Hill Times January 25, 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My family watched the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden. We shared with millions of people the awe and relief that grace and leadership has returned to the White House. Tears were shed to witness so many BIPOC on podiums that day and evening. And then my daughter asked me, \u201cwhy doesn\u2019t our prime minister make real change, like an executive order against systemic racism?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daughter, that\u2019s a complicated question. We don\u2019t do executive orders, we do orders in council. We make key decisions through cabinet via departmental proposals. We do ministerial mandate letters. And let\u2019s not forget that Canada does have laws and policies and expectations on workplace inclusion. Just this month, laws changed to be even more stringent against discrimination and harassment in the workplace. And let\u2019s celebrate that the COVID-19 vaccines are prioritizing First Nations on reserve first because the evidence on risk demands it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I could have given her these answers, but my daughter was not asking about the legalities. She was asking why so little has changed in Canada on racism against Indigenous peoples, why our leaders are quiet on systemic racism, and why her mother has to continue to do this work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I didn\u2019t have a good response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Canada has taken many steps to reduce racism in the workplace because the workplace is within the reach of the law\u2014 except so is the RCMP with all sorts of documented racism issues and nothing has been done there. We have laws against racism\u2014except Indigenous peoples still die in hospitals due to racism without much consequence for health leaders and systems. Deputy ministers and assistant deputy ministers hold up their copies of the TRC Calls to Action\u2014 and then spend millions fighting against releasing the hordes of documents on the horrible abuse at the infamous St. Anne\u2019s residential school to hide the truth. Canada vaunts its human rights voice on the world stage\u2014but never called out the demagogue Donald Trump who put kids in cages for political gain. This federal government talks about reconciliation\u2014 but has no plan after five years. This Liberal Party vaunted its commitment to Indigenous peoples, but in one of the whitest cabinets recently, there is only one Indigenous cabinet minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I came up with a response for my daughter and I don\u2019t like the response. The answer is the prime minister and most premiers will not take political risk to protect those who need it most. Some leaders don\u2019t believe it\u2019s really a problem, some don\u2019t see it as an urgent enough issue, and some benefit from donors who don\u2019t want the issue resolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Against all wisdom, there\u2019s talk of a federal election in the air. So, if political parties really mean it when they say they care about reconciliation and racial safety for all Canadians, they would put at least 30 per cent BIPOC candidates on tickets, put real money in platforms for Indigenous economic inclusion, enforce consequences for racism in health, and finally, publicly call out leaders who refuse to fight against systemic racism against Indigenous Canadians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But don\u2019t hold your breath for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CEOs and board members of non-profits, health, municipal governments and private sectors, here\u2019s your chance. Read the New Federal Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations again which came into effect this month, and choose to implement it for racism too. Not surprisingly the federal government did not list racism in this revision as strongly as sexual harassment, but that doesn\u2019t mean that you shouldn\u2019t. Do better than the feds. This is what reconciliation looks like in your organization\u2014implementing stringent anti-racism procedures and policies. Consider this your executive order, your legacy.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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