Saturday 7 January 2023


Richard Sharpe

Message to the Federal Public Service

by Richard Sharpe


  • Greetings, 

As many of you know, I have accepted a position as Director of the Black Equity Branch within the Centre for People, Culture and Talent, Treasury Board Secretariat of the Ontario Public Service. This is an amazing opportunity for me to build on the work I have undertaken over these past years to improve the condition of Black, Indigenous and racialized people in the Federal Public Service and in Canadian society. I wind down my time in the Feds after more than 26 years. It has been quite the journey.

 After starting in July 1996 as a Graphic Designer in Winnipeg, my intention was to stay for 2 years, save some money and continue with my graphic design business. I later moved to Ottawa, meandering through to Policy, Portfolio Coordination and eventually Performance Measurement, Risk, Corporate and Results Reporting. I spent 20 years in the union environment. The skills I developed in these spaces grounded me in the principles of good design, policy, negotiations and outcomes. These have underpinned my actions over the years. Throughout my time, I took great joy working with employees, executives and community members through the difficult conversations around race, inclusion, power and oppression.

All things that make Diversity and Inclusion meaningful to the people who are impacted the most by organizational culture, bias and plain old fashioned white supremacy and patriarchy. Although I have no regrets from my time in Federal Public Service, there are a few things I had hoped to see better results on before I took my time away: First, despite our best efforts, Canada’s Black Justice Strategy has been languishing since it was announced over a year ago in Budget 2022. Our national anti-racism efforts face challenges to reconcile the need for both Black/Indigenous and anti-oppression lens to be applied to ensure the most marginalized are not continually left behind; Our federal anti-hate efforts demonstrate institutional anti-black hate when there is no focus on the community that experiences the highest rates of victimization due to hate crimes. Ironically, our co-developed work with Black executive and employee networks on a mental health/action plan for Black public servants has been fraught with instances of anti-black racism and hate, causing trauma and unnecessary delays; The “Oppression Olympics” is still being played by leaders of some equity seeking groups as well as senior officials who bandy around the anti-black trope “why Black?” and “what about other groups?”, creating distraction and lack of focus on addressing the needs of the those most oppressed in our workplaces; and lastly, despite the community driven efforts over the last few years to bring initiatives to the Federal Government that respond to the spirit of the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent, the file has lost its grounding where socio-economic programs meet Black Canadians. This overarching policy driver meant to recognize and bring substantive equality to Black folk appears set to be reduced to an anti-racism file. Although these things are disappointing, this organizational winding down of progress was expected.

Two years after our Floyd Effect moment the elastic band of status quo leadership is attempting to contract to its previous inert state. But thankfully, even though we may lose some gains, things will never completely go back to the good old days, pre-COVID. There has been a shift in understanding, commitment and desire to push for change within the FPS. During my time in Gov we have collectively changed the lexicon on how we talk about anti-racism. We led the charge for disaggregated employment equity data, and pressed for accountability. We have defined what measurable results in anti-racism work looks like. People shed their fear and stepped up to confront institutional indifference. We have moved the needle. 

I am indebted to the Black employees in the Federal Black Employee Caucus (FBEC) who answered the original call to action in 2018. I have appreciated those senior leaders who championed and served as allies to help get us to the tables where decisions about our very existence in government were being made. I am thankful to the many employee driven groups like the Anti-Racism Ambassadors Network, Black and equity networks across the Federal Public Service who created safe spaces to have important conversations about racism, intersectionality and power. I thank the leadership at the Department of Justice Canada who took a risk in allowing me to do “my thing” and for them stepping up to demonstrate and set the example of what true leadership looks like in this anti-racism and anti-discrimination work across government.

Our Canada School of Public Service colleagues made us into Equity Superstars, bringing our messages of change across Canada and internationally. To my executive colleagues in Black Executive Network (BENREN), you have given me comfort that I am leaving the future of the Federal Public Service in steady, strategic and committed hands. There are many others I could recognize. Countless conversations with rank and file employees to political leaders. It has been a pleasure working with all of you. Still lots of work to do to make this a place my kids would want to make a career. Ian’s Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion was a gift. It will take strong leadership to make the aspirations of the CTA a reality. I remain committed to continue working with like minded colleagues across governments to make it happen.

  I will be forever grateful for the experience of working in this environment while staying true to my authentic self. I encourage my friends and co-conspirators to continue to exercise collective leadership to drive transformation in the FPS. Stay physically, emotionally and spiritually well in the process. 

Those of you who wish to connect with me in my new capacity can contact: [email protected]. That email will be active in January 2023. 

Many thanks

 Richard Sharpe