Over 100 current and former Global Affairs staff call for change amid widespread harassment and discrimination at home and abroad

OTTAWA, Ontario, Oct. 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Affairs Canada (GAC) employees are breaking their silence on a culture of harassment and discrimination within one of Canada’s most high-profile federal departments. At a national press conference in Ottawa, the Coalition Against Workplace Discrimination (CAWD), presented testimony from current and former GAC employees and called for urgent action from the federal government.

More than 100 GAC employees have come forward through a Peer Support Group, reporting experiences of racism, discrimination, and workplace violence while stationed both abroad and in Ottawa. The department’s Values and Ethics Office, their unions, and the Canadian Human Rights Commission have all failed to protect victims, dismissing valid complaints without proper review, and in some cases continuing to promote perpetrators to higher leadership positions, while victims are silenced, gaslit, and suffer years of emotional distress.

Madina Iltireh, who served as an Ambassador’s Assistant at the Canadian Embassy in Kuwait from 2018, shared her experience of relentless racial harassment. Her complaint was initially labeled as "inadmissible”, despite no interview being conducted with the Ambassador. It was only after Iltireh filed a judicial review application an investigation was conducted, with the Federal Court ruling that GAC’s decision to dismiss Ilitireh’s complaints was unlawful. The new court-ordered investigation confirmed that Iltireh was bullied and discriminated against by the Ambassador.

“When I was posted to Kuwait to represent Canada, it was supposed to be an honour,” said Iltireh. “Instead, I faced isolation, humiliation, and a complete loss of my self worth. Despite the investigation confirming my claims were valid, there has been no accountability, or even an apology.”

A former GAC strategist, Rosaline Mouana, shared her story of enduring years of harassment by Latifa Belmahdi, a director in GAC’s Public Affairs branch. When she complained to the Values and Ethics Office, she was told to “find a hobby.” Her union told her “complaints don’t work”, and the Canadian Human Rights Commission sent her back to deal with her abusive employer.

“The harassment I endured was shattering,” said Mouana. “I was diagnosed with Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. My condition was so severe that my doctor wanted to hospitalise me and place my daughter in foster care.”

Her director later made national headlines after subjecting staff to degrading and racist comments for years, and in one instance, even slapping an employee. Despite being found guilty of seven counts of harassment, Belmahdi was later promoted. Meanwhile, Mouana has struggled to find work for years, and lost her pension after being forced to resign.

“We have heard from employees across multiple departments within Global affairs, the vast majority of whom are racialized women,” says Nicholas Marcus Thompson, President and CEO of the Black Class Action Secretariat – one of CAWD’s leading members. “The pattern is undeniable: discrimination, failure by the Values and Ethics Office, and failure by unions. Instead of being disciplined, abusive leaders are promoted and rewarded.”

Thompson also spoke at the press conference about Jessica Lomumba, an ambassador’s assistant who served in Kuwait, Paris, and Nairobi. At each mission, she endured racial harassment and bullying from ambassadors. “When she sought help, the Values and Ethics office dismissed her complaints, evidence disappeared, and her union failed to act,” recounted Thompson, on behalf of Lomumba, who is on an extended sick leave. “She lives with PTSD, serious health conditions, and no financial stability.”

The Coalition Against Workplace Discrimination is calling for the Government of Canada to take three immediate steps:

1. Establish a Resolutions Committee within Global Affairs Canada to review and resolve outstanding cases of racism, discrimination, and harassment. It must include independent experts and worker representatives, and operate with full transparency.
2. Create an independent investigative body, separate from any department, to handle all complaints of racism, discrimination, and harassment across the federal public service.
3. Implement the Employment Equity Act reforms recommended by the government’s Employment Equity Act Taskforce, finally recognizing Black employees as an employment equity group as previously promised, and use disaggregated race-based data to identify and correct inequities.
   

The Coalition Against Workplace Discrimination has requested a meeting with Minister Anita Anand to discuss a plan to implement these recommendations.

Find attached summaries of the three workers profiled at the press conference.

Video of the full press conference can be viewed here

Photos of the press conference available here (photo credit: Blair Gable)

Media Contact: media@bcas-srcn.org

ABOUT: The Coalition Against Workplace Discrimination (CAWD) is an initiative spearheaded by the Black Class Action Secretariat (BCAS) bringing together a broad coalition of organizations, including labor unions, advocacy groups, and community organizations. The coalition is dedicated to challenging and dismantling the pervasive injustices that continue to affect public service employees, particularly those from Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities. Website: https://www.bcas-srcn.org/cawd

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