At the end of September 2020, George Brown College hired Jennifer Campeau as their first director of Indigenous initiatives. Ten months later, with no public notice, this position has now sat unfilled for over two months after Campeau left the college for a job at Rogers Communications in April.
The director of Indigenous initiatives position was created in the summer of 2020 following the announcement of GBC’s anti-racism strategy which acknowledged the need for more Black and Indigenous people in leadership positions. Campeau was hired in September with a wealth of experience and knowledge and took on this role which not only provided Indigenous representation, but also allowed for leadership in GBC’s decision making, and could hold the college accountable to its own anti-racism strategies.
Campeau has since moved on from the college, taking a job as Rogers’s senior manager of community engagement – Indigenous collaboration. GBC president Anne Sado notified employees about her departure internally on March 31, 2020 but no notice was given to the external community about there no longer being someone in this critical role.
“Leaving the College was a difficult decision for Jennifer. However, in her letter of resignation she stated that she was leaving to pursue her professional and personal objectives,” said Ian Wigglesworth, GBC’s Associate Vice President of Academic in an email to the Dialog.
Coming in with a diverse array of bureaucratic, corporate, and academic experience with a passion for learning begs the question of why Campeau chose to leave GBC after only eight months.
Campeau could not be reached for a request for comment.
Since Campeau’s departure, the position has gone unfilled with no one coming in the interim. The college says it’s begun a recruitment process for a new director of Indigenous initiatives and hopes to have the position filled by the end of the summer with no changes being made to the position itself. After losing a qualified individual, though, how can those who are supported by this position trust that it will retain candidates in the future?
“We remain committed to taking meaningful action towards reconciliation, delivering on [Colleges and Institutes Canada’s] Indigenous Education Protocol and to supporting all Indigenous students and employees. Work continues on the Indigenous Strategy, and we have begun the recruitment process for a new Director of Indigenous Initiatives,” says Wigglesworth.
With plans to announce a new director by the end of the summer, the position will sit empty for upwards of five months which leaves necessary support, guidance, and critical forward movement on hold.
When Campeau was hired, she noted that her hiring was a step in the right direction but that further follow-through and work is necessary. Now with no Indigenous representation in GBC leadership and a long recruiting process underway, this may be one step forward, two steps back.
