City hall too white and male, says Nenshi
Jason Markusoff
City hall’s leadership is too white and male for an organization that aims to be a diverse employer, Mayor Naheed Nenshi said Wednesday.
Speaking at a Calgary Economic Development lecture series on diversity, the city’s first visible minority mayor said city officials have an inclusion plan and diverse workforce, but many women and minorities may be hitting a ceiling.
“We are lousy at promoting a diverse workforce,” Nenshi said.
“When you look at our management levels within the city, (among) my top six managers there are no women now — the one woman retired — there are no people of a visible minority,” he said in his speech.
The lone female general manager (a Caucasian) retired early last year, replaced by a white man from the director level. Among the 34 existing directors, Nenshi told the group he could only think of one minority and a few women.
“We’ve got to do a better job, and we have to look internally at our own organization to determine what are the barriers that are in place toward getting people promoted into these jobs,” he said.
In an interview, Nenshi conceded managers may simply be hiring the best people. He’s asked officials to consider whether there are systemic problems or “inadvertent biases in our promotion policies.”
Nenshi and council aren’t directly responsible for hiring city GMs and directors, but will appoint a new top executive within weeks because city manager Owen Tobert retires Jan. 30.
Two GMs have applied to head Calgary’s bureaucracy, but councillors are also interviewing candidates from outside city hall. The mayor also confirmed the shortlist is ethnically diverse and isn’t male-only.
In his diversity speech, Nenshi also repeated past criticisms of companies who shun immigrants without “Canadian experience,” and a developer group’s commentary article that suggested gay couples and people with tattoos may not fit in suburbia.
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