Social Justice Network to Hold Community Forum to Address Systemic Inequalities

By Neil Armstrong

From left: Zanana Akande, Angela Robertson and Debbie Douglas. Robertson and Douglas are among the confirmed speakers at the Colour of Poverty-Colour of Change community forum on May 22 & 23 at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.

With the upcoming provincial, municipal and federal elections, the Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change network says it’s time to assess what it has achieved.

The Ontario general election will be on June 7 and municipal elections on October 22 this year; the federal election will be on October 21, 2019.

Members of the organization will examine what challenges remain and “how to re-focus ourselves for the next five years” at its 10^th anniversary provincial forum, “Racial Justice: Lead the Change,” which will be held at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law on May 22 and 23.

Among the speakers are Sandra Carnegie-Douglas, anti-racism and cultural diversity officer at the University of Toronto; Angela Robertson, executive director of the Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre; Debbie Douglas, executive director of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI); Notisha Massaquoi, executive director of Women’s Health in Women’s Hands; and Kiké Roach, Unifor Sam Gindin Chair in Social Justice and Democracy, Ryerson University.

The Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change (COP-COC) network is an organization in Ontario working to build concrete strategies, tools, initiatives and community-based capacity through which individuals, groups and NGOs can begin to develop coherent shared action plans.

These plans include creating effective coordinated strategies for collaborating with mainstream policy analysts and institutions, anti-poverty advocacy groups, governments, funders and the media to work together to address the growing structural or systemic ethno-racial inequality.

For the past ten years, COP-COC has been engaged in a broad range of racial justice change-making education and advocacy efforts and activities around the province.

It has worked at an international, national, provincial, municipal and institutional level to bring about fair and equitable life chances, life opportunities and life
outcomes for First Peoples and peoples of colour, COP-COC says.

More than one out of every four people in Canada are either Indigenous or a person of colour.

In Ontario, almost one out of three Ontarian's are either of First Peoples or peoples of colour backgrounds or heritages – almost 4.3 million Ontarians.

According to the Canadian Census 2016, this number is made up of roughly 376,000 Indigenous persons – First Nations, Inuit or Metis and about 3.9 million persons of
colour – which make up 2.8% and 29% respectfully of the population of
Ontario.

“In Canada and in Ontario we must not gloss over the historical wrongs
committed against Indigenous peoples and peoples of colour. We as
Ontarians need fully appreciate how Canada’s colonial and “colour-coded”
history continues to define and shape our society – the individual life
chances, life opportunities and life outcomes – starting with our
relationships with Indigenous Peoples,” COP-COC says.
 

This third Colour of Poverty - Colour of Change provincial forum at the University of Toronto will bring together individuals, groups and organizations working in diverse areas of racial justice – with Indigenous Peoples, with peoples of colour, and with other marginalized groups, populations and communities.

 Academics, policy makers, advocates, activists and others will discuss how to build a more equitable and inclusive society for all, and to learn together how to best live nation-to-nation treaty relationships upon which Canada is founded.

They will also discuss “how we can best move forward a racial justice change-making agenda as we make good on our shared obligations as Treaty Peoples.”

The COP-COC steering committee membership includes Access Alliance Multicultural Health & Community Services, African Canadian Legal Clinic, Canadian Arab Federation, Chinese Canadian National Council – Toronto Chapter, and the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians.

Other members are:  Hispanic Development Council, Karuna Community Services, Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, Midaynta Community Services, Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, Sistering, the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario, and Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office – as well as an academic member – Professor Grace-Edward Galabuzi of Ryerson University in Toronto.

Meanwhile, on May 15, the COP-COC in collaboration with the University of Toronto’s International Human Rights Program will host “Think Locally, Act Globally: Challenging Canada’s Human Rights Record at the UN.”

In May, the UN Human Rights Council is conducting its third comprehensive review of Canada’s compliance with international human rights law.

Leading racial justice advocates will discuss ways they are influencing the UN review process and the Canadian government’s response.