This column is an opinion by Sharon Davis-Murdoch and Charisma Grace, who are Black health-care advocates, and Jalana Lewis, a community consultant with Diabetes Canada. For more information about CBC’s Opinion section, please see the FAQ.
As Black health advocates with a range of experience in health policy, health coaching and meaningful engagement with African-Canadian communities, we know all too well that anti-Black racism impacts all areas of life for people of African descent living in Canada.
The common theme is that there’s little representation of Black Canadians in health settings, and it’s important for patients to see themselves reflected in the health system.
Recently a Black female client shared that she felt much more comfortable having a Black health coach because there wasn’t a need to explain her mistrust of the health-care system. The microaggressions and racist attitudes she had faced in the past when accessing health care weren’t something she had to relive with a coach who looked like her.
Sharon Davis-Murdoch is the founding member and co-president of the Health Association of African Canadians. (Sharon Davis-Murdoch)
Yes, people of African descent are genetically predisposed to diabetes, but the challenges go beyond ethnicity. They are related to social determinants of health, including lived experience of systemic racism, distrust of the health system, higher rates of poverty and rural isolation.
That’s why we need to implement large-scale support for culturally specific approaches to address the growing issue. It could be as simple as identifying Black patients for early screening.
We’ve all heard from people of African descent who have experienced racism while navigating the Canadian health-care system and are unable to access proper, culturally appropriate health resources. For many Black communities in Canada, health professionals often aren’t in roles long enough to really understand the needs of those communities.
There is a lack of trust in the health-care system stemming from decades of institutional racism, microaggressions and overt forms of discrimination, which has led to many Black community members feeling like their voices or concerns are not heard in the health-care system.
Charisma Grace is a former health coach with the Matter of Black Health Project. (Charisma Grace)
The “one-size-fits-all” approach to the implementation of health-related services assumes everyone has the same access and experiences while navigating those services.
The Matter of Black Health (MBH) pilot project, which launched in May 2017, took a different approach and provided an excellent blueprint for culturally specific programming aimed at preventing chronic disease while supporting Black Nova Scotians.
It was initiated by theHealth Association of African Canadians in Nova Scotia in collaboration with Diabetes Canada, with funding through Medavie Blue Cross and the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness. Collaboration between participants and coaches built trust and connected African Nova Scotians, including community leaders, to the health-care system.
Participants worked with Black coaches who understood the systemic barriers they faced and the lived experience of Black people in the region.
Following the pilot initiative, most people experienced lowered blood pressure and blood-glucose levels, as well as improved weight and stress management. Of the 165 participants who were paired with health coaches, 92 per cent said they were more physically active, and 75 per cent felt more confident navigating the health-care system.
Everyone living in Canada should have confidence in their health-care system and in culturally competent providers. We know that it’s crucial for all Canadians accessing health care to see themselves reflected and represented in services. Despite the project’s success, funding was discontinued.
Jalana Lewis is a non-practising policy lawyer. (Jalana Lewis )
As Black health advocates, we know that we’re running a relay race. Those who have gone before us worked tirelessly to move the needle. It is now time for us to accept the passing of the baton.
The necessary policy, research, training and programming required to reduce rates of diabetes among Black Canadians should include Black leadership. It must also be prioritized by governments, academics, researchers and health professionals.
Funding from the federal government to re-establish the MBH project in Nova Scotia and expand it across Canada needs to happen now.
This story is part of a CBC project entitled Being Black in Canada, which highlights the stories and experiences of Black Canadians, from anti-Black racism to success stories Black communities can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
