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By Yvonne Sam
PRIDE Columnist
Analysts have often referred to Quebec as a hub of diversity. Everyone is here, and everyone lives together, even if not in perfect harmony. However, the issue of race relations in Quebec continues to adhere like a barnacle to a ship’s bottom.
Now front and center of conversations are questions of diversity, inequality and what it means to be a visible minority.
From its inception the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission was specifically mandated to ensure that Québec’s laws, by-laws, standards and institutional practices, both public and private, comply with the Charter, which prohibits discrimination based on race, colour, ethnic or national origin and religion in the exercise of human rights and freedoms.
Like a reliable marriage partner, the government of Quebec made a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusivity, a mandate that the current Premier, Philippe Couillard, promised to fulfill.
While the Human Rights Commission benefits all citizens, the fact must be borne in mind that those citizens most likely to require the services under the mandate of the Human Rights Commission are the minority populations.
Decisions are made daily at the Commission level that have a profound, and long lasting impact on the lives of visible minority individuals.
Currently the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal consists of 13 members appointed by the government, namely a President, who is selected from among the judges of the Court of Quebec; a Vice-President; and the assessors.
Within this composition, at the highest level, lies the seeds and saplings of racism, as there are no Black representatives. Yes, we are dealing with a phenomenon more dangerous than, or as equally volatile as, the atomic bomb, housed under the guise of the Human Rights Commission.
In a world where perception can be as important as reality, it is critically important that visible minorities believe that the deck is evenly stacked, and that they have as much of a chance of being judged by someone who looks like them, as someone else.
In order to cultivate an arena of legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, the Premier has been called upon when filling existing vacancies, that thoughtful and deliberate consideration be given to racial and linguistic diversity.
An unprecedented absence of Black or Anglophone commissioners in the current composition, only serves to further impair the decision making process.
To juxtapose this situation and place it in its correct perspective, the judicial system also displays a glaring lack of diversity. Within Quebec’s legal system of the 500 or more judges operating at different levels, only three are Black.
Why is there such a disparity between what those in power claim they want to enact and what is actually acted out?
One is left with a troubling sense that the people talking the most about diversity are the ones doing the least effective work on it. Perhaps another part of the problem may lie in the belief that the true meaning of diversity has not been fully understood in circles where it matters most.
This further serves to remind us that work of winning human rights is never over, and that the task of creating and maintaining diversity has fallen to those who are themselves considered “diverse”.
Maybe, this fact needs to be given deeper consideration as Quebec celebrates la Semaine québécoise des rencontres interculturelles 2016 – Quebec Intercultural Week.
Yvonne Sam, a retired Head Nurse and Secondary School Teacher, is Vice-president of the Guyana Cultural Association of Montreal. A regular columnist for over two decades with the Montreal Community Contact, her insightful and incursive articles on topics ranging from politics, human rights and immigration, to education and parenting have also appeared in the Huffington Post, Montreal Gazette, XPressbogg and Guyanese OnLine. She is also the recipient of the Governor General of Canada Caring Canadian Citizen Award.
This is a very well-written article and poignantly describes the deep-rooted systemic racism we face in our country. I was searching online for articles addressing this alarming situation, as I recently found out from a former worker at the Ontario Human Rights Commission that there is not a single minority government worker — be it in administration, managerial or even the legal team. ALL applications that come from communities, as vastly diverse as those in Ontario, are solely dealt by White employees. There is not a single visible minority that works there! This is beyond troubling and, frankly, disheartening.
As the author mentions here, the problem is in part due to the “true meaning of diversity not being fully understood in circles where it matters most.”