Advocates for Black Canadians say the Carney government is reinforcing the barriers they face by launching an inclusivity council that does not include any Black people.
They said the decision raises questions about the prime minister’s approach to tackling discrimination.
“We’re tired of being an afterthought, tired of having to raise our voices to be heard and seen fully,” said former MP Jean Augustine, the first Black woman elected to the House of Commons.
She spoke virtually at a news conference held Thursday on Parliament Hill, where groups decried the exclusion of any Black people when Prime Minister Mark Carney launched the Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion.
Carney first announced the council in February, and had framed it as tackling hate against Muslims, Jews and Indigenous Peoples, with no mention of anti-Black racism.
“This work cannot and should not be done without the inclusion of a Black and African Canadian as part of this advisory [council],” Augustine said.
Amnesty International’s representative for English-speaking Canada says the decision was a major oversight and a sign of how fighting racism is a lower priority for Prime Minister Mark Carney than it was for his predecessor Justin Trudeau.
“This is not a minor oversight. It undermines the council’s very credibility from the outset, and it reproduces the very inequities it is meant to address,” said Ketty Nivyabandi.
“In the previous government there were some attempts that were made, some things were visible — they were far from being enough, because the issue is so deeply entrenched. But we’re not really seeing these priorities now.”
When asked whether the council intentionally excluded a Black person, a spokesperson for Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Marc Miller wrote that the council is still being formed and its mandate spans multiple forms of discrimination.
“This includes addressing the distinct and persistent challenges posed by anti-Black racism in our communities and institutions,” wrote the spokesperson, Hermine Landry.
“The council’s membership is not yet complete, and the remaining members will be announced in the coming weeks. As the council’s work evolves to respond to emerging challenges, its membership may also evolve over time.”
Landry also noted various investments under the former Trudeau government that support the Black community.
Nicholas Marcus Thompson, co-chair of the National Employment Equity Council, said the council should report directly to Parliament instead of a federal minister, and should have more autonomy.
“At some point, omission becomes difficult to distinguish from indifference,” Thompson said.
“I haven’t heard the word equity being used by this government since it came into power. We do see some challenges compared to the previous Liberal government.”
Advocates also say the government neglected to cite anti-Black racism in launching the council, which replaces two special envoys who had been tasked with combating Islamophobia and antisemitism.
