First, here is a call on all federal public service leaders to:
- “Appoint Indigenous employees and Black and other racialized employees to and within the Executive Group through career development and talent management
- Sponsor high-potential Indigenous employees and Black and other racialized employees to prepare them for leadership roles
- Support the participation of Indigenous employees and Black and other racialized employees in leadership development programs (for example, the Executive Leadership Development Program) and career development services (for example, official language training)
- Recruit highly qualified candidates from Indigenous communities and Black and other racialized communities from across all regions of Canada
And the text continues as follows:
A further call “to invest in developing inclusive leadership skills and in establishing a sense of belonging and trust for all public servants, as well as those joining us now and in the future, regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation or gender expression by:
- Committing to personally learning about racism, reconciliation, accessibility, equity and inclusion, and fostering a safe, positive environment where these conversations are encouraged throughout our workplaces
- Combatting all forms of racism, discrimination and other barriers to inclusion in the workplace by taking action on what we have learned, empowering employees to speak up about bias and oppression, and better equipping managers to address these issues
- Enabling and advancing the work of grassroots networks and communities within the Public Service by providing necessary resources and bringing them into discussions at senior executive tables
- Including voices from diverse backgrounds in the identification of systemic racism, discrimination and barriers to inclusion, and the design and implementation of actions to address them
- Measuring progress and driving improvements in the employee workplace experienceby monitoring disaggregated survey results and related operational data (for example, promotion and mobility rates, tenure) and acting on what the results are telling us…“.
We even read the following at one point:
“We must encourage and support the voices that have long been marginalized in our organizations. We must create opportunities where they have long been absent. We must take direct, practical actions to invoke change. This is a true test of leadership, and one we must meet head on. Now.
Here is another initiative among many excellent “strategy hives” (truly meant to improve children’ and families’ well-being!):
“Strategy Hive #5 Inspiring Healthy Futures: Racial and structural equity for all . The past year taught us once again that we have a long way to go as a nation to address the structures that create historical inequities for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour communities. In this Hive, we will explore how we mobilize around the social movement to action on rights, reconciliation and racial and structural equity for kids, youth and families across Canada. Together, we will identify the policy, knowledge and programs that could make the biggest difference to address structural and cultural inequities, now and for the future. Date and Time: Wednesday February 24, 2021 from 3-5pm ET”
Why is our government pushing this nonsense on all of us?
Why do we see medical conferences starting with “land acknowledgements”, that resemble secular prayers, which literally tell us that we are “settlers” in our country?
Why do delegates (some trainees and other more seniors) feel the need to repeat the same mantra, over and over (in their talks and even in 2-minute presentations)? Wasn’t it enough for them to hear this at the start of each of their busy long days?
In other terms, whether we agree or not (this is not the issue!), why are our national medical conferences bringing politics into medicine and science?
If Lebanon’s hospitals and the Lebanese Red Cross managed to keep politics and political ideologies out of their practice during a chaotic 15-year-long civil war in order to serve everyone, why can’t we do the same in our peaceful Canada?
Bambi is asking because, despite the noble intentions, she does not believe that such words will bring drinkable water to First Nations Reserves or concrete steps toward justice to our Dear fellow Indigenous citizens.
All that such initiatives will achieve is to look odd and, more seriously, perhaps create divisions in our societies and communities. This is so common now that our country seems to begin to look like a giant Evergreen campus (you may wish to watch the video in an earlier post).
Is our collective aspirations to imitate the former USSR where people used to repeat ideologies they did not believe in, just because such ideologies were pushed on them from the top of the pyramid of governance? Is this the kind of robotic and guilt-ridden citizens we want Canadians to become?
Plus why are we being disrespectful to the so-called “racialized” (what a condescending term!) “Black, Indigenous, and people of colour” (referring to the stupid acronym of BIPOC that Bambi is supposed to fit in to ? )? Who came up with this absurd language? Plus, more seriously, don’t we believe that the so-called BIPOC’s merit or excellence can bring them to the so-called “top” like everyone else? Isn’t this insulting actually? Why does it feel that we are using them and no one cares about them for real? At least, this is what Bambi thinks.
In addition, and perhaps more alarming, why are we being both unfair and disrespectful to the whole society, that is the silent majority (which also includes most of the invisible and visible minorities who refuse all this non-sense)?
We may be tempted to think that these are noble initiatives, but in reality this woke movement is dangerous to the point that Bambi keeps wondering which (external?) entity may be fostering it or behind it, perhaps by funding it? And if you tell Bambi she is being unreasonable now, she will tell you: She hopes it is not our tax-money then!
Based on a second life in war-torn Lebanon and on common sense, Bambi is convinced that this woke movement is a recipe for a disaster. Yes, it has the potential to bring divisions, racism (ironically in the name of anti-“systemic” racism, whatever the latter means), and mediocrity for all of us, as a country.
To conclude this post, in order to be truly fair, remain professional, and to serve the population with excellence, there should be no place for ideologies in medicine, whether political, religious or other (just knowledge and humanity). So, please Mr. Trudeau et al., WAKE UP. Yes, wake NOT woke up before it will be too late! Please!!
