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| Are DEI policies the new Inquisition? |
In Canada, a set of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies have been applied bringing along important progress for groups discriminated against in the past: LGBTQ+, African Canadians, migrants, women and indigenous peoples. However, society is beginning to express its discontent because such policies have become a doctrine, whose application knows no limit other than free interpretation within each educational or work community. In other words, it functions as a secular version of the Vox DEI, the voice of God.
The McDonald-Laurier Institute published in 2023 a study on Canadians' views about DEI policies. Public opinion in the country has moved closer to center-right and right-wing positions in response to the “culture wars,” confrontations between divergent opinions on the moral foundations of society regarding sexuality, religion, gender roles, drug use, national identity or ethnicity. The phenomenon could negatively affect liberal and left-wing positions that support DEI initiatives, because the perception grows that “culture wars” produce unnecessary divisions, reflected in the country's political debate. A recent example: a few weeks ago, the head of the conservative opposition, Pierre Poilievre, accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of being “wacko” (crazy), extremist and radical, in the middle of the debate on the decriminalization of hard drugs in British Columbia. The president of the Chamber of Deputies considered this language inappropriate for the parliamentary institution and Poilievre was expelled, to the scandal of his supporters.
The success of DEI policies cannot be doubted. Federal and provincial ministries celebrate LGBTQ+ pride month in June, while municipalities promote inclusive tourism to attract LGBTQ+ clients. Corporations include “visible minority” models in their advertising and marketing campaigns. Universities and schools allocate quotas to African Canadians and Aboriginal people. In the case of native peoples, in addition to the apologies for churches’ abuses and monetary compensation, there are programs dedicated to these communities in order to improve their health conditions and access to education. Canada already has its first Governor General from indigenous peoples, Mary Simon, who acts formally as Head of State representing the king of Great Britain, in the path opened by the first governor general Michaele Jean, of Haitian origin.
Supporters of DEI policies say such changes are insufficient. Consequently, constant supervision of cultural and social practices in all areas has become a common practice in public and private institutions. But its critics are also speaking out: a recent study by Professor David Millard Haskell, of Wilfrid Laurier University (Ontario), concludes that DEI policies have more negative impacts than positive ones. Based on a review of research that evaluates its application in the workplace, Haskell concluded the following regarding DEI training, induction processes that are practised in all types of organizations:
a) They reproduce an echo chamber. Participants repeat what they “learned” because – as post facto evaluations reflect – they fear losing their jobs if they do not do so.
b) Stereotypes regarding certain groups do not change in the medium or long term. Outside the workplace, most participants continue to think the same way as before the training.
c) Instead of eliminating prejudices or discriminatory attitudes, they exacerbate them by publicly condemning people who maintain, supposedly or openly, certain stereotypes and biases.
d) Participating members of groups identified as “dominant” – white, male, heterosexual – end up thinking that they do not contribute anything positive to the organization or that it does not value them.
Blaming educators
DEI punitive consequences have been the source of great controversy in the education field. Two emblematic cases took place in the school district of Toronto, Canada's most populous city. French language teacher Nadine Couvreux was subjected to disciplinary proceedings in 2021 for having asked her students to read a poem by Jacques Prévert. I translate from French: “I went to the Bird Market/And I bought birds for you/my love/I went to the flower market/And I bought flowers for you/My love/I went to the blacksmith market/and I bought chains/heavy chains for you/my love/And then I went to the slave market/And I looked for you/But I didn't find you my love.” In the letter of reprimand, the school district's principal says the references to chains and slaves upset some students because of their discriminatory nature. The teacher was accused of being insensitive to the well-being of students because the poem violated the district's equity policy, which dictates that members of the school community must feel safe, included and accepted. The letter ends by warning the teacher that future incidents of this type could mean her dismissal.
The other case is more serious due to its tragic outcome. In July 2023, news broke of the suicide of Richard Bilkszto, a retired school principal and consultant for the Toronto school district. In a statement, his lawyer announced his death and explained that the so-called equity sessions to which Bilkszto was subjected had a negative impact on his mental health. On one occasion, the educator pointed out that Canada was a less racist country than the United States; Immediately afterwards, the facilitator of the KOJO Institute, specializing in DEI training, accused him of being a white supremacist. Bilkszto's long career in the field of education was not taken into consideration and his reputation was ruined, so he sued the school district, responsible for the humiliation suffered, and it, in turn, sued the KOJO Institute to cover the compensation that would have to be paid. After his death, the legal procedure remains open. It is not easy to face the big business of consultants and gurus of diversity, equity and inclusion, in the style of the aforementioned Kojo Institute.
Woke governance
DEI policies have also been shaping the governance of universities. This is what Geneviève Tellier*, from the University of Ottawa, calls the woke strategy, which involves “educating” the university population about their conscious and unconscious prejudices against racialized people, both black and indigenous. This model of woke governance has generated new bureaucratic structures that address DEI of students, administrators and professors. It also promotes the creation of safe spaces that are demanded by particular groups such as racialized students or transgender people who feel threatened. Hyper-vigilance and distrust towards the humanistic and social scholarship of the past have prevailed. Therefore, slogans replace dialogue, creativity is disqualified and prefabricated speeches purchased from what Tellier calls the “entrepreneurs of morality”, the main standard-bearers of Vox DEI, are used.
The punitive application of the DEI policy can lead to an atmosphere of tension that poisons the climate in educational organizations and in the work environment. This translates into intimidation and, eventually, the silencing and self-censorship of different points of view on moral, cultural and political issues that are sensitive to particular groups. Instead of democratic deliberation, the policy of cancellation is imposed, followed sometimes with attacks on personal reputation with professional and personal consequences. Although the principle of justice is a pillar of democracy, it is no less true that the atomization of society into identity groups, the growing polarization of political rhetoric, and the promotion of spaces of security that exclude opinions that disagree with the excuse of protecting minorities, raise concerns about new forms of segregation and privilege. The equality of all citizens before the law begins crumbling down when discriminatory practices are carried out under the pretext of equity and inclusion.
Note:
*Geneviève Tellier, “Retour sur l’affaire Lieutenant-Duval”, in Gilbert, A., Prévost, M., & Tellier, G. (Eds.), Libertés malmenées. Chronique d'une année trouble à l'Université d'Ottawa, Leméac Éditeur, 2022. This essay is part of a volume dedicated to the crisis that shook the University of Ottawa four years ago, when a professor was suspended for using pedagogical the word “nigger” in a course on art and social movements. A student complained and Vox DEI summarily condemned the teacher, regardless of her history of supporting racial inclusion. The authorities' fear of student opinion prevailed over the effective exercise of impartial justice.
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