Team to come up with ways to combat racism
Quebec Premier François Legault has assembled a group of representatives to target racism and discrimination in Quebec.
Junior health minister Lionel Carmant and International Affairs Minister Nadine Girault will lead the group, which includes the minister responsible for Indigenous affairs and four other CAQ MNAS. They will present recommendations in the fall targeted at eliminating racism in Quebec, the premier said.
Racism must be addressed in several sectors, Legault said. Public security, including policing are at the top of the priority list, he said, but racism is also present in other sectors including criminal justice, education and housing.
Specifically, Carmant said he would like the group to tackle racial profiling.
The premier said he wants the group to delve into why minorities are more likely to be unemployed.
“The problem is much larger than (public security),” Legault said, though he again refused to acknowledge systemic racism in Quebec, a stance that has drawn criticism from community groups and activists.
Academics who have spoken to the Montreal Gazette say there is one fundamental definition of systemic racism. It exists when institutions contribute to the reproduction of racial inequalities. But Legault insists there are many definitions.
“Let’s concentrate on fighting racism,” he said.
Legault said there was a consensus in Quebec that most people are not racist. “We are able, today, in Quebec, to make (racism) disappear,” he said.
Girault and the other MNAS also deflected questions about the nature of racism in Quebec. Their job was to find solutions to racism, Girault said, not to define it.
“For me, I want to fight racism. I have been a victim of racism during my career. Ask me which type of racism? It’s racism. Period,” she said. “I’m not going to start defining or trying to find a definition that’s acceptable for everybody around systemic racism because I think we’re going to lose precious time.”
Three members of the working group are visible minorities. Both Girault and Carmant have Haitian heritage, and Christopher Skeete, the government’s point person for anglo affairs, has roots in Trinidad and Tobago.
Skeete, who used to work as a custom’s officer, said that despite his experience, he feels nervous crossing the border.
“It’s just maybe this relationship as a visible minority that you have with the authority of the state,” he said.
“That reality is something that is not lost on me.”
He said he hopes the group will examine police use-of-force models and biased employment practices.
The other members of the group include Sylvie D’amours, the minister responsible for Indigenous affairs, two former police officers and Isabelle Lecours, an MNA who has two children who are half Vietnamese. Lecours told 98.5 FM host Bernard Drainville on Monday that discrimination was an important issue for her because both of her children had experienced racism at school.
The two former police officers are Denis Lamothe, who worked in northern Quebec, and Ian Lafrenière, the former spokesperson for the Montreal Police.
The group has no Indigenous representation despite the fact that several reports, including the 2019 Viens Commission, have found that Indigenous Peoples are the frequent targets of systemic and overt racism in Quebec.
Legault said there were no Indigenous representatives on the group because there are no Indigenous MNAS in the National Assembly. But the working group would consult Indigenous Peoples during the course of its mandate, he said.
The announcement of the working group against racism comes as protests continue in the United States and Canada over discrimination and police brutality against Black people. Videos and instances of police brutality south of the border have drawn international anger and calls for institutional reform.
“We were all touched by what happened in the United States,” Legault said, “but at the same time, we don’t want to import that climate of confrontation.”
I want to fight racism. I have been a victim of racism during my career. Ask me which type of racism? It’s racism. Period.
NADINE GIRAULT