A change is going to come

OTTAWA—Don’t talk about racism. It's a sign that there may be an election close. Many racist acts have occurred in Quebec recently and almost all of those acts have been loudly defended or completely dismissed by its government. Matthew Fry Jacobson is a historian and professor at Yale, and he says “racism is a theory of who is who, who belongs and who does not, of who deserves what and who is capable of what." Here are some heart-breaking incidents of racism in Quebec: the deaths of Mireille Ndjomouo and Joyce Echaquan due to racism in health care; the numerous health-care job postings for whites only in the province; the minister of health implying that Inuit are all on drugs or drunk so shouldn’t be allowed to accompany their children on medivac flights, to name just a few. With predictability, some will be outraged at this statement of fact. A small suggestion which really shouldn’t have to be said out loud in adult conversation but here we go: don’t shoot the messenger. Then comes the surprise: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau jumped in and voiced his displeasure that anybody vilify his good friend Quebec Premier François Legault, or say anything bad about Quebec. There are three lines of thought here. The first is that institutional racism—differential access to goods and services based on race—have been experienced and thoroughly documented in Quebec. Yet again please note the Viens Commission, one of the things the Quebec government has completely dismissed. If the Viens Commission, which investigated how Indigenous peoples in Quebec are treated by Quebec's public services, has been unable to facilitate honest discussions about the recurring acts of racism in the Quebec government, what will have to happen to accomplish change? Secondly, politics in Canada comes with public accountability. When the British Columbia government heard about racist acts in its provincial health-care system, it launched and completed a review within eight months, a quality review supported by stakeholders and backed up with strong recommendations for change. When the Northwest Territories government heard about racist acts in its territorial health-care system, it launched transformative change to fix the problem. There was no reactive diatribe, no avoiding taking action, and it wasn’t called “N.W.T. bashing.” The emergency of racism was discussed and the problem addressed with honesty and accountability. And by all accounts, these discussion in B.C. and the N.W.T. were difficult. Challenging stereotypes and facing racism is not easy. But avoidance of one’s own discomfort to maintain institutional racism against others—this is not an ethical stance. This stance, conversely, is closely associated with white supremacy. In response to the issue on March 22, Trudeau could have chosen to speak to the subject of racism with the intent to support constructive discourse rather than attempt to shut it down. Unfortunately, now Trudeau is perceived to be shutting down discussions on racism, and shutting down Indigenous peoples and people of colour living in Quebec who want something better. The Liberals suddenly want to avoid talking about racism. It’s quite the awkward dance routine, given the past year, but perhaps it will work for them. Avoid discussions about racism in Quebec, and maybe avoid accountability for the issue of racism in the RCMP, too. It must be almost election time. However, this is not a Quebec issue alone. From the abhorrent new Alberta educational curriculum that comes straight out of Jim Crow-era Alabama, to home-care workers of colour in Manitoba who were told by white clients that they couldn’t come in their house (sounds like 1960s Georgia), to Black university students being carded and arrested for trying to enter the cafeteria in a B.C. university, this is surely not isolated to one province alone. It is a Canadian issue. We all own a piece of it. Take heed, political party leaders. Change is coming. Indigenous peoples and Black Canadians and people of colour are now more than 26 per cent of Canada’s population. We will not be dismissed any longer. We demand to be safe in this country. Rose LeMay is Tlingit from the West Coast and the CEO of the Indigenous Reconciliation Group. She writes twice a month about Indigenous inclusion and reconciliation. In Tlingit worldview, the stories are the knowledge system, sometimes told through myth and sometimes contradicting the myths told by others. But always with at least some truth. The Hill Times