Indigenous groups wary but hopeful as consultations start on co-developing distinctions-based health legislation
The Liberal government’s promise to co-develop distinctions-based Indigenous health legislation is being welcomed as an opportunity solidify jurisdiction by some Indigenous groups, who are also cautious of Ottawa’s approach to consultations. For many, self-determination and the provincial and territorial transfer of health service delivery to Inuit, Métis, and First Nations is the key outcome. Any legislation […]
A seat at the table: inside efforts to boost diversity, Black representation in federal candidate nominations
Achieving a representative House of Commons requires diversity among the candidates nominated for election, and since 2019, new efforts are being made both within political parties and beyond to increase diversity, including Black representation, in federal politics. But new rules only go as far as a party has the will to take them, and Samara […]
Political parties need to field as many women candidates as men
When Justin Trudeau shuffled his cabinet last month, he retained the gender balance that earned him headlines back in 2015. No one commented, because six years on, it’s become the default for the federal Liberals. That’s good news for the roughly 50 per cent of the population who identify as women. But it’s not enough—and […]
Events and activity herald the arrival of Black History Month
Speaking at a virtual conversation Feb. 1 with the first Black NHL player Willie O’Ree, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau explored the topic of progress for the Black community. “We still have a lot of work to do to make a better present and a future for everyone,” Mr. Trudeau, who serves Papineau, Que., said. “And […]
Does the response to the Payette scandal signal a change in the treatment of bullying and harassment victims?
The scandal at Rideau Hall appears to have brought #MeToo back to life in Ottawa. It’s toppled its biggest figure yet, the governor general. It also may have brought about a change in the way whistleblowers on abuse and harassment are treated. It’s about time. The workplace is littered with the broken careers and shattered lives […]
COVID-19 is not gender-blind
Women are at greater risk both of direct exposure to the virus due to their over-representation in health care and service settings, and of pandemic-related job losses. Quarantine, isolation, unemployment, financial insecurity, violence, and a fragile work-family balance are all health risk factors exacerbated by the pandemic. All these may lead to persistent economic and […]
Canada should be speaking up against Moïse’s authoritarian measures in Haiti
A meaningful way to honour Black History Month is by questioning Canada’s role in a country born in struggle to make Black Lives Matter. In Haiti today, Ottawa is supporting a government that is reviving the spectre of the infamous Papa Doc and Baby Doc Duvalier dictatorship. More than two centuries ago, Africans in Saint-Domingue rose […]
If the future is now, real work to improve Black lives needs to be present
As it has for the past 25 years, the start of February marks the beginning of Black History Month in Canada. In this country, we have Jean Augustine, the first Black woman elected to the House of Commons, to thank for the motion that made it official. On Dec. 14, 1995, Ms. Augustine moved that […]
Political platitudes do nothing for Black Canadians stuck at back of the bus
CALGARY—Malcolm X once said, “The white man will try to satisfy us with symbolic victories rather than economic equity and real justice.” This has been the strategy of the Liberal government since their 2015 majority win, but they’re not the only performance in town. Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole, in an effort to look more […]
Sinclair says next GG should be Indigenous, ‘would contribute to reconciliation in a significant way’
Murray Sinclair is a trail blazer. Appointed associate chief judge of the Manitoba provincial court in 1988, he was later the first Indigenous judge appointed in 2001 to the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba and the second Indigenous judge appointed in Canada. He was co-commissioner of Manitoba’s Public Inquiry into the Administration of Justice […]
