Black Canadians need political leadership that won’t just pay lip service to diversity
Conservatives off to a great start on truly being able to effectively tackle Black issues
As Canadians, we often “other” ourselves from Americans and are quick to suggest that racism doesn’t exist in our backyard and that “Canada is a cultural mosaic and so welcoming.”
Despite its contributions to the Underground Railroad, and being a safe haven during the Civil War, this country has its own dark history of systemic racism and racial injustices.
In the U.S, 2020 was emblazoned with tragedies, heartache, anxiety and fear. The death of George Floyd sparked a movement and the start of a long-awaited uprising for marginalized people and the Black community. If 2020 did any good, it’s the fact that it shed much-needed light on the racial and systemic cracks within North American society.
Canada is not innocent given its history. People of colour have had to endure racial injustices and systemic racism for some time. In the land we now call Canada, slavery was common, going back to the colonial days of New France in the 1600s.
Thousands of slaves, mostly Indigenous but many Black enslaved people (because of the transatlantic slave trade), had lived in the settlement since its beginnings.
History dictates that Canada has its own dark past of creating barriers and lacking equity for its people. This is evident from the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War to the Chinese head tax first introduced in 1855, and all the way to the dark history of residential schools and Indigenous children.
In the workplace, racism is nuanced and appears in other ways; labelling a Black person as “aggressive” when they show passion.
Other signs include indirect, insensitive comments, assumptions, or microaggressions — which include the subtle expectations and stereotypes associated with race. A 2019 study found that between one third and one half of Canadians of colour reported discrimination. And of those, 40 per cent experienced it at work.
What should be done to create real change for Canadians and Ontarians in the future?
Undoubtedly, important work is done through policy and government, but real change happens within institutions, communities, education and the systems that have previously been set up to work against people of colour.
In Canada, the Black population accounts for 3.5 per cent of the total population and could represent between five and 5.6 per cent of Canada’s total population by 2036. As a voting block, the community no doubt holds power.
Traditionally, many Black voters have leaned Liberal out of a longheld belief that they were the best party to serve their interests.
Many younger Black voters have started to ask themselves a very tough question: If long-term support to the Liberal Party is connected to Black advancement in society, why do Black communities still have to face many challenges?
In 2020, it was revealed that COVID-19 had affected Blacks and communities of colour disproportionately.
It was made clear that there were very real inequities that existed in our health-care system and other key institutions. Police brutality became a key subject all across Ontario and Canada alike. It’s become clear that there is still a long way to go to successfully address these issues, but who will do it?
This January, Conservatives launched their inaugural Conservative Black Congress of Canada organization and event. Over 300 community members and public servants from all orders of government attended the virtual event. Most notably speaking and in attendance was Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole.
The MP from Durham won the Conservative leadership with overwhelming support in 2020, stating that he hoped when more Canadians looked in the mirror, they would see a Conservative.
O’Toole has been very adamant about letting Black Canadians, LGBTQ2-plus Canadians, and other Canadians of colour know that they too have a home in his Conservative party.
When Conservative MP Derek Sloan was publicly chastised for accepting a donation from white nationalists, O’Toole and his caucus were quick to kick him out. “The caucus was ready to send a strong message that we are a welcoming party, we respect one another, and we respect Canadians,” O’Toole later said.
Like anything else, current and future governments will be judged not just by what they say, but by what they do.
In the case of the newly led Conservative party, time will tell, but they are off to a great start on truly being able to effectively tackle Black issues in Canada.
Black Canadians need leadership that won’t just pay lip service to diversity, but will truly commit to bringing more Black voices into government and enact policies of the future that will advance the community like never before.