Black parliamentarians meeting in Nova Scotia in 2018

Nova Scotia will host the Canadian Caucus of Black Parliamentarians Conference for the second time in 2018.

Birchtown was the site of the very first meeting, in 2015, when African Canadians elected from federal and provincial jurisdictions, as well as several African Canadians from the Canadian Senate, gathered to build community, increase awareness and discuss common issues affecting Black Canadians. The caucus has met annually since then, in 2016 in Toronto and just this week in Ottawa.

A specific location for the 2018 meetings has yet to be determined.

African Nova Scotian Affairs Minister Tony Ince attended this year’s meetings in Ottawa, which wrapped up earlier this week.

Speaking with the The Chronicle Herald Wednesday, Ince said one of the main subjects of the two-day meetings was the disproportionate number of African Canadians in the penal system, something that is common across the country, as well as issues of racial profiling by law officials and the under-representation of African Canadians in the legal field.

Because Indigenous Canadians face similar issues in the justice system — like racial profiling and much higher incarceration rates — Ince said there is an opportunity for black parliamentarians and community leaders to work with the Indigenous leaders on finding solutions.

“While we are focused as a caucus of black parliamentarians for African Canadians, we are also looking at trying to reach out to other groups so that we can all come together to try to ensure that some of those disparities are dealt with,” he said.

The caucus also touched on a range of other issues like education and health care, Ince said.