Activist calls on federal parties to nominate more black candidates
OTTAWA — A Toronto-based activist is calling on Canada’s political parties to nominate more black candidates in winnable ridings in this fall’s federal election in order to enhance the chances the community is better represented in the next Parliament.
Fewer than 20 black Canadians have been nominated so far, including a handful of Liberal MPs who are seeking re-election, said Velma Morgan, the chair of Operation Black Vote Canada, a notfor-profit, multi-partisan organization that aims to get more black people elected at all levels of government. There are currently just seven black MPs in the House of Commons — three each in Quebec and Ontario, and one in British Columbia.
“Six MPs belonging to one political party and one Independent is clearly not enough to represent our voice adequately,” Morgan said. “We do need to be able to elect more black Canadians, (that’s why) we need more black Canadians nominated.”
The number of black people living in Canada doubled between 1996 and 2016, with 1.2 million, or 3.5 per cent, identifying as black in the 2016 census, Statistics Canada says. More than 627,000 live in Ontario, followed by Quebec with 319,000 and Alberta with 130,000.
When it comes to increasing the number of black and other ethnic Canadians on Parliament Hill, the main challenge is getting them to run for public office in the first place, said Greg Fergus, a Liberal MP from Quebec and the head of Parliament’s crosspartisan black caucus.
The colour or gender of the candidates don’t play into their chances of success — “the real issue is getting through the nomination process,” Fergus said in an interview.
Often, he said, the misguided perception that a candidate of colour is somehow unelectable is what prevents them from winning the nomination — or even seeking it in the first place.
“If you don’t have history of it — of having diversity in your candidates — some people might assume that person couldn’t win,” Fergus said. “My argument will be: No, present yourself. People are more generous if you give them a chance.” Challenges, however, remain. In February, Speaker Geoff Regan apologized on behalf of the House of Commons after an apparent case of racial profiling at a lobbying event aimed at using Black History Month to encourage more black voices in politics. The Federation of Black Canadians said several participants were referred to as “darkskinned people” and asked to leave a parliamentary cafeteria.
The Parliamentary Protective Service apologized and promised a full investigation, adding it has zero tolerance for any type of discrimination.
Just days earlier, Fergus had told a national summit on the issue that despite a recent call to action from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he feared that the effort to attract more black voices to politics and confront systemic issues facing the community were at risk of stalling.
Morgan, meanwhile, is working with her colleagues to encourage more black people to participate in Canadian politics.
One of the most significant barriers is a lack of access to information on how to participate, she said: “They don’t know that they can be part of a riding association, they can volunteer in a campaign.”