A ‘race lens’ for the labour market? Welcome to 2015, Ms. Wynne

2015/12/23 Leave a comment

While I am not sure that I agree with all of these recommendations as I am not familiar enough with existing structures to know whether these are needed, or more adjustment of existing mandates and roles would be more appropriate, this helps continue the conversation of the overall need for a diversity lens.

In Multiculturalism in Canada: Evidence and Anecdote, the Ontario data confirms some of the gaps and challenges (particularly economic), as do any number of issues (e.g., police carding, Toronto school outcomes, children aid society statistics).

My preference is for a lens that integrates all the different aspects of diversity (gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation etc) into policy, program and service delivery (see my earlier post, Jim Maclean: In Ontario, a new race-based government | The Limits of Anecdote and Assertion):

Having a racial-equity policy framework is just the beginning, however. If the Premier is sincere about bringing racial justice to Ontario, the following foundational steps are critical:

  • Establish an equity and anti-racism directorate to provide for the collection and analysis of ethno-racially and otherwise appropriately disaggregated data across all provincial ministries and public institutions. The directorate – with a pan-provincial government-wide mandate – would complement this data analysis by providing an ongoing monitoring and program development role for the integrated implementation of comprehensive and inclusive equity and anti-racism policies and practices.
  • Establish an employment-equity secretariat, fully mandated and adequately resourced in order to implement a mandatory and comprehensive employment-equity program in Ontario.
  • Amend the provincial funding formula for publicly funded elementary-secondary schools by introducing an equity in education grant – a more robust redistributive mechanism rooted in a range of relevant equity and diversity measures and considerations – to ameliorate Ontario’s growing ethno-racially defined learning outcome inequities and disparities.
  • Apply equity principles to all current and future government infrastructure investments, particularly “green collar” job-creating initiatives, to best ensure stable and sustainable futures for all.
  • Establish the anti-racism secretariat as mandated under the Ontario Human Rights Code.

With these and other similar measures, first peoples and peoples of colour will have a fighting chance of finally becoming equal members of our society. By 2017, these diverse communities will make up close to one-third of Ontario’s population. The time for action is now.

 Source: A ‘race lens’ for the labour market? Welcome to 2015, Ms. Wynne – The Globe and Mail

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Jim Maclean: In Ontario, a new race-based government | The Limits of Anecdote and Assertion

2015/12/08 Leave a comment

This commentary by Jim Maclean illustrates the risk of anecdote and assertion-based commentary Highlights of his piece:

Wynne told the Post that it’s time to use “the race lens” when formulating government policy, adding, “we need to start,” although she said she has yet to discuss the idea formally with cabinet. But if she is musing about it in public, you can bet a formal proposal is in the works.

To ensure the government’s “race lens” focuses properly, Wynne says a “structure” will need to be created “that is going to allow us to filter the policies we put in place, to create new policies to put protections in place.” How these race-based “protections” will differ from or supersede the broader (but apparently inadequate “human rights” protections that already exist in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms and many other pieces of provincial legislation is unclear. Also yet to be determined: the shape and size of the “structure” that Ontario will need to establish to filter government policies through Wynne’s “race lens.” Will it be akin to the bureaucracy that administers Quebec’s French language laws?

If anything, it will likely be bigger, because in order to ensure that Ontario’s current and future policies are properly “racially focused,” a large and racially-diverse number of civil servants will need to be hired so that the filtering is fully representative of all of the racial groups that make up Ontario’s diverse population. How else to ensure that the racial lens focuses correctly?

But let’s not stop with race. What of ethnicity? To be truly sensitive and inclusive, perhaps “ethnic” lenses may have to be used in addition to “racial” lenses, to focus more accurately, because, of course not all members of a particular race share the same views.

A little thinking is clearly a dangerous thing, and perhaps the Premier should do a lot more thinking about this initiative.

Once Ontario’s new Ministry of Racial Profiling has been set up, it will likely take years for all existing provincial government policies, and all future policies, to be correctly filtered. A tremendous, bureaucratic make-work project.

To be fair, each and every policy would have to be considered, would it not? And why stop with government policies? Why not have the Ministry examine all existing Ontario legislation? That would be the only fair and, um, consultative, thing to do.

….One can only hope that intelligent, thoughtful opponents to this ill-considered proposal will find their voices, and that they do so soon, before serious damage is done to the multi-racial and multicultural fabric of Ontario.

So, as hopefully an intelligent and thoughtful proponent of a diversity lens, let me note a few fallacies in his arguments:

  • Ontario is the second most diverse province, with 26 percent visible minorities, and with greater diversity within visible minorities than British Columbia;
  • When devising policies and programs, it is important to understand the needs of the population served. In Canada’s four largest provinces, that means understanding the range of groups being served;
  • Government has long-applied a gender lens to various policies and the federal government did apply a rural lens at one time;
  • This is no different from the private sector, where sectors as diverse as banks, grocery chains, fast food outlets and telecoms all conduct such research to better understand, and respond to, client needs;
  • Understanding citizen needs does not automatically mean a targeted policy or program response but it ensures policy makers have the necessary information to make recommendations; and,
  • any response can range from substantive policy or program adjustments to improve outcomes, or improved ways to let citizens know about government programs that may be relevant to them.

From the theoretical to some practical examples:

  • Would police-carding practices not have been questioned if a race-lens highlighted the disproportionate carding of Blacks?
  • Would the Toronto District School Board have been able to develop programming to improve high school graduation rates among Somali-Canadian youth without a diversity lens?
  • Would the roll-out of Ontario’s new sex education program not have been smoother had resistance from some segments of some communities been identified earlier through such a lens.

Lastly, to Maclean’s fear that the Ontario government will have to hire a “large and racially-diverse number of civil servants,” he can rest easy: 20.4 percent of Ontario’s public service are already visible minority.

In any case, the purpose of a “lens” is for all public servants, whatever their origin, to become more attuned to the population they serve.

Source: Jim Maclean: In Ontario, a new race-based government | National Post

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Ontario premier says it’s time the province started analyzing policies through a ‘race lens’

2015/11/27 Leave a comment

Whether one labels this as a ‘race’, visible minority, or ethnic group lens, there is a need for government policies and programs to consider the needs of an increasingly diverse population:

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says it’s past time the province has a mechanism through which to consider its policies through a “race lens.”

The premier made the comments Wednesday at a breakfast hosted by Equal Voice — an organization that seeks to get more women of all backgrounds involved in politics — and she pointed to recent events to highlight the fact equity issues in government and policy-making go beyond gender.

The recent focus on policing and black youth — especially men — in Toronto and across the province first got Wynne thinking about this issue. Then the recent attacks on Muslim women wearing the hijab — one of which occurred outside a school in her riding when a mother was picking her kids up from school — put a renewed focus on it.

 “I understand we haven’t used that lens, we haven’t used that race lens, we haven’t talked about explicitly, and I think we need to start,” Wynne said at Queen’s Park. “I believe that what we need to do is figure out what is a structure… that is going to allow us to filter the policies we put in place, to create new policies, to put protections in place.”

There is an established equity framework for education, but not across government, and that should change, she said.

Wynne has yet to discuss the idea formally with cabinet, but her office said an equity-based initiatives could take a number of forms: it could be a standalone mini-ministry like the women’s secretariat or a cabinet committee, similar to the one on “diversity and inclusion” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just created. And there is precedent in Ontario — the NDP government set up an equity taskforce — though it was focused specifically on employment.

“I think the moment may be right once again to introduce a more formal structure to say that, you know, this hasn’t gone away and we need to signal, not just internally in government, but externally that there is more work to be done on equity,” Wynne said.

Source: Ontario premier says it’s time the province started analyzing policies through a ‘race lens’

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