Corrections staffer alleges Indigenous identity 'fraud' in the public service in human rights complaint

An assistant warden at a federal correctional institution wants the federal public service to change how it handles claims of Indigenous identity during hiring and promotions. 

Peter Lang filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission of Canada in March 2019 alleging that policy gaps are resulting in discrimination against Indigenous Peoples with respect to hiring and promotion in the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). 

CBC learned about his complaint after reporting on a situation at the Senate where a Métis woman raised allegations that a coworker was falsely claiming an Indigenous identity at work. 

Lang, a citizen of the Métis Nation of B.C., said he's long wanted to see changes in this area but he didn't see an opportunity to personally challenge the existing policies until he was allegedly overlooked for a position he had applied for. 

"I got cut out of a position I really wanted to do but it gave me the opportunity to bring this forward to be able to hopefully change things for the better." 

He's hoping his complaint could lead to a commitment from the public service to make changes to its human resources policies. Lang wants non-Indigenous people to stop fraudulently claiming an Indigenous identity at work, and for those people to stop benefiting from policies and positions targeted for Indigenous Peoples. 

"We've got to make things better because people are committing fraud," said Lang.

His complaint was made directly to the Public Service Commission of Canada, which sets the policies for the entire federal public service, including CSC. 

He's still waiting to find out when mediation on his complaint will take place. 

The Human Rights Commission of Canada wouldn't confirm any details about Lang's complaint due to privacy concerns.  

Affirmation form introduced

The federal public service — which employs roughly 288,000 people — has acknowledged there are concerns about fraudulent claims of Indigenous identity in the public sector. 

Policy changes were put into place in 2010 in response to Indigenous staff "alleging non-Indigenous individuals were falsely identifying to access hiring intended for Indigenous peoples," according to an emailed statement from the Public Service Commission. 

That brought about the Affirmation of Aboriginal Affiliation Form — a one-page document in which a person affirms they're Indigenous. People are only required to sign the form in specific employment circumstances, like if the job they've applied for specifically targets Indigenous applicants. 

No verification is required beyond signing and dating the form unless a complaint is filed against the individual and there is an investigation. 

The Public Service Commission said since the policy took effect it's received 10 allegations "regarding the provision of false misleading information on the AAAF." 

Only one of those allegations led to an investigation that found "the public servant committed fraud in the appointment process by knowingly and falsely declaring an Indigenous association on the AAAF in order to obtain a position." 

The person's job appointment was revoked. 

In an emailed statement, CSC stated Indigenous people are encouraged to self-identify at work, adding that the "onus is on the applicant to be truthful in their application."

'Due diligence'

Lang said he isn't making allegations with respect to the Indigeneity of any specific person working at CSC in his complaint. 

But he said the problem of fraudulent claims persists and recounts anecdotes like the time he heard a colleague talking about 'spitting in a tube' for a DNA test, saying if the test came back with any indication of Indigenous ancestry they would 'tick the box.' 

"My entire career I've noticed that the correctional service didn't do their due diligence when it came to people declaring they were Aboriginal," said Lang. 

Lang sees this as particularly problematic within the correctional service where Indigenous people are overrepresented in the inmate population.

A January report from the Office of the Correctional Investigator found that Indigenous people account for more than 30 per cent of the federal inmate population, while accounting for roughly five per cent of the population in Canada.  

CSC's 2019-2020 departmental plan states that, "Providing effective and culturally appropriate correctional and reintegration support for Indigenous offenders has been a CSC corporate priority for more than a decade." 

Lang said if CSC wants to see success in this area it needs to hire the right people and support them to make meaningful cultural change. 

"You don't just simply take a non-Indigenous program, the program books, and then stick a feather on their head and say it's an Indigenous program," he said.

"That's what you get when you promote colonial people to those higher ranks, those decision-making ranks. You get colonial output. But if you want Indigenous people and you want to change the way you do business, and you want to reconcile with Indigenous people, actually hire Indigenous people. Do your due diligence."

Self-identification 'a conversation starter'

Sen. Murray Sinclair, who was chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said there's been a marked increase in people identifying as Indigenous or as having Indigenous ancestry in recent years. He said some of those claims are legitimate but there are also "shysters" out there. 

When it comes to employers and institutions looking to hire Indigenous people in this reality he said, "you need to look at the way in which you hire people." 

"If we're looking to hire an Indigenous person, then I think we need to ask ourselves, 'What is it that I need to know about that in order to make a decision?'"

Speaking from his own hiring experiences at the Senate, he said in situations where someone has self-identified as Indigenous, "that marks a conversation starter for me."  

"Because it's a factor in hiring …  just like if somebody says 'I've got a mechanical degree,' I would then want to explore that a bit and say, well what have you worked on? What are the things that you've done with that degree? Do you know how to take apart an engine?" 

Sinclair said there's a lot more to this conversation with respect to Indigeneity and at the same time he's seeing institutions "falling all over themselves to avoid responsibility" in this space.

"They're simply allowing people to make the claim without putting in place some kind of a testing mechanism." 

Sinclair said he isn't an advocate for any specific testing mechanisms but said institutions and employers shouldn't accept self-identification at face value if it's a factor in hiring.

Even if a place is just "wanting to put an Indigenous person on staff because we like having Indigenous people around, well then hire Indigenous people you know are Indigenous. It's that simple, you know."

Requesting an audit 

Lang said he'd like to see the public service strike some kind of committee of Indigenous people that can work on improving the policies around hiring and promotion.

When he goes to mediation, he also plans to request an audit of all employees who self-identified as Indigenous in their job applications.

He said this is especially important for those individuals who are working in roles that are specifically intended for Indigenous people. 

While he doesn't want to see Indigenous people harassed or challenged about their identity, he said it's a standard hiring practice to ask for proof of education or to demonstrate second-language proficiency through testing. 

Lang said if the public service agrees to an audit, he wants anyone who fraudulently self-identified removed from their positions within six months. 

"We can't wait a whole generation… for these people to retire for things to change."

"I'm thinking in Corrections terms that's a life sentence, that's what that is. It's a life sentence and we don't want that. We want to get it changed now," he said.