Issue 1 — The Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat Newsletter

Welcome
Spotlight: Deputy Minister
Addressing COVID-19 through Engagement
New interdepartmental group on the UN International Decade for People of African Descent
Building solidarity against anti-Indigenous racism
Building solidarity against anti-Black racism
Community spotlight: anti-Asian racism grassroots initiatives
Disaggregating the data: a critical perspective
The new Anti-Racism Action Program – another important step to address systemic racism
Government of Canada funding initiatives
Host an engagement session with youth
Thank you

Welcome

We are really excited to launch our newsletter: your portal to government resources, conversation, and action.

The Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat is committed to advancing human rights by giving a voice to people directly targeted by racism to facilitate change by working towards dismantling systemic racism in Canada. Part of this involves setting up a one-stop shop for anti-racism resources and tools. This work also involves helping departments identify systemic barriers and gaps in initiatives, set up new responsive efforts, and track impact, with the aim of better community outcomes.

We acknowledge the long history of colonialism, which continues to shape and impact the Canada of today. Systemic racism is a lived reality for too many Canadians. Indigenous Peoples, racialized communities, and religious minorities continue to face unacceptable barriers to employment, justice, and social participation.

The following newsletter lays out some of the first steps the Secretariat has taken since October 2019. This is just the beginning!

Learn more about:

Spotlight: Deputy Minister

On January 27, 2020, Gina Wilson became Deputy Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth at Canadian Heritage. Gina is Algonquin and began her career in her First Nation community of Kitigan-Zibi as Executive Director of Health and Social Services. She has held senior executive positons at several departments including the Privy Council Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, and Public Safety. Gina was the recipient of the 2020 Indspire Award for her leadership and her life-long work on Indigenous issues and supporting Indigenous employees.

Addressing COVID-19 through Engagement

To respond to racism and discrimination, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic, the Secretariat established the Equity-Seeking Communities and COVID-19 Taskforce with Women and Gender Equality Canada in late March 2020. The goal is to create a space for federal institutions and organizations to engage directly with equity-seeking communities to ensure the federal response to COVID-19 is informed by the diverse needs of communities.

The Secretariat also conducted a series of virtual town halls with stakeholder communities to understand their different needs and experiences, and to seek concrete recommendations for departments to implement into their design of COVID-19 response measures and recovery.

On September 16, 2020, the Secretariat and the Canadian Human Rights Commission teamed up to co-host a virtual multidisciplinary conference applying an anti-racism and human rights lens on the impact of COVID-19 and the recovery.

Learn more about how government is addressing COVID-19 needs in diverse communities.

New interdepartmental group on the UN International Decade for People of African Descent

The Secretariat has established a new interdepartmental working group on the UN International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024) with Employment and Social Development Canada. Its purpose is to ensure that government actions apply an anti-Black racism lens to the policymaking process in the spirit of the International Decade, to advance the needs of Black communities and explore further government action beyond 2024, the last year of the UN Decade. More to come!

Building solidarity against anti-Indigenous racism

The impact of COVID-19 on racialized, religious minority, and Indigenous communities has exposed fractures in our society. Recent racially charged incidents in Canada have demonstrated why structures and practices that enable racism need to be dismantled.

A virtual gathering was held with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit leaders on August 20, 2020, to hear about their communities’ COVID-19 experiences and identify solutions. Read more about this engagement session on our website.

Building solidarity against anti-Black racism

Following requests from a coalition of anti-racism groups, the Secretariat joined forces with the Canada School of Public Service, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission, and the Federal Black Employees Caucus, to host an interdepartmental retrospective on the 80th anniversary of the Fred Christie Case, a case which legalized racial segregation in Canada.

On February 29, 2020, Minister Bardish Chagger joined the Secretariat and approximately 100 Francophone and Anglophone Black youth in downtown Montreal for an intense day of policymaking and artistic expression. The Secretariat is engaging with federal departments to help implement the recommendations.

Community spotlight: anti-Asian racism grassroots initiatives

Across the country, local community organizations are developing new grassroots initiatives to address anti-Asian racism.

The Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic and the Chinese Canadian National Council – Social Justice received funding from Canadian Heritage’s Digital Citizen Initiative for their initiative to equip Canadians with online tools to combat anti-Asian racism.
The Hua Foundation is working to combat COVID-19 disinformation affecting Vancouver's Chinese and Vietnamese language communities.
The ACCT Foundation, based in Calgary, is leveraging social media and online platforms to provide an avenue for citizens to report and share incidences of discrimination, and implement information campaigns to increase anti-racism and fact checking in an age of misinformation.
The Montreal-based Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) is working to enable citizens and communities to react to misleading, biased and hateful or harmful information, and to encourage individuals affected by discrimination, hate, misinformation and other problems to report confidentially to CRARR and receive the necessary supports.

Disaggregating the data: a critical perspective

The Government of Canada has committed to increasing reliable, usable and comparable data and evidence regarding racism and discrimination. Over the past months, Statistics Canada provided Canadians with an opportunity to share their experiences of discrimination via a new crowdsourcing initiative.

Although the results cannot be generalized to the overall population, over one-quarter of participants reported experiencing discrimination or being treated unfairly over the course of the pandemic. For all of the results, read their article: Experiences of discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, Statistics Canada has released a series of documents that provide insight into some of the key socioeconomic characteristics of Canada’s Black communities. Here are a few:

The new Anti-Racism Action Program – another important step to address systemic racism

The Government of Canada is providing $15 million through the new Anti-Racism Action Program for 85 anti-racism projects across the country to address barriers to employment, justice, and social participation among Indigenous Peoples, racialized communities, and religious minorities.

Minister Bardish Chagger made the virtual announcement on October 15, 2020 and was joined by:

Parliamentary Secretary Adam van Koeverden
Zoe Craig Sparrow, Co-Director of Justice for Girls
Fo Niemi, Secretary-Treasurer of the Institute for Research and Education on Race Relations
Amira Elghawaby, Founding Board Member, Canadian Anti-Hate Network
Rustum Southwell, Chief Executive Officer, Black Business Initiative

By providing funding to support local, regional, and national initiatives and outcomes-based activities, this program is another important step to addressing systemic racism and implementing the Anti-Racism Strategy to build a stronger and consciously more inclusive society.

Government of Canada funding initiatives

Here are some of the Government of Canada’s new initiatives:

$221 million in support for Black entrepreneurs, including a new National Ecosystem Fund to support Black-led business organizations
$350 million Emergency Community Support Fund to help charities and non-profit organizations adapt frontline services for vulnerable Canadians during COVID-19
$685 million Indigenous Community Support Fund addressing immediate needs in First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation communities
$285 million for First Nations and Inuit communities to access additional public health support in response to COVID-19
$75.2 million to support First Nations, Inuit and Métis post-secondary students impacted by COVID-19
$82.5 million in mental health and wellness supports to help Indigenous communities adapt and expand mental wellness services, improving access and addressing growing demand, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
$25 million to provide assistance to Black community organizations
The Communities at Risk: Security Infrastructure Program (SIP) is designed to help communities at risk of hate-motivated crimes improve their security infrastructure, which will help make Canada safer for all Canadians. The deadline to submit an application is October 31, 2020.

Host an engagement session with youth

As part of the Youth Policy, the Government of Canada is developing the first State of Youth report and is seeking diverse youth perspectives. The federal Youth Secretariat at Canadian Heritage is seeking help to engage young people, including Indigenous, religious minority and racialized youth. If you or young people you know are interested in hosting an engagement session to share views on topics ranging from health and wellness to skills and learning and many others, please contact the Youth Secretariat at jeunesse-youth@pch.gc.ca.

Thank you

Thank you for your interest in the Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat. We look forward to collaborating with you.

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Date modified:: 2024-06-20

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