In a provocative new column, commentator Jerry Agar contends that the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) movement within the Canadian federal government has achieved its objectives and should now be significantly scaled back. Agar points to substantial costs and what he describes as overrepresentation of key demographic groups within the public service as evidence that the extensive DEI infrastructure is no longer necessary.
The Staggering Cost of Federal DEI Programs
Central to Agar's argument is the financial burden of maintaining a vast DEI bureaucracy. Citing data from Blacklock’s Reporter, he notes that federal departments assigned nearly 600 employees specifically to promoting DEI initiatives last year. The reported figure was 577, but with several major departments—including the RCMP and the Health, Justice, and Public Works ministries—declining to report their numbers, Agar suggests the true total is at least 600.
With the average cost of a federal employee estimated at $130,000 annually when factoring in salary, pension, and overhead, this translates to a yearly expenditure exceeding $75 million. Furthermore, Agar highlights that cabinet has spent a staggering $1.049 billion on DEI-related programs since 2016, citing a separate parliamentary inquiry.
Mission Accomplished? Demographic Representation in the Public Service
Agar asserts that the core goal of DEI—achieving representative workforce demographics—has been met, based on the government's own 2023 statistics. He presents a breakdown showing several groups are now overrepresented within the core public administration compared to their share of the national population.
Women constitute 56.8% of federal employees, surpassing their roughly 50% representation in the general populace. Indigenous Peoples self-identify as 5.3% of public servants, above the workforce availability estimate of 4.1%, and hold 5.5% of executive positions. Similarly, Black Canadians make up 5% of federal workers, compared to 4.3% of the country's population. Visible minorities collectively represent 22.9% of employees, slightly above the national figure of 22.7%.
The columnist acknowledges that people with disabilities remain the only group he identified as underrepresented, a situation he deems worthy of targeted study and remedy.
Calls for a Return to Core Priorities
Beyond the numbers, Agar questions the ongoing focus on DEI workshops and initiatives when other pressing issues persist. He shares an anecdote from a Toronto teacher who called his radio show, claiming to have attended numerous DEI workshops but zero dedicated to addressing the education system's well-documented struggles with math and English literacy.
Agar also singles out specific expenditures, such as the Department of National Defence paying $22,600 to Dr. Rachel Zellars of St. Mary’s University as a guest speaker for a Black History Month event, as examples of spending that should no longer be funded by taxpayers.
"When the plumber fixes the leak, we don’t pay him to stand there and admire his work," Agar writes, arguing that the DEI mission is complete. He concludes by thanking the bureaucracy for its service but firmly stating it is time to reallocate those resources, suggesting some managers could be reassigned to improve public accountability within non-reporting departments.
