Canada Works To Combat The Foundation Of Racism

Canada’s Federal Anti-Racism Strategy 2019 – 2022 works to combat “racism and discrimination that is anti-indigenous, Islamophobic, antisemitic, anti-black, or homophobic.” This strategic plan is meant to outline and mend the foundations that foster racism. The government intends to take both monetary as well as social approaches to ensure genuine, long-term changes are made. The federal government intends to produce annual progress reports; however, none have been issued thus far.

Monetarily, the federal government is investing $45 million to ensure the success of this strategy. It has allocated $30 million towards projects in the community, $6 million towards statisticians and data collection to accurately track the development of this approach, $4.6 million into the Anti-Racism Secretariat, and $5 million to combat online misinformation and hate speech as it continues to rise in the global, digital world.

The Anti-Racism Secretariat is the active link between the government and the community. They’re meant to work within the indigenous community, as well as places of extreme poverty and inequality, to identify gaps and reasons for inequalities found within provincial communities. These gaps are then meant to be brought to the government, where the policies will be changed to eliminate the disparities we find between races, sexes, and other factors.

The Anti-Racism Action Program is the specific area the government will be focusing on. Employment is the first area. The purpose of this is to work to reduce barriers in the hiring process that often arise in the workplace. It will also be looking at social participation to try and promote participation and less separation in recreational sports and activities. Finally, justice is the last area the government is focusing on regarding youth, where it aims to provide more support for high-risks youth as opposed to allowing people to repeat patterns of trauma they have or are experiencing. These areas aim to act as the first steps of building blocks that will provide a long-lasting impact in combatting racism. Many approaches to equality are temporary fixes that do not focus on long-term consequences. Perhaps this approach is the first step to real change.

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