Ep 45: Modernizing Canada’s Employment Equity Act

Rights don’t live on paper, they live in paycheques, rent payments, and whether you can afford to stay safe. We sit down with Jade Pichette, Director of Programs and Advocacy at Pride At Work Canada, to unpack a blunt idea that cuts through the noise: economic security is the defining issue for queer and trans people right now. When money shapes access to housing and healthcare, it also shapes power, and it helps explain why backlash politics can be so well funded and so persistent.

We walk through Pride At Work Canada’s top federal policy priority: modernizing the Employment Equity Act. Jade explains why explicitly including 2SLGBTQI+ people and Black Canadians is more than a recognition win, it changes how federally regulated workplaces collect data, set inclusion plans, and measure results. 

We also dig into the piece most equity policies miss: intersectionality. Because if the system only allows one checkbox, it fails to capture the layered realities of people living at the intersection of multiple identities—the very groups facing the deepest economic gaps.

Then we get practical about politics. Jade shares what it’s like meeting MPs across party lines, why many assume the work is already finished, and how capacity constraints and shifting parliamentary priorities can stall real implementation even when the research and recommendations exist. 

Quick heads up—this episode was recorded on March 17, 2026.

And just a few days later, a major update was announced: the National Employment Equity Council was officially launched which brings together 20 labour unions, human rights, advocacy, and community organizations all working to modernize Canada’s employment equity act framework. It’s a step in the right direction and a reflection of years of collective advocacy to make sure Canada’s laws actually reflect today’s workforce. 

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Transcript

Rights, Backlash, And Economic Power

Julia Pennella, Host 0:00

Human rights don't just live on paper. They live in paychecks and rent payments and whether you can actually afford to stay safe. And right now, for queer and trans communities, that gap between rights and reality, it's getting harder to ignore. Welcome back to another episode of Let's Talk Politics, where we break down the economics and policy shaping your life and help you make politics make sense. The United States isn't the only place where 2S LGBTQ plus rights are under attack. We're seeing the same rhetoric grow here in Canada, with some provinces tabling anti-trans legislation, and even the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Polyev, chose to amplify transphobic rhetoric from J.K. Rowling on Twitter to millions of his followers on the eve of International Transgender Day of Visibility. That's not just noise online, it's a signal. It feeds a coordinated backlash that's stripping people of their human rights and pushes marginalized people out of public spaces and out of the economy. But how do we fight back when the noise is this loud? In this episode, we're cutting through the noise to talk about the one thing that actually shifts the power balance: economic security. Because when money shapes access to housing, health care, and opportunity, it also shapes power. And it helps explain why backlash politics aren't just loud. They're well-funded, organized, and persistent. I'm sitting down with Jade Pichette, Directors of Programs and Advocacy at Pride at Work Canada to unpack how modernizing the Employment Equity Act and why explicitly including two SLGBTQI plus communities and black Canadians isn't just symbolic. It changes how workplaces collect data, build inclusion plans, and actually measure results. We also go deeper on what most policy conversations miss intersectionality. Because when systems force people into one checkbox, they erase the lived realities of those navigating multiple identities. And those are the people facing the deepest economic gaps. And then we get real about politics, red tape, and bureaucracy. Because even the best policy ideas don't cross the finish line without the political will to carry them there. This isn't a conversation about theory, it's about power, policy, and who actually gets to feel the impact of both. Quick heads up. This episode was recorded on March 17, 2026. And just a few days later, a major update was announced. The National Employment Equity Council was officially launched, which brings together 20 labor unions, human rights, advocacy, and community organizations all working together to modernize Canada's Employment Equity Act framework. It's a step in the right direction and a reflection of years of collective advocacy to make sure Canada's laws actually reflect today's workforce. And with that, let's talk politics. Thanks so much for joining us.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

Yeah, thank you for having me. It's such a pleasure to be on this podcast.

Julia Pennella, Host 3:30

I'm really looking forward to the conversation. We've got a lot to dive into. But, Jade, I ask all my guests, what is your political hot take in this moment?

SPEAKER_01 3:40

So I have a few, but the one that I wanted to talk about today is economic security is the defining issue for queer people right now. So I know there is a lot of challenges that our community is facing at the moment. We see attacks on our human rights, we see banning of gender affirmative care. But at the end of the day, economics is the number one thing, in my opinion. And this is because if we think of health outcomes and a lot of queer advocacy is around health, a lot of that is connected to how much access to money you have, how much access to wealth you have when it comes to housing, same thing. Your day-to-day uh life, uh, all of that is impacted by economics. And even a lot of these anti-trans bills and anti-gay bills that we're seeing is because there is a lot of money in hating on our community. And if our community had the same access to resources as the people who are trying to punch down on our community, then we would see a very different landscape for queer and trans rights here and around the world.

Jade’s Path Into Advocacy Work

Julia Pennella, Host 4:51

Well, thank you for raising that. And I think it really is interesting to your point of like who's funding this, why is it being funded in this age of social media where rage bait and clickbait that propel different ideologies and movements? We're going to be diving into even more of that. But I do want to start at the beginning. You know, how did you get involved with Pride at Work Canada? Tell me a little bit about yourself.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

Yeah, so I'm a career queer, transfer pay, whatever you want to say. I have been doing work for the community for over 20 years in different capacities and different roles. But I've been with Pride at Work now for uh seven and a half years. So I've gone from being a manager to now the director of programs and advocacy. So it's been uh quite the journey, and I don't feel like the journey is done yet. It's still continuing. And I love working here. It's been such a pleasure being part of the leadership team. I also get to set some of the direction of the organizations. It's a very rewarding place to be.

The Push To Update Employment Equity

Julia Pennella, Host 5:51

That's amazing. And it's so great to hear that you've been there for so long. So you've seen the changes, you've seen the landscape, and I'm sure that feeds into and factors how you're putting advocacy forward. And I think all associations, advocacy right now is just such an important conversation to be having, to be holding governments accountable, being able to bring issues to them to understand this is what's impacting our community, how you can help X, Y, and Z. So when it comes to policy change, what is Pride at Work Canada actually asking governments to do right now? And where are you seeing momentum, maybe versus some pushback, especially in provinces that do try to frame these conversations around queer communities as identity politics?

SPEAKER_01 6:37

So when it comes to our main policy ask right now, is really at the federal level, because we do work uh from coast to coast to coast. And we are really looking for the modernization of the Employment Equity Act. Um, so the Employment Equity Act was originally made in the 80s, um, at a time when our communities were dealing with a different major crisis, being the AIDS pandemic. And that was not a time when our community was being included in policy procedures and in fact law for the most part. Um, there were a few laws that had included us, but uh not the Employment Equity Act. So we're really pushing for that. I think in terms of the question around momentum versus pushback, we're really seeing that across the board. So we're seeing support. I've talked to conservatives from rural Alberta who are interested in this topic. I've talked to the most progressive of the NDP and the Greens. I've met with liberals and bloc members as well. And so we are seeing momentum across the board. The place where we see momentum is because this is an economic issue and this is an economic good for the community as a whole. So our ask would be to include two SLGBTQI plus and Black communities explicitly into the act. And on more regional levels, we have seen and heard there's interest in doing some of this work provincially, but it really depends on the government. And so we really have focused on the federal aspect. And I do want to push back just a little bit about uh framing certain provinces and as framing this as identity politics, because I think two spirit queer and trans people, we are in every province, we're in every territory, we're in every community. And it's really important that we recognize that this is a labor issue, this is an economic issue, and this isn't just a special interest issue. Like this is good for the economy as a whole. And so I think one of the challenges is that anything that's related to queer and trans communities becomes labeled as if it is identity politics. But the reality is that we existed before the term identity politics. We'll exist after the term identity politics. We are just part of the demographic, the community as a whole. And we deserve the same access to rights as anybody else.

Julia Pennella, Host 9:23

Yeah, very well said. And I'm I'm glad you brought that up because this is an ongoing conversation that I think governments need to really wake up to of not just seeing single issues as single issues of just impacting said communities. Everything is intertwined, everything has an economic angle, or like you said, a labor angle, a public safety angle when we are seeing, you know, hate towards different types of communities. So I want to ask you, because I did think it was very interesting, and I I love that you phrase it this way, but like you do reference community, you use we and us, and I'm a firm believer in the power of community. So, what does community mean to you in your own words?

SPEAKER_01 10:04

Oh, that's a big question, actually. Community can mean many things, but when I tend to talk about the community, I I'm often talking about two spirit queer and trans communities. But I do think that I also use it in more of a my neighborhood, my city, my municipality. All of those I use as my community because all of them are my community. On the queer and trans angle, though, we do have a queer culture that does exist, that a lot of which was built by especially black, queer and trans folks. And that culture is real, it is one where we don't agree on everything, but that we do come together and we have spaces that we come together. And whenever I speak on these types of issues, I try to get as much community um feedback as I can to see if is this something that I believe, or is this something that is more believed by people in general? And so I'm always community focused of looking at how I can support the community. My background is in social work. I'm a community worker at the end of the day. I'm here to serve community, and I always say serve intentionally because that's how I see it. I see public service and community service and civic engagement as very important. And we can't represent a community without getting feedback, getting input and working collaboratively.

Julia Pennella, Host 11:52

But if you can go a little bit deeper into what is the act about and what tools or action do you want to see to modernize that? You mentioned having explicit reference to um the LGBTQ plus community as well as um Black Canadians, but in addition to that, you've also mentioned there's broad cross-party support, but there is a lack of action. So, you know, what is the bottleneck really right now preventing this bill from crossing the finish line?

Why The Modernization Keeps Stalling

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Do you think that question changes depending on what your political stripe is. But for me, I am firmly an independent. I'm not uh associated with any political party. And so for me, what I see is just a misunderstanding. So I I've talked to a lot of MPs where they thought this work was already done. And especially newer MPs, because it had been a commitment that had been made back in 2021. A task force was created to address the issues of employment equity in the public service and beyond, and in all federally regulated sectors. And so the modernization of the act currently addresses four equity-deserving groups, being uh visible minorities, indigenous folks, women, and people with disabilities. And so the update would not only add black folks intentionally and LGBTQI plus Canadians, but it would also update the broader act so that when we're doing data collection, when we're doing intentional strategic plans around inclusion of these different communities in the workplaces in federally regulated sectors, they will then do so in an intersectional way. So currently, the way the act is laid out is we have four groups, and you are either part of those four groups or you're not part of those four groups. And all of the analysis that is done and all the reporting that is done is just are you part of this group checkbox, yes or no? And the reality of that is that those of us who experience multiple marginalizations who have more than one of these identities usually get left out. And so I give the example of uh queer women of color. Queer women of color are experiencing higher rates of economic disparity than uh most groups within the queer and trans community as a whole. And so, especially trans um women of color within that. And with a lot of the current way that this is laid out, it would not be included under 2 SLGBTQI plus, because that's not included in the act. Uh, we also would not have the analysis of those intersections. So even though uh women and people of color are currently in the act, we wouldn't have analysis around the experiences of women of color. And so, what the impact of the act has been that white women have done much better in federally regulated sectors, as have men from visible minorities. I use the term visible minorities because that's what's used in the act, not because that's what I generally use. And so this modernization would really address that in an intersectional way, would look at how do we bring in people at those intersections into the federally regulated service sectors, and how do we make that as inclusive and welcoming as possible so that everybody can succeed? And so currently, because we don't have that intersectionality within the act, we don't see that movement and we don't see those intentional programs or ways to address it. And as a result, women of color, people with disabilities who are also racialized often are being left out of some of these conversations because you're a checkbox in one category or another, and that intersection is not being looked at. But you also asked about the issue of why there's lack of action. And so I want to address that as well. The lack of action I feel comes from A, this misunderstanding that it's already done, B, a minority parliament where there is increased pressure on ministers in regards to how they are functioning. And so, for example, the department that the Minister of Jobs and Families, who would need to steward this bill, that used to be three different departments and is now under one minister. The policy analyst who is focused on the Employment Equity Act also has the temporary foreign workers program under his portfolio, which has been a big issue that has been discussed quite a bit in the last six months. And so as a result, I think there is some challenges internally in terms of being able to move this forward just because of a misunderstanding that the actions hadn't been already taken, B a reduced capacity, C a minority parliament where not much is getting through the parliament as much as would be during a majority parliament. Although we'll see what happens in the the next little bit, especially with all the floor floor crossings we've seen. And we just haven't had the champion on this issue. And so the research has been done by the government already, commitments have been made. We just we need that action. And so we have heard that there is potentially going to be action taken, but later in the year, we know that if we're just going to wait for government to take action, it may not. And so, as civil society, it is up to us to make that change. And there are other organizations like Black Class Action Secretariat, Amnesty International, the Enchanted Network, Black Fair of Canada, and many others who are also pushing on this issue. And so I believe that we will see movement in the next year on this file.

Framing Inclusion As An Economic Win

Julia Pennella, Host 18:36

You're in Parliament having these conversations. So I am hopeful for your organization as well because it starts off with that action and starts off with these conversations. I want to dive into the few points that you raised. I am particularly interested how you mentioned many MPs and elected officials you spoke with were surprised that this action hadn't been moved. And you mentioned that this was a government commitment in the past. Do you think the surprise was rooted in they thought it had been done because the government said, but we also know governments say things and don't act on them? And this was a big controversy from a policy standpoint with the previous Trudeau government, where there was a lot of announcements, but lack of implementation. Or is it because maybe society or the spaces didn't feel like these were like issues per se, and they thought, okay, it can't be that bad. Where do you think that surprise really was rooted in, aside from maybe thinking government had done it?

SPEAKER_01 19:35

So that honestly, thinking government had already completed it was the number one reason for surprise. We didn't come across a single person who, and we've met with over, I want to say, 40 politicians since mid-last year. And not a single one provided concern around the actual changes to the act that were needed. The only thing was perhaps a difference of opinion in terms of how the implementation is done and what the focus should be in that implementation. And so I think there's even disagreement within civil society on that as well. There's ways that we all agree, because there was a task force who put out some really amazing recommendations by Professor Blackett. We really need that movement and that energy and not just the surprise. So I think there weren't too many concerns, especially when we framed this as an economic issue. If we framed it as an identity issue, it may have been a different discussion.

Majority Governments And Missed Timing

Julia Pennella, Host 20:43

Yeah. And I think that's so critical. I advise a lot of folks on how to do government relations. And you have to talk the language of who you're speaking with. Like the root of what you're saying is still there, but you just got to massage it and translate it into how they're gonna receive it. And I think especially now we are seeing with the current government there needs to be that economic angle if you want anything really to get through the door. But again, inherently all these issues are economic. And to your second point, it was interesting how you mentioned a minority. And I want to challenge that a bit. Why didn't even tying into your first point where people thought the government had acted on this? We have seen majorities both in Harper years and in Trudeau years, but there wasn't movement, it sounds like, or at least substantial movement to get this move forward. Now we are in this minority government. Again, that might change. But what would you say the excuse? I'm putting air quotes, but like the excuse or lack of interest in addressing this issue back then when there was majority where things could have maybe moved a little bit more progressively. Even we can point to the liberal NDP supply and confidence agreement. Like there was maybe an opportunity to excel this, but it it wasn't there. So what did you see from your time of advocating during these eras?

SPEAKER_01 21:59

So I wasn't as involved in direct advocacy on a federal level at that time when it came to the Employment Equity Act and pushing for the modernization of it. We really got involved after a lot of hard work had already been done by uh especially Black communities in particular who had pushed for Black representation in the act and were supportive of two SLGBTQI plus folks being included as well. And so I think one of the challenges, though, I saw a bit more distantly was that the work was being done, right? And so it was being done starting in 2021. And the report uh only came out in 2023. They did additional consultations in 2024, which I was a part of. And so last year we were like, okay, so you've done the report, you've done additional consultation. Now why aren't we moving to the next step? And so I think one of the reasons for that is because during the period where there was the supply and confidence agreement between the NDP and the liberals, um, the NDP really had some very targeted intentional asks at that time, including uh pharmacare, dental care, those types of things that they were looking for. And so I think really that had kind of taken priority in their agreements and they weren't being pushed by civil society as hard on this file at that time. So civil society has really added to the conversation a lot more in the past two years because we were at the point of, I guess, getting a little complacent that we had had these promises made for this change to actually happen, but then we didn't see it instituted. And so I think it was an issue of timing, and hopefully that issue gets solved as we continue on throughout the year.

Julia Pennella, Host 24:09

Well, that's a wrap on this episode, but don't go anywhere. Jade is back for part two, where we dig even deeper into the power of community, what it really looks like to get advocacy asks across the finish line inside the machine of government, and why representation matters, from stories like heated rivalry, pluberas, to characters on hacks, and how seeing queer love on screen reminds us that love is love. Full stop. And today's episode drops on International Transgender Day of Visibility. So take a moment to show up, speak out, and support the trans community. Just remember, we see you and you belong. I'm your host, Julia Pinella. This is Let's Talk Politics, and I'll catch you on the next episode.