By Neil Armstrong
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| Photo contributed Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development |
The federal government has reaffirmed
its commitment to the spirit of the International Decade for People of African
Descent by including it in the mandate letters of some ministers.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has
instructed Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development,
to support Bardish Chagger, Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth,
regarding this matter.
In the letter to Hussen, Trudeau
instructed the minister to “support the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and
Youth on the delivery of cross-government programming in support of the United
Nations International Decade for People of African Descent."
He told Chagger to “work with ministers
across government to build on the spirit of the United Nations International
Decade for People of African Descent.”
The FBC says the mandate letters “place an even greater focus on Black communities, new investments in research, and support employment projects for visible minority newcomer women, work to develop policies that tackle systemic discrimination and unconscious bias in our country, including anti-Black racism.”
In January 2018, Trudeau announced that
Canada officially recognized the United Nations International Decade for People
of African Descent spanning from 2015 to 2024.
In recognition of this, Budget 2019
provided $25 million over five years starting in 2019-20, for projects and
capital assistance “to celebrate, share knowledge and build capacity in Canada’s
vibrant Black Canadian communities.”
The establishment of a Canadian Institute for
People of African Descent and dedicated funding for projects in Black
communities across the country will support this commitment by advancing
initiatives to address issues that affect Black communities, says Employment
and Social Development Canada (ESDC).
Regarding cross-government programming
to recognize the decade, it noted that Budget 2018 committed $9 million over
three years to the Department of Canadian Heritage to enhance local community
supports for Black Canadian youth and $10 million over five years to the Public
Health Agency of Canada to develop research in support of more culturally
focused mental health programs in Black Canadian communities, for a total of
$19 million.
More recently, Budget 2019 announced
$45 million over three years, beginning in 2019-20, for Building a Foundation
for Change: Canada's Anti-Racism Strategy 2019–2022, which will aim to counter
racism in its various forms, with a strong focus on community-based projects.
The Strategy, through its open-call
grants and contributions funding, is equally able to support activities
undertaken by eligible recipients in furtherance of the UN-proclaimed decade.
On August 27, 2019, the government announced
that it would support stakeholders to create the first national institute for
Black Canadians.
The Canadian Institute for People of
African Descent (CIPAD) will work to advance initiatives that impact Black
Canadians at a systemic level.
This supports the Government of
Canada’s overarching goals to enhance the quality of life and promote the full
participation of individuals in all aspects of Canadian society, says ESDC.
In addition to supporting the institute,
the government is expecting to implement an intermediary approach for funding
projects in Black communities across the country.
Under this model, high-capacity
organizations would be identified as intermediaries who would in turn provide
funding to grassroots organizations. These projects will aim to build the
capacity of not-for-profit organizations serving Black communities across
Canada.
“This will be a more efficient way to
use Black Canadian communities’ expertise, and fund projects that correspond to
their specific circumstances. The government is on track to flow funds within
this calendar year,” says ESDC.
$348,000 has been committed to
Caribbean African Canadian (CAFCAN) Social Services to lead initial work
towards developing the CIPAD. This project runs from October 2019 to July 2020.
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| Photo contributed Bardish Chagger, Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth |
Meanwhile, the Michaëlle Jean Foundation,
a national charitable organization, will hold its third National Black Canadians
Summit in Halifax, Nova Scotia, from March 20 to March 22.
Since 2017, the National Black
Canadians Summit has served as a major meeting point for people of African descent
living in Canada, to share their experience, raise awareness about major
challenges they face and to open a national conversation on ways to enhance
social cohesion, as well as promote an inclusive, equitable and sustainable
development for all Canadians.
In light of the international
decade, the organization aims “to create a roadmap for communities, the public
sector and the private sector to advance concrete solutions to the needs and challenges
faced by Black Communities across Canada.”
The mission is to collect
experience-based data and tangible recommendations in order to continue to
inform the “Canadian Strategic Action Plan for the International Decade for
People of African Descent: 2017-2024” which draws on the strengths of
initiatives across the country, identifies gaps in existing programs, and
prioritizes areas where government support needs to be strengthened.
The plan, called Count Us In, is in response to the decade, which the province proclaimed in May 2018, and is based on three pillars identified by the United Nations: recognition, justice and development.
Premier Stephen McNeil said the action plan promotes greater knowledge, understanding and respect while helping to eliminate the systemic barriers that still exist in the province.
The action plan will help government departments, organizations and the community work together to help address and eliminate the many challenges faced by African Nova Scotians.
Nova Scotia is the only jurisdiction in North America to create an action plan to support the International Decade for People of African Descent, notes a media release.
“We must acknowledge the injustices and inequalities in every community before we can begin to create meaningful change. Translating the knowledge into action gives us the opportunity to positively change going forward,” said Tony Ince, Minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs.
Ontario was the first province in Canada to formally recognize the decade in February 2017.
The City of Toronto officially did so on April 18, 2019.
The Government of Ontario provided the following when asked about plans it has to recognize the United Nations-proclaimed International Decade for People of African Descent, 2015-2024.
Initiatives and Programs Supporting Black
Communities in Ontario
Anti-Racism Directorate –
Ministry of the Solicitor General
Anti-Black Racism Strategy
The
Anti-Racism Directorate (ARD) is leading strategic initiatives to advance
anti-racism work across government that involves supporting Anti-Black Racism
initiatives undertaken by sector and ministry partners. This has included
funding to advance anti-black racism initiatives in the child welfare and the
education (K-12) sectors.
Through
funding from the ARD, the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto (CAST) expanded its
Anti-Black Racism Strategy (ABRS) in Spring 2018, with a focus on mitigating
the harmful systemic inequities including Anti-Black Racism. The outcomes of
this work are to improve institutional effectiveness in service provision and
to provide culturally safe services for Black children, youth and their
families. Similarly, the TDSB’s Anti-Black Racism (ABR) initiative began in
Fall 2018 and is focused on Black Students Success and Excellence. This has
involved working with 17 schools and conducting professional training on race
and racism and building staff and students’ critical consciousness and a
Pre-Kindergarten Summer Learning Program in 7 TDSB school sites.
These
initiatives align with the following objectives of the ARD’s Anti-Black Racism
Strategy:
1.
Lead long-term change across systems in
order to reduce the disproportionately negative outcomes for Black Ontarians
2.
Build system capacity and competency to
support system transformation to improve outcomes for Black Ontarians
3.
Partner with ‘early adopter’ public
sector organizations that serve a high percentage of Black Ontarians to
identify strategies that could be applied on a wider scale across the province
to identify, monitor and address systemic racism
Ministry of Children,
Community and Social Services
Black Youth Action Plan
The Ontario Black
Youth Action Plan builds on existing government investments in upstream,
prevention-focused programs that connect the hardest-to-reach youth to
evidence-based, wrap-around supports in their communities.
Under the Ontario
Black Youth Action Plan, the ministry is working with Black-led organizations
that are best positioned to engage Black children, youth and families to
increase access to a range of culturally-relevant skills development, mental
health, mentorship and family supports. Supports to improve population
outcomes, including access to post-secondary education must begin early.
Ministry of Education
Education Equity
Secretariat
·
Human Rights and Equity Advisors (HREA)
o Funding
supports school boards to efficiently meet their legal obligations for human
rights compliance and proactively address equity and human rights issues
(including freedom from racial discrimination and harassment). The ministry
provides school boards with funding and recruitment guidance for 14 HREA
positions.
Addressing human rights-based complaints and
Institutional Barriers to educational success (including racial discrimination
and harassment).
Budget:
$2.4M in 2019-20
·
Identity-based Data Collection
o The
funding supports boards to build their capacity to meet the growing needs and
expectations of their increasingly diverse communities for evidence-based
decision making. This project allows boards to construct the necessary
structures and protocols to meet the legal, ethical and research standards for
the collection, analysis and use of identity-based data.
Institutional Barriers to educational success
(including racial discrimination and harassment).
Budget:
$1.0M in 2019-20.
· Keeping Students in School Pilot (Part of
the Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy, Phase 2)
o Funding
supports boards/schools involved in this pilot project to critically review
school boards' discipline procedures and to ensure they do not
disproportionately impact particular groups of students. Involves 14 schools
(elementary and secondary) across 10 boards.
Groups of students include: Indigenous students, Black students,
students from other ethno-racial groups.
Budget:
$0.6M in 2019-20
· Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy
(CRRP)
o Funding
supports educator training on the foundational principles of equity and human
rights issues, setting high academic and behavioural expectations for all
students, and unpacking biases to make school and classroom practices
responsive to the diversity of students, parents and communities. Funding also
supports 36 school boards to develop and implement projects that respond to
their local equity needs.
Institutional Barriers to educational success
(including racial discrimination and harassment)
Budget: $0.7M in 2018-19
Indigenous Education and Well-Being Division
· Graduation Coach Program: Pilot for Black
Students
o The
Ministry of Education is working with eight school boards to pilot a program
that will help determine if providing intensive, culturally-responsive support
to Black students will help improve their academic achievement and well-being.
$1.57M has been allocated in 2019-20 for these pilots. (program started
September 2019)
Programs that peripherally but not
specifically focus on Black students:
· Children and Youth in Care Transportation
Supports
o The
Ministry of Education is providing funding to school boards, through an
application process, to supplement transportation services for children and
youth in care when it is in their best interest to remain in their home school,
as determined by school board and society representatives.
$6.6M has been allocated in 2019-20 for this program. There is an
overrepresentation of Black children and youth in the child welfare system, we
know for example that 42 percent of kids in care in CAS Toronto had at least
one parent who is Black. (started 2017-18)
· Urban and Priority High Schools (UPHS)
o The
UPHS program supports students to overcome personal and academic challenges
that hinder their learning, achievement and full participation in school,
preparing them to become productive adults. Schools work with community
partners to deliver initiatives aimed at promoting student engagement, academic
achievement and safe and accepting learning environment for secondary school
students experiencing challenges including low academic achievement, suspension
and expulsion, conflict with the law, poverty and a lack of access to community
resources in their neighbourhoods. In 2019/20, $10M has been allocated for UPHS
to 40 high schools in 12 school boards.
· Focus on Youth (FOY)
o FOY
provides summer employment opportunities for youth who may be facing
disadvantages and barriers to academic achievement and employment. These
opportunities contribute to increasing graduation rates and ensuring that youth
have positive transitions to adulthood. FOY is open to youth in select
low-income neighbourhoods who are disengaged from school as a result of their
home or school environment, and may face low academic achievement, family
conflict, and/or conflict with the law. The 2019 FOY Summer Program was funded
at $7.6M in 24 participating school boards.
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