top ambassadorial appointments, especially those in Washington, D.C., and London, former ambassador Allan Gotlieb has weighed in, calling for Trudeau to select from “the stars of the Canadian diplomatic service.”

The Washington post is now held by former Manitoba premier Gary Doer (who is stepping down and was appointed by Stephen Harper), Michael Wilson before him was also a Harper appointee while prior to that, former N.B. premier Frank McKenna was placed there by Paul Martin.

Andrew says, other than high-profile postings, such as Paris, London or Washington, most high commission and consular appointees are from Canada’s foreign service corps and tend to be highly-capable individuals with international experience.

“Women have traditionally not done so well because there is a problem of job possibilities for the husband or partner,” admits Andrew. “But the Department of Foreign Affairs has tried to think up some solutions.”

And, according to Augustine, there are a fair number of women serving as high commissioners or at trade offices.

“The new prime minister appointed 50 per cent women to his cabinet and this is a clear indication that we recognize the importance of women representing Canada in international circles,” she says.

‘Produces better government’

In the end, Andrew says increasing proportions of women, minorities and indigenous people in higher levels of government usually means getting new and better ideas on the table.

“With different sets of people, you get good ideas and that produces better government.”

Augustine, who retired in March as the first Fairness Commissioner for Ontario, agrees.

“The conversation is richer,” she emphasizes. “Someone can put on the table an idea that had never been put up for consideration.”

Twenty years ago, Augustine managed to get Parliament to officially recognize February as Black History Month.

“I had to work to get individual members to get support,” says Augustine. “It was 1995. That time we had the Reform Party, so I had to get them to agree to not oppose my motion.”

The former MP also recalls another major accomplishment: getting a statue of The Famous Five on Parliament Hill commemorating five Alberta women — Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise Crummy McKinney and Irene Parlby. The five were petitioners in the groundbreaking case that led to women being officially recognized as persons under the law in 1929.

“I was chair of the Women’s Caucus [in Parliament] and we decided to get a statue on the Hill. But it’s run by a committee and the rules were that only statues of the monarch and prime ministers involved in nation-building are allowed,” she remembers.

“It took me a whole day to get that motion through.”

In 2000, the statue was erected on Parliament Hill. It remains an enduring point of pride for the former politician, who now does work with the Jean Augustine Centre for Young Women’s Empowerment in Toronto.

“I understand it’s the most visited statue on the Hill.”