Montreal Is Looking For Someone To Fill A New Job To Fight Racism & Discrimination

City officials are aiming to strengthen their effort to fight racism with a brand new Montreal job. In a statement from the mayor's office, the city's Director General, Serge Lamontagne, promised that the new Commissioner for the Fight against Racism and Systemic Discrimination and their office "will play a key role in achieving Montreal's goals of becoming more just and inclusive."

The job posting shows that the commissioner will have a pretty broad set of responsibilities to work toward that goal.

The city is looking for someone with a special mix of skills and experience to take up the important task.

Here's what the position entails.

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How did Montreal's new commissioner position come to be?

In a statement, Cathy Wong (executive committee member responsible for, among other things, diversity and employment inclusion), expressed the need to create "a dedicated structure" to "fight" racism and discrimination in the city.

As explained in the job posting, the mayor ordered the creation of the new position in response to a report submitted in June by the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM).

The report "recognized the systemic nature of racism and recommended that the municipal council create by October 2020 a function to fight against racism and systemic discrimination."

The new commissioner position has "therefore been created with the aim of accelerating the transformation of the organisational culture and getting all units of the city to act more forcefully in the face of" these issues.

Balarama Holness, founder of Montréal en Action, told MTL Blog that he believes this position is a result of young Montrealers getting engaged and forcing the city to make changes.

What are the job requirements?

The city is looking for someone with a university degree in "law, human resources, intercultural mediation or any other relevant humanities training."

According to the posting, candidates should also have more than ten years of experience, including at least five years in a managerial position, and have made "relevant achievements in the fight against racism."

There is also what the city calls a "profile of generic management skills" that candidates must demonstrate. 

What are the job details?

Well, first things first: the minimum salary is $118,025.

The commissioner and their office will have a wide range of responsibilities as well as power to "take action and recommend corrective measures" within the municipal government and bureaucracy.

One of their primary responsibilities will be to "propose structural measures aimed at an inclusive municipal system for all" through the development of an action plan, whose implementation the commissioner will also oversee and ensure.

They will also "[monitor] the practices, processes and interventions of the various municipal bodies," "train managers and employees on the forms and consequences of racial discrimination" and "develop information and awareness-raising tools so that citizens and employees are informed of their rights and recourses."

As Mayor Plante put it, the office of the commissioner "will be a pillar of our organization to make Montreal a more just and inclusive city."

The job posting will be up until November 4, 2020.

This article's cover image is used for illustrative purposes only.