Bowman to pursue new civic diversity policy

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This article was published 19/03/2021 (1642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s mayor is pushing for a new civic diversity policy that could create an equity branch, revamp hiring processes, and help skilled newcomers work in their chosen fields.

Mayor Brian Bowman made the announcement during a virtual “state of the city” address Friday.

The mayor told reporters he wants to ensure the city’s workforce becomes as diverse as Winnipeg itself, with tangible efforts that exceed previous work toward that goal.

“There have been steps taken, but that’s exactly what I’d like to see in a policy… is what tangible measures can be taken to convert the intent into deliverables, in terms of the outcomes that I believe our community needs,” said Bowman.

“If all of the programs of the past were successful, we wouldn’t need motions like this. The reality is: we do. The workforce doesn’t adequately reflect the community we serve, so more work is needed.”

The mayor will raise a motion to create such a policy at a March 23 human rights committee meeting.

The motion says policy could explore options to: create an equity and diversity division that focuses on hiring employees from diverse backgrounds; add recruitment practices for preferred hiring of designated positions; develop bridging employment programs; produce department-specific equity strategies; and add equity leadership development programs.

Coun. Markus Chambers (St. Norbert-Seine River), who has repeatedly called for more inclusive city hiring practices, said those changes would help Winnipeg become more welcoming for all residents.

Chambers said bridging programs, for example, could help ensure some more quickly apply their skills.

“Especially for newcomers, they may not have access to the fees or costs to go back to square one on training that they already have… We can look at their training and experience from other countries and do a bridging program that allows them to access employment here at the City of Winnipeg,“ he said.

Katherine Breward, who teaches human resource management at the University of Winnipeg, said the ideas appear quite promising but would require a sustained effort to put in place.

“Everything (the mayor is) proposing is a well-known, well-established, evidence-based best practice that genuinely does help,” said Breward. “Where my question is, is how concrete are the actions that are behind this?

“It’s one thing to say you are going to do something. It’s another to actually do it.”

She said a key factor in how effective the plan is will be to ensure employees implementing any new policy are given the time and resources to actually do the work.

“You actually have to have the funding and the time and the attention and the focus to get it done,” said Breward.

While the city has tried to increase the diversity of its workforce for some time, a recent report notes it still lags behind the overall population.

In 2020, 29.4 per cent of employees were women (down from 30 per cent in 2019), 10.7 per cent were Indigenous (up from 10.2 per cent), 16.2 per cent were people of colour (up from 15.9 per cent), and three per cent were persons with disabilities (up from 2.9 per cent).

Full council approval would eventually be required to implement any such new strategy.

joyanne.Pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga