Anti-racism directorate gains insight into Northern Ontario challenges

By Laura E. Young

SUDBURY—The racial issues young expectant mothers face in the small hospitals of northern Ontario, were front and centre for Ontario’s anti-racism directorate.

The directorate received a distinct northern flavour when it held consultations in Sudbury at the Alphonse Raymond Auditorium at Laurentian University on October 15.

Buoyed by a love of her culture and a need for more information, Lynne Cormier arrived from Matachewan First Nation near Temiskaming Shores where she is a front-line worker with the Temiskaming Native Women’s Support Group.

“I am trying to be an advocate as much as I can without pushing [it].  This is just for me. I want to learn and speak up as much as I can because I know we’re silenced,” stated Cormier.

Sudbury was the fifth of 10 stops on the Anti-Racism Directorate’s province-wide dialogue on ways to address systemic racism and eliminate barriers in the province’s Indigenous and other racialized communities.

The directorate was formed in February 2016. Public consultations began in July in Toronto and continue until December.

Sudburians know racism is a problem, said Julian Douglas, a business development officer at the Greater Sudbury Economic Development Corporation.

“We pride ourselves on being a warm and a happy place,” stated Douglas. “I believe there is systemic racism. It’s nice to  know the community wants to do whatever is possible to eliminate it, whatever it might be, whoever might be a victim of it.”

The anti-racism hearings have been a challenging conversation for the Minister Responsible for Anti-Racism, Honourable Michael Coteau.

Coteau told those in attendance of the Sudbury meeting that he has seen and heard a lot of anger, pain, and despair so far.

Coteau also added that many people have noted that the directorate should just get on with it and get to work.

These were the “early days” of foundation work for the directorate, continued Coteau. He stressed the hearings as a key opportunity to collect data that will better inform any future framework and strategies for combating systemic racism.

The directorate team told the 25 people attending that they were encouraged with the opportunity for a “very different, intimate” conversation than they have experienced to date.

“Because it was a smaller group, there was a lot of feedback that came forward in a very constructive, positive approach to looking for ways to build a better inter-racism directorate,” noted Coteau.

In other communities, Coteau mentioned that they heard about the experiences of other people, and because the participation was so great, each speaker had to be limited to only a few minutes.

“The extra time had a positive piece behind it in that people really get to express their ideas and we have some take-aways from it,” stated Coteau.

Coteau also mentioned that many groups feel the negative impact of racism, and systemic racism hinders the province’s ability to grow, especially considering what’s happening globally.

“The over-arching theme is that we could be so much better positioned as a society as we enter this new era of innovation and digital shifts, changes that are taking place in Canada,” added Coteau. “We’re seeing a lot of fear internationally and now is the time for Ontario to do what we do best and that’s come together and leverage our differences.”

“There will be a strategy built for the Indigenous community,” he added. “I don’t think a lot of people in Ontario are not aware of the challenges the Indigenous communities face.”

He has visited the Hudson and James Bay regions as a Cabinet Minister.

“It’s even been more recently that I’ve been aware of the issues,” stated Coteau. “For me to be in a position of influence and to not be fully aware of all of the issues, imagine what the average-day Canadian or Ontarian…it’s hard for them to understand the challenges that people have.”

He sees many opportunities to explain how systemic racism factors in areas of education, the justice system and children’s aid, and from there, how to build and bring positive change.

The work of the anti-racism directorate will create a specific approach to deal with Indigenous racism, as a response and commitment from the Ontario government to the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the directorate said in a press release.

The directorate reports directly to the Ontario Cabinet and would request funding through the Cabinet. It has a budget of five million although that is primarily funding current directorate operations.

For more information or to provide a viewpoint, visit ontario.ca/antiracism or email the directorate at: antiracism@ontario.ca