Racism ‘daily reality of far too many’: PM
Trudeau says little about protests in U.S., pivots to injustices in Canada
OTTAWA— Systemic issues of racism and discrimination that have spurred demonstrations in the streets of U.S. cities are a daily reality for millions of Canadians as well, even on Parliament Hill, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says.
“This is something that our own staff, cabinet ministers, and colleagues face even in these halls,” Trudeau told the House of Commons, adding that he’s heard their “personal stories” firsthand.
“And I’m not just talking about acts of violence. I’m also talking about microaggressions, which many of us may not even see,” Trudeau said. “That is the daily reality of far too many racialized Canadians. And it needs to stop.”
It’s been just over a week since demonstrations across the U.S were spurred by the death of George Floyd, a Black Minneapolis man who died after being restrained by a white police officer.
That officer has since been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Asked during his daily pandemic briefing to comment on the words and actions of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called for military intervention against the protesters, Trudeau took a very long pause.
In the end, he didn’t comment on Trump at all.
“We all watch in horror and consternation what’s going on in the United States,” he said.
“It is a time to learn what injustices continue despite progress over years and decades. But it is a time for us as Canadians to recognize that we too have our challenges, that Black Canadians and racialized Canadians face discrimination as a lived reality every single day.
“There is systemic discrimination in Canada, which means our systems treat Canadians of colour, Canadians who are racialized, differently than they do others. It is something that many of us don’t see, but it is something that is a lived reality for racialized Canadians,” he said.
Last year, Trudeau acknowledged racist incidents in his own past when it was revealed he had worn blackface on several different occasions, including once during his career as a high school teacher.
“I have made serious mistakes in the past — mistakes which I deeply regret, and continue to learn from,” Trudeau said Tuesday.
The prime minister had spoken on the issue of racism on Monday, but was moved to speak out again on Tuesday by the “depth of pain” felt by many Canadians, one senior official told the Star.
In a video posted on Twitter, Liberal MP Greg Fergus, who is Black, talked about a recent online chat he hosted with Black political staff on Parliament Hill. “These young women and men are successful in every sense of the word, yet each and every one of them had faced on multiple occasions the humiliations that come with racism. If they felt that, can you imagine how those that don’t have a voice deal with that each and every day,” Fergus said in his video.
Bringing about social and economic justice will require “uncomfortable conversations with people that look like you, and people who don’t look like you,” said Fergus, who represents the Quebec riding of Hull-Aylmer.
“If we can do that now, then I hold out the hope that things can get better.”
New Democratic Leader Jagmeet Singh, a practising Sikh who himself faced incidents of racism in last fall’s election campaign, voiced frustration at the “pretty speeches” by politicians but lack of action.
“Government after government prefers lip service to concrete action,” Singh said.
Singh pressed Trudeau to commit to end racial profiling and the high rates of incarceration of Black people and improve access to education and health resources.
Yet Trudeau offered no concrete action on racism, declining even to commit to the recommendations of a 2017 United Nations human rights report that Canada apologize for slavery and consider reparations for historical injustices faced by Black Canadians.
“We will work with the Black community across this country, as we have, to respond to their priorities,” he said.