HireBIPOC is a group that promotes the hiring of BIPOC (black, indigenous, people of colour) in the media. This includes pretty much everyone except whites, and that seems to be their only function.
All self-identified BIPOC working in all areas of the industry, across all experience/education levels, are encouraged to join.
Self-identified BIPOC? That sounds interesting.
The group claims to be run by volunteers, but this doesn’t mean that there is no cost to the public. The companies that they land jobs with are funded by taxpayers. But don’t worry, it’s all in the name of equality, or some such nonsense.
HireBIPOC’s objective is simple:
To eradicate systemic racism in the Canadian media landscape by
- Shifting thinking and practices around hiring
- Investing in the BIPOC community
- Getting more BIPOC hired
Apparently, there is systemic racism in the Canadian media landscape. So, the solution seems to be to ensure more people of every background are hired, except for whites. That actually sounds really racist.
HireBIPOC will facilitate and increase BIPOC hiring in Canadian media & entertainment (television, film, digital) – whether Canadian or shot-in-Canada – in roles at all levels, across all areas of the industry – including production (above and below the line), behind the scenes, communications & marketing, and on-air.
HireBIPOC will be the most comprehensive roster of roles in the Canadian tv, film, and digital media and will encompass jobs in production as well as at media companies and arts organizations. The site will be available in both English and French. HireBIPOC’s category list will be extensive and include roles across all experience/education levels: writer, director, set decorator, wardrobe, production assistant, publicist, camera operator, post supervisor, social media manager, hair and makeup, accountant, on-air promotions, development executive, VFX/graphic designer, production executive… the list goes on and on.
We know a list is just a list unless it is used – consistently and across the industry. Canadian broadcasters Bell Media, CBC, Rogers, and Corus are HireBIPOC Foundational Partners and have committed to changing hiring practices within their respective organizations and the companies they work with. Specifically, they have committed to making the use of HireBIPOC a condition of greenlight.
HireBIPOC is operated by BIPOC TV & FILM, a volunteer-run advocacy group founded nearly a decade ago with deep roots in the BIPOC community and a track record for training and educational work, as well as building solidarity across industry organizations. BIPOC TV & FILM will also track how the site is being used in order to develop new programs and initiatives to address gaps.
You may notice on this site that there is no emphasis whatsoever on ensuring that SKILLED people are put into such positions. There’s no effort to ensure that the best people end up in such roles, regardless of background. A true meritocracy would be great. Instead, let’s hire based on race and skin colour.
One could argue that it’s private companies doing as they please, but that isn’t really true. Canada Media Fund, for example, is heavily subsidized by taxpayer dollars. It seems that they all are, and this has been the case for many years. The CBC gets around $1.5 billion from the public annually, and the City of Toronto is “supposed” to serve all residents of there.
Side note: Toronto is a “sanctuary city” and will allow illegal aliens to access services. Thank you Rob and Doug Ford. But it also supports explicitly racist hiring practices in the media. Taking a look at HireBIPOC’s partners, we see this:
| NAME | TIME | AMOUNT |
|---|---|---|
| Blue Ant Media | Jul. 8, 2013 | $45,153 |
| Blue Ant Media | Jul. 8, 2013 | $286,950 |
| Blue Ant Media | Jul. 8, 2013 | $290,808 |
| Blue Ant Media | Aug. 12, 2014 | $44,833 |
| Blue Ant Media | Aug. 12, 2014 | $302,691 |
| Blue Ant Media | Apr. 1, 2021 | $350,000 |
| Canadian Film Centre | Apr. 30, 2018 | $23,520 |
| Canadian Film Centre | Aug. 21, 2019 | $3,395,000 |
| Canadian Film Centre | Apr. 29, 2019 | $23,520 |
| Canadian Film Centre | May 19, 2020 | $9,414 |
| Canadian Film Centre | Jun. 4, 2020 | $600,000 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | Jul. 18, 2006 | $119,950,000 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | Nov. 21, 2007 | $119,950,000 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | Jun. 20, 2008 | $119,950,000 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | Jun. 8, 2009 | $119,950,000 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | Apr. 1, 2010 | $134,146,000 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | Mar. 25, 2011 | $34,596,000 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | Aug. 12, 2011 | $99,550,000 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | May 8, 2012 | $134,146,077 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | May 2, 2013 | $134,146,077 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | May 5, 2014 | $134,146,077 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | May 22, 2015 | $134,146,077 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | May 13, 2016 | $134,146,077 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | Apr. 1, 2017 | $134,146,077 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | Apr. 1, 2018 | $134,146,077 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | Apr. 1, 2018 – Mar. 31, 2019 | $16,960,000 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | Apr. 1, 2019 – Mar. 31, 2020 | $157,793,710 |
| ***Canada Media Fund Corporation | Apr. 1, 2020 | $222,896,077 |
| ***Canada Media Fund Corporation | Apr. 1, 2020 | $22,000,000 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | Apr. 1, 2020 – Mar. 31, 2021 | $26,365,000 |
| Canada Media Fund Corporation | Apr. 1, 2021 | $163,843,077 |
| Canadian Media Producers Association | Apr. 5, 2016 | $156,704. |
| Canadian Media Producers Association | Apr. 28, 2016 | $50,600 |
| Canadian Media Producers Association | May 2, 2017 | $136,120 |
| Canadian Media Producers Association | Jun. 1, 2018 | $439,964 |
| Canadian Media Producers Association | Jun. 1, 2018 | $504,964 |
| Canadian Media Producers Association | Apr. 12, 2019 | $37,907 |
| Canadian Media Producers Association | Nov. 27, 2020 | $138,300 |
| Canadian Media Producers Association | May 31, 2021 | $99,750 |
| Creative BC | Oct. 20, 2014 | $1,200,000 |
| Creative BC | Nov. 28, 2014 | $1,199,992 |
| Focus Media Arts Centre | Jul. 6, 2020 | $30,374 |
| The Remix Project | Jun. 11, 2018 | $73,620 |
| The Remix Project | Jun. 11, 2018 | $318,750 |
| The Remix Project | Apr. 1, 2021 | $65,000 |
| Rogers Media Inc. (Today’s Parent) | Jul. 4, 2017 | $374,592 |
| Rogers Media Inc. (Châtelaine, French) | Jul. 4, 2017 | $567,295 |
| Rogers Media Inc. (Chatelaine, English) | Jul. 4, 2017 | $1,176,978 |
| Rogers Media Inc. (Maclean’s) | Jul. 4, 2017 | $1,492,069 |
| Rogers Media Inc. (Today’s Parent) | Apr. 1, 2018 | $258,435 |
| Rogers Media Inc. (Châtelaine, French) | Apr. 1, 2018 | $539,977 |
| Rogers Media Inc. (Chatelaine, English) | Apr. 1, 2018 | $1,025,639 |
| Rogers Media Inc. (Maclean’s) | Apr. 1, 2018 | $1,403,958 |
| Telefilm Canada | Jun. 8, 2007 | $29,000,000 |
| Telefilm Canada | Nov. 14, 2007 | $2,519,400 |
| Telefilm Canada | Jun. 10, 2009 | $14,300,000 |
| Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival | Jun. 20, 2011 | $50,000 |
| Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival | Jan. 31, 2013 | $50,000 |
| Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival | Mar. 10, 2015 | $50,000 |
| Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival | Oct. 27, 2016 | $18,500 |
| Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival | Feb. 27, 2017 | $60,000 |
| Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival | Aug. 1, 2017 | $3,200 |
| Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival | Jul. 17, 2018 | $7,532 |
| Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival | Apr. 11, 2019 | $48,085 |
| Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival | May 21, 2019 | $8,860 |
| Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival | Apr. 1, 2020 | $77,500 |
| Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival | May 19, 2020 | $7,840 |
| Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival | Sep. 15, 2020 | $12,000 |
***With Rogers, those are just some more recent ones
HireBIPOC works with many different media outlets, all of whom are receiving some sort of subsidies. Keep in mind, the above list only refers to FEDERAL grants. One would think that this type of hiring policy would be condemned by a Government that claims to support diversity and equality. But the reality is, that it doesn’t.
It’s interesting that in a “white supremacist system”, the only group it’s legal to discriminate against is whites. Seems to be a really ineffective way of doing things.
In October 2020, the Sherbrooke Record wrote an article in support of these policies. They call it “being inclusive”, which is more than a bit dystopian. Just a thought, but perhaps that $12,000 subsidy they received 6 months earlier had something to do with it.
With all of that said, there seems to be a pretty easy way to game the system. There doesn’t appear to be any verification requirements. You can simply “identify” as a person of colour, in order to work with HireBIPOC. How odd it is to have a systemic racism problem (allegedly), where the only way to level the playing field is to identify as a non-white. Perhaps Rachel Dolezal was onto something.
On a final note, it’s unclear who actually runs HireBIPOC, at least from their website. Perhaps they’re trying to avoid the inevitable backlash. Also, their privacy policy is a bit unsettling. Read into that what you will.
Anyhow, take a look at Press Forward, another media collective that is committing to supporting the work of every group, except one.
(1) https://www.hirebipoc.ca/
(2) https://www.hirebipoc.ca/about/
(3) https://www.hirebipoc.ca/partners/
(4) https://www.hirebipoc.ca/privacy/
(5) https://www.hirebipoc.ca/create-account/?v=j#join
(6) https://search.open.canada.ca/en/gc/
(7) https://www.sherbrookerecord.com/hirebipoc-a-new-initiative-calling-for-more-inclusive-hiring-practices-in-media/
(8) https://canucklaw.ca/press-forward-anti-white-independent-media-controlled-and-funded-by-the-establishment/
“Didn’t go crazy”
Well done!
So sick of these pos. like how Brian Mulroney, Trudy’s ex-lover and a wealthy pos quit his job for diversity. I am a poor white, my kids need jobs too.