Another side to the Tamara Thermitus story

It seems reasonable to think the real issue was the new rights commission head was too effective at her job

In the annals of Quebec politics, the name Tamara Thermitus came and went quickly, bookmarked by hope and shame. In February 2017, Thermitus became the first racialized person (and only the second woman) to preside over Quebec’s human rights commission. On paper, the Haiti-born Thermitus was a perfect candidate for the job. A member of the Quebec bar for three decades, she devoted her career in the federal civil service to the fight against systemic discrimination. She played a key role in defining the mandate for the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which helped uncover and document the myriad wrongs the federal government committed against the Indigenous populations.

She lasted little more than a year. In the fall of 2018, Quebec ombudsman Marie Rinfret wrote a report criticizing Thermitus for “lack of ethical norms,” “bad management” and “abuse of authority.” Thermitus resigned last November before the National Assembly could remove her from the position. Politicians from the CAQ and the Parti Québécois, particularly former PQ justice critic Véronique Hivon, had clamoured for her resignation. The reigning narrative in the wake of her departure was simple and devastating: that Thermitus was a morally questionable boss who stoked frustration and fear among her underlings.

A gaping hole recently appeared in that very narrative, from which another, decidedly less convenient narrative has appeared. In June, a Superior Court handed down a decision excoriating the ombudsman’s investigation into Thermitus. “Excoriating” is probably an understatement. Judge André Prévost notes how the ombudsman submitted the first draft of its report to the minister of justice … before it even heard Thermitus’s own version of events. You read that correctly: Quebec’s ombudsman, the soi disant defender of citizens’ rights in this province, didn’t hear both sides of the story.

Reading the 18-page decision, which rules against an attempt by the ombudsman’s office to quash a court case Thermitus has brought against it, it seems clear Thermitus faced an institutional uproar from within the human rights commission when she dared question its efficiency and ability to handle cases. Further, one of the complainants against Thermitus was directly affected by her attempts to crack down on the “unjustifiable” job over-classifications of certain staff members. Another still, who had differences with Thermitus, leaked embarrassing details about her to the media.

At the very least, the decision throws into question the original, damning portrayal of Thermitus, peddled in large part by means of messy leaks to the media. In fact, it’s now reasonable to believe she was removed not for being a bad boss, but for being too effective.

Shortly after she became its president, Thermitus cast an eye at the organizational structure of the commission. The answers, delivered by way of an external report, were damning. “We observe a lack of effectiveness, efficiency and a necessity to increase organizational performance,” wrote Jean-Pierre Hotte in a 2017 report. Coincidentally or not, the leaks to the media disparaging Thermitus began in earnest not long after the report was made public.

The implications of these bureaucratic excesses are evidenced in the commission’s paltry output. Cases often take years to be heard. One example: In 2009, a teenager named Victor Whyte complained about racial profiling by the SPVM. It took more than seven years for the commission to render a decision.

Now that Thermitus has been at least partly vindicated by the court — the case she has launched has yet to be heard — there are questions galore about her treatment by her former employees, the province’s ombudsman and the elected officials who were eager to be rid of her.

What was it about Thermitus that so irked many politicians, Hivon included, to the point where they were ready to believe the worst of someone so dedicated to the cause?

There seems to be more to this story. A lot more.