Trudeau minister vows to root out racism in department Liberals have managed since 2015

Consequently, using Fraser's own logic, the Trudeau government has managed a racist department for nearly seven years.

Fraser's remark followed a recently published report that declared that the department allowed bigotry, citing examples of managers who patted black employees' hair and described indigenous Canadians as lazy.

The report also detailed that most employees do not believe there are consequences for racist remarks. On top of this, derogatory remarks were seen as commonplace.

One manager speaking to employees of Latin ancestry quoted Speedy Gonzales with joking references to "Andale."

Another asked non-Caucasian employees: "Where are you from?"

"It will take bold, decisive action to convince employees there is a real management commitment to change," said the report Anti-Racism Employee Focus Groups. The document said management had "an obvious internal cultural code in operation," reported Blacklock's.

"I think we in every department of the Government of Canada have to constantly be aware of examples of systemic racism and discrimination that do exist and root them out at the source," said Fraser.

"This is something that we need to do in every aspect of the operations of the Government of Canada," he added.

When asked whether racism existed within his own department, Fraser said that "it would be silly if I were to stand here and say that in a department of 11,000 people, if you look at the different operations, to say that there is no discrimination."