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Former co-chair of Alberta’s anti-racism council calls on government to release recommendations

2021/02/01 Leave a comment

Of note, but not surprising. Focus on “dinner and dance:”

A former co-chair of Alberta’s Anti-Racism Advisory Council is calling for the government to publicly release the group’s report and its recommendations to combat racism.

The Alberta government has not committed to releasing the report, which it received earlier this month. Heather Campbell said in a Twitter thread Wednesday the public should press them to.

“The report should be made public. Demand it be so. With racism, silence is merely an act of complicity,” she wrote, also noting that her experience serving on the council has been challenging and difficult.

“Anti-racism is not a partisan issue. Belligerent intransigence by leaders with respect to their views on systemic racism and understanding of systemic racism won’t lead to Alberta’s growth and prosperity.”

Campbell’s call came a day before the government announced it had appointed nine new members to the council, formed in 2019 under the NDP government. The new members join 11 existing ones and replace most of those who left, including former co-chairs Campbell and Lucenia Ortiz.

The appointments included two new co-chairs, Mohamad Awada and China Ogbonna, as well as Kulshan Gill,a former UCP candidatewho ran unsuccessfully inNDP Leader Rachel Notley’s riding in the 2019 provincial election.

Campbell and Ortiz did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Amanda Leblanc, press secretary to Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women Minister Leela Aheer, said in a statement Friday the report will be shared with the new co-chairs and new members for their review and feedback, and then the anti-racism advisory councilwill be developing a plan to implement the actions approved by the government.

“Part of this ministry’s mandate is to advance work on both multiculturalism and anti-racism by encouraging cultural communities to share their history, traditions and beliefs with all Albertans,” said Leblanc.

Irfan Chaudhry, director of the office of human rights, diversity, and equity at MacEwan University, said keeping the report out of the public eye would highlight a lack of transparency and a bigger concern over government accountability.

“It’s a standard operating procedure for any kind of government-appointed task force or advisory committee to have their recommendations public or reports made public,” said Chaudhry.

Postmedia has obtained draft recommendations listed in the agenda and minutes of a November meeting attended by Aheer, government staff, expert presenters and the council.

They include supporting a provincial policing hate crime unit to help investigate and prosecute hate crimes, and requiring police officers in Alberta take anti-racist training.

An anti-racism and inclusive curriculum working group to hold schools and school boards accountable, and an Office of Racial Equity to guide efforts across government departments, are also among the draft proposals.

The minutes show concern from council that Alberta’s Multiculturalism, Indigenous and Inclusion Grant — formerly the Anti-Racism Community Grant — makes no clear commitment to anti-racism, instead focusing on “celebration of heritage.”

Chaudhry said that while multiculturalism makes our country and community rich, focusing on the “dinner and the dance” can risk downplaying the racial discrimination that anti-racism tries to address.

“We have aspects of discrimination and racial discrimination that we can’t just sweep under the rug and pretend doesn’t happen, and just focus on the good stuff,” said Chaudhry, adding that’s why it’s important that the provincial government clearly address the problem in targeted ways.

Source: Former co-chair of Alberta’s anti-racism council calls on government to release recommendations

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with Alberta, Anti-Racism Advisory Council

About Andrew
Andrew blogs and tweets public policy issues, particularly the relationship between the political and bureaucratic levels, citizenship and multiculturalism. His latest book, Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias, recounts his experience as a senior public servant in this area.

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