LILLEY: Jamil Jivani campaigning to end ‘Liberal racism’ in public service

Conservative MPs have struck task force that will begin hearings this fall on that and similar issues

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Published Jun 17, 2026  •  3 minute read

Conservative MP Jamil Jivani is photographed in his office in Ottawa during an interview with Postmedia on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. Photo by Hyungcheol Park /Postmedia Network

Conservative MP Jamil Jivani is on a mission to end what he calls Liberal racism. He and other Conservative MPs have struck a task force that will begin hearings this fall on issues such as discriminatory hiring practices by the federal government.

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The task force won’t be an official committee, but Jivani said in an interview this week that they will hold hearings and will be inviting MPs from other parties to join.

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“Liberal racism is actually old, ancient racism, but it is just repackaged as if it’s something progressive for us today,” Jivani said.

“It manifests itself in the government most viscerally in the form of hiring and firing people based on their skin colour or ancestry.”

Preference given to some based on race

Jivani’s point that the federal government assigns jobs based on issues such as race may shock some, but it is absolutely true. There are jobs where preference is given to people based on race, gender ability, etc., and then jobs that are restricted based on those same criteria.

The Transportation Safety Board was recently hiring senior Investigators for their air operations with a pay scale of between $113,880 to $133,570. In addition to needing a pilot licence and 2,500 hours of flying time, you also needed to be part of one of the following equity groups: “Aboriginal persons, visible minorities, persons with disabilities or women.”

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There are currently administrative jobs up for grabs at Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard that pay between $50,000 and $61,000 annually and are only open to people who identify as First Nations, Inuit or Métis.

At times, the federal government has made some jobs, including IT, finance and communications roles, only open to visible minorities.

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Common sense needed in Ottawa

That’s something Jivani describes not only as wrong, but immoral and racist.

“I think a lot of Liberals don’t fully understand why someone like me would be so offended. You know, I have a white mother, I have a black father,” Jivani said.

“I don’t like the idea that my government would treat my parents differently because of what they look like. I believe my parents are equals. I also don’t like the idea that if they look at me or they look at my father, they would say we are charity cases who need a job not based on our merit or our credentials, but because Mark Carney might feel sorry for us.”

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That sounds like common sense, but common sense isn’t overly welcome in Canada today and especially not in Ottawa.

No need to continue with this policy

The Employment Equity Act was passed in 1986 to attempt to reduce barriers to employment for some groups. It was a success, but the special treatment for these select groups continues even though they are now, for the most part, overrepresented in the federal civil service.

Women are one of the protected groups given special access to government jobs. According to Statistics Canada, women make up 47% of the overall labour force, according to the most recent jobs report from Statistics Canada, but women make up 57% of the federal workforce.

Indigenous Canadians make up 4% of the available workforce, according to federal data, and yet they account for 5.5% of the federal civil service. According to federal data, visible minorities make up 22.7% of the available workforce and hold 23.9% of all jobs in the federal government.

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None of these groups are underrepresented and yet they are getting special treatment for jobs. Jivani is right: This is a form of discrimination, this is a form of racist policy and it shouldn’t be allowed.

Chances are that if you asked most Canadians if these types of practices should be allowed, they would say no. In a world where Liberals MPs call it offensive to ask a scientist what the definition of a woman is, it’s doubtful the Carney Liberals will be willing to admit their racist hiring policies are wrong.

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