Navigating racism is a critical piece of the Black Canadian experience, contacting each part of life. Notwithstanding the difficulties, Black Canadians keep on showing momentous resilience and contribute seriously to society. This article digs into the set of experiences, foundational issues, and the continuous endeavours to address racism in Canada, featuring the Black community’s solidarity and determination.
Historical Context: Black Canadians’ Resilience
The history of Black Canadians is a demonstration of their strength and assurance. From the appearance of Black Loyalists in the 18th century to the dynamic Caribbean movement waves of the twentieth century, Black Canadians have reliably confronted and beaten various misfortunes.
Early Struggles and Community Formation
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Black Canadians managed serious discrimination and isolation. They were frequently banished from specific areas, schools, and occupations. Notwithstanding these obstructions, they constructed very close networks, laying out houses of worship, and social clubs, and shared social orders that offered vital help and a feeling of having a place.
Systemic Racism: A Persistent Challenge
Systemic racism continues to affect Black Canadians deeply. This type of racism is entrenched into the arrangements and practices of organizations, prompting far and wide segregation in regions like schooling, work, lodging, and the law enforcement framework.
Educational Inequities
Black students in Canada face striking instructive differences. As indicated by a recent report by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Black understudies are bound to be suspended or ousted and less inclined to be suggested for cutting-edge scholastic projects. These instructive hindrances prevent their intellectual and expert possibilities. Carrying out comprehensive educational programs and hostile to racist preparation for teachers is pivotal to addressing these disparities.
Employment Discrimination
Black Canadians experience huge business discrimination. Statistics Canada announced in 2020 that the joblessness rate for Black Canadians was almost twofold the public normal. In addition, Black specialists are in many cases moved to lower-paying positions with restricted open doors for progression. To battle this, advancing variety and consideration in the work environment is fundamental.
Housing Insecurity
Housing discrimination remains a significant issue. Black Canadians are bound to confront difficulties in tracking down reasonable lodging. A 2018 report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives featured that Black Canadians are excessively impacted by lodging uncertainty. Strategies that guarantee evenhanded admittance to lodging are essential for tending to these differences.
Bias in the Criminal Justice System
The criminal justice system shows huge inclinations against Black Canadians. A recent report by the Ontario Human Rights Commission uncovered that Black people in Toronto are undeniably bound to be halted, looked at, and associated with utilization-of-force incidents with police. Changing the law enforcement framework to kill racial profiling and guarantee fair treatment is vital for accomplishing equity.
The Role of Advocacy and Activism
Notwithstanding confronting foundational racism, Black Canadians have been at the very front of upholding change. Their activism and community endeavours have been instrumental in bringing issues to light and pushing for foundational changes.
Black Lives Matter Movement
The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement plays had a basic impact in featuring issues of police mercilessness and foundational racism. BLM Canada has coordinated fights and missions to request equity for casualties of racial brutality and promote more extensive social changes. Their endeavours have altogether expanded public mindfulness and provoked conversations about racial equity.
Community Organizations
Various people group associations work enthusiastically to help Black Canadians and battle racism. The Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) gives a legitimate guide to those confronting separation, while the Black Youth Helpline offers support for youngsters managing fundamental obstructions. These associations are significant in giving assets and support to the community.
Celebrating Black Excellence
Observing Black greatness is fundamental for cultivating pride and acknowledgment. Occasions like Black History Month and the African Canadian Awards feature the commitments of Black Canadians to society. These festivals help to challenge generalizations and advance a more comprehensive story.
Education and Awareness: Key to Change
Schooling and awareness are useful assets in the battle against racism. By instructing people in general about Black Canadian history and the effect of fundamental racism, we can cultivate a more comprehensive and figuring-out society.
Inclusive Curricula
Integrating Black Canadian history into school educational programs is fundamental for advancing comprehension and inclusivity. Teaching students about the commitments and encounters of Black Canadians helps to oppose stereotypes and encourage them to respect these legends. Likewise, anti-racism sessions for educators can make them more likely to assist Black students and address inclinations in the studying lobby.
Public Awareness Campaigns
Public awareness crusades assume an essential part in testing biases and promoting understanding. These missions can feature the encounters of Black Canadians and teach the more extensive public about foundational racism. Viable missions can start discussions and drive social change.
Policy Reforms: Addressing Systemic Issues
Tending to foundational racism requires exhaustive arrangement changes across different areas. Governments at all levels should focus on carrying out and authorizing approaches that advance value and incorporation.
Equitable Hiring Practices
Carrying out evenhanded recruiting practices is fundamental for lessening business incongruities. This remembers approaches that advance variety for recruiting, give equivalent open doors to progression, and address work environment separation. By establishing more comprehensive workplaces, we can guarantee that Black Canadians have fair admittance to business and employment opportunities.
Affordable Housing Initiatives
Strategies that advance reasonable lodging are urgent for tending to housing insecurity among Black Canadians. This incorporates expanding the accessibility of reasonable lodging units, giving monetary help to low-pay families, and implementing anti-discrimination laws and regulations in the real estate market. Guaranteeing fair admittance to lodging is central to decreasing social and financial inconsistencies.
Criminal Justice Reforms
Changing the law enforcement framework is basic for tending to racial predispositions and guaranteeing fair treatment. This incorporates approaches that wipe out racial profiling, give responsibility to police offences, and promote helpful equity practices. Guaranteeing that the law enforcement framework treats everybody reasonably is fundamental for accomplishing equity and equity.
Building a More Inclusive Future
The battle against racism in Canada is continuous, however there is potential for a more comprehensive future. Black Canadians keep on making huge commitments across different fields, exhibiting resilience and determination.
Celebrating Diversity
Praising variety and perceiving the accomplishments of Black Canadians advances the social texture of the country. Celebrations, social projects, and public occasions that feature Black culture and contributions cultivate pride and appreciation. These festivals honour the past as well as motivate future generations.
Community Engagement
Drawing in with and supporting community drives is significant for advancing flexibility and fairness. Building partnerships with other underestimated gatherings can intensify voices and reinforce endeavours to battle segregation. Cooperative drives can make a more joined together and successful development for change.
Conclusion
Navigating racism is a critical piece of the Black Canadian experience, however their strength and assurance radiate through. By resolving fundamental issues, advancing instruction and mindfulness, and supporting strategy changes, we can make progress toward a more comprehensive and evenhanded Canada. Praising the commitments and accomplishments of Black Canadians is fundamental for encouraging pride and acknowledgment. Together, we can fabricate a future where fairness and equity are not just beliefs, but real factors for all.
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick’s finance minister says the province recorded a surplus of $500.8 million for the fiscal year that ended in March.
Ernie Steeves says the amount — more than 10 times higher than the province’s original $40.3-million budget projection for the 2023-24 fiscal year — was largely the result of a strong economy and population growth.
The report of a big surplus comes as the province prepares for an election campaign, which will officially start on Thursday and end with a vote on Oct. 21.
Steeves says growth of the surplus was fed by revenue from the Harmonized Sales Tax and federal money, especially for health-care funding.
Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs has promised to reduce the HST by two percentage points to 13 per cent if the party is elected to govern next month.
Meanwhile, the province’s net debt, according to the audited consolidated financial statements, has dropped from $12.3 billion in 2022-23 to $11.8 billion in the most recent fiscal year.
Liberal critic René Legacy says having a stronger balance sheet does not eliminate issues in health care, housing and education.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
HALIFAX – Some Halifax-area landlords say fixed-term leases allow property owners to recoup operating costs they otherwise can’t under Nova Scotia’s rent cap.
Their comments to a legislative committee today are in reaction to plans by the government to extend the five per cent cap on rental increases to the end of 2027.
But opposition parties and housing activists say the bill’s failure to address fixed-term leases has created a loophole that allows large corporate landlords to boost rents past five per cent for new tenants.
But smaller landlords told a committee today that they too benefit from fixed-term leases, which they said help them from losing money on their investment.
Jenna Ross, of Halifax-based Happy Place Property Management, says her company started implementing those types of leases “because of the rent cap.”
Landlord Yarviv Gadish called the use of fixed-term leases “absolutely essential” in order to keep his apartments presentable and to get a return on his investment.
Unlike a periodic lease, a fixed-term lease does not automatically renew beyond its set end date. The provincial rent cap covers periodic leases and situations in which a landlord signs a new fixed-term lease with the same tenant.
However, there is no rule preventing a landlord from raising the rent as much as they want after the term of a fixed lease expires — as long as they lease to someone new.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Former vice-admiral Haydn Edmundson has been found not guilty of sexual assault and committing an indecent act, concluding a trial that began in February.
Edmundson was head of the military’s personnel in 2021 when he was accused of assaulting another member of the navy during a 1991 deployment.
The complainant, Stephanie Viau, testified during the trial that she was 19 years old and in the navy’s lowest rank at the time of the alleged assault, while Edmundson was an older officer.
Edmundson pleaded not guilty and testified that he never had sexual contact with Viau.
In court on Monday, a small group of his supporters gasped when the verdict was read, and Edmundson shook his lawyer’s hand.
Outside court, lawyer Brian Greenspan said his client was gratified by the “clear, decisive vindication of his steadfast position that he was not guilty of these false accusations.”
Justice Matthew Webber read his entire decision to the court Monday, concluding that the Crown did not meet the standard of proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
He cited concerns with the complainant’s memory of what happened more than 30 years ago, and a lack of evidence to corroborate her account.
“There are just too many problems, and I’m not in the business of … declaring what happened. That’s not my job, you know, my job is to just decide whether or not guilt has been proven to the requisite standard, and it hasn’t,” Webber said.
During the trial, Viau testified that one of her responsibilities on board the ship was to wake officers for night watch and other overnight duties, and that she woke Edmundson regularly during that 1991 deployment.
The court has heard conflicting evidence about the wake-up calls.
Viau estimated that she woke Edmundson every second or third night, and she told the court that his behaviour became progressively worse during the deployment.
She testified that he started sleeping naked and that one night she found him completely exposed on top of the sheets.
Viau said she “went berserk,” yelling at him and turning on the lights to wake the other officer sleeping in the top bunk.
That incident was the basis for the indecent act charge.
Webber said he did not believe that Viau could have caused such a disruption on board a navy ship at night without notice from others.
“I conclude that (Viau’s) overall evidence on the allegation that Mr. Edmundson did progressively expose himself to her as being far too compromised to approach proof of those allegations that she has made,” he said in his decision.
Viau alleged that the sexual assault happened a couple of days after her yelling at Edmundson.
She testified at trial that he stopped her in the corridor and called her into his sleeping quarters to talk. Viau said Edmundson kept her from leaving the room, and he sexually assaulted her.
When Edmundson took the stand in his own defence he denied having physical or sexual contact with Viau.
During his testimony, Edmundson also said Viau did not wake him regularly during that deployment because his role as the ship’s navigator kept him on mostly day shifts.
Defence lawyer Brian Greenspan took aim at the Crown’s corroborating witness during cross-examination. The woman, whose name is protected by a court-ordered publication ban, was a friend of Viau’s on the ship.
She testified that she remembered the evening of the assault because she and Viau had been getting ready for a night out during a port visit, and she misplaced her reading glasses. She said Viau offered to go fetch them from another part of the ship but never came back, and that she went looking for her friend.
On cross-examination, the woman explained that she had told all of this to a CBC reporter in early 2021.
Greenspan produced a transcript of that interview that he said suggests the reporter told her key details of Viau’s story before asking her any questions.
Greenspan argued the reporter provided information to the witness and she wouldn’t have been able to corroborate the story otherwise.
In his decision, Webber said the woman’s evidence “cannot be relied upon in any respect to corroborate that evidence of the complainant, because it’s it’s clearly a tainted recollection, doesn’t represent a real memory.”
Edmundson was one of several senior military leaders accused of sexual misconduct in early 2021.
He stepped down from his position as head of military personnel after the accusation against him was made public in 2021. The charges were laid months later, in December 2021.
Edmundson testified that in February 2022, he was directed by the chief of the defence staff to retire from the Armed Forces.
The crisis led to an external review by former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour in May 2022, whose report called for sweeping changes to reform the toxic culture of the Armed Forces.
The military’s new defence chief, Gen. Jennie Carignan, was promoted to the newly created role of chief of professional conduct and culture in an effort to enact the reforms in the Arbour report.
Outside court, Edmundson declined to comment on whether he was considering legal action against the government or the military.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
