The fact that the minister didn’t want to comment on this, speaks volumes. Jagmeet Singh said it best! “The fact that there are allegations and concerns of racism in a department that deals with people who are racialized is deeply, deeply troubling and cannot continue”
I've dealt with IRCC on 4 different occasions:
1. For my PR card - Received PPR and CoPR in less then 4 months after submitting documents. At a time when the average processing time was 6 months
2. For my spouse's parents' visit visa - Received approval in 10 days (average processing time for a visit visa from india was 21 days)
3. For my parents' visit visa - Received approval is 20 days (average processing time for a visit visa from Saudi Arabia was 30 days)
4. My citizenship - Completed oath within 9.5 months of submitting documents (average processing time is 12 months on paper, but 16-18 months+ in reality)
On the flip side, my federal security clearance is pending for approval since April 2019 (average processing time is less than 6 months, and I have been waiting 2.5 years - even though I hold multiple security clearances at provincial and municipal levels)
So I don't think its fair to say there is racism in the system. This is a country that accepts hordes of refugees rejected by nations around the world and is known to be one of the most inclusive societies. There doesn't seem to be any sense in extrapolating bureaucratic inefficiencies (which could be due to a number of reasons - staff shortage, manual processes, changing priorities etc.) to a very broad conclusion such as racism in the system.
This is a time when every government department is short staffed due to resources being diverted for the pandemic response (I know cause I work in government consultancy). And no, just because cases are declining, doesn't mean the pandemic is over. So have patience.