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NARC CERD Shadow Report
NARC CERD Shadow Report
[Download NARC CERD Shadow Report]
RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN CANADA
The Status of Compliance by the Canadian Government with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
Compiled by
NATIONAL ANTI-RACISM COUNCIL OF CANADA
July, 2002
c/o CultureLink
#300 - 160 Springhurst Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
M6K 1C2
Tel: (416) 588-6288
Fax: (416) 588-2435
email: kjacobs@culturelink.net or mkerr@culturelink.net
www.narc.freeservers.com
Table of Contents
Introduction:
About NARC
About this report
Chapter 1: Human Rights
Introduction
Relevant Convention Provisions
Specific Violations and Concerns
Chapter II: Employment & Poverty
Introduction
Relevant Convention Provisions
Economic Racism
Chapter III: Immigration: Refugee and Migrant
Introduction
Relevant Convention Provisions
Concerns about Immigration and Racism
Chapter IV: Health
Introduction
Relevant Convention Provisions
Health Issues and Racism
Chapter V: Media
Introduction
Relevant Convention Provisions
Issues of Racial Discrimination in the Media
Chapter VI: Education
Introduction
Relevant Convention Provisions
Ongoing Racism in Education
Chapter VII: The Criminal Justice System
Introduction
Relevant Convention Provisions
Racism in the Justice System
Chapter VIII: Province of Ontario
Introduction
Relevant Convention Provisions
Racial Discrimination in Ontario
Chapter IX: Province of British Columbia
Relevant Convention Provisions
Racial Discrimination in British Columbia
Introduction
About NARC
The National Anti-Racism Council (NARC) of Canada is a coalition of community based organizations and individuals who came together in May 2000, with a view to ensuring that there was wide community input both in the development of Canada's contributions to the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR), and in local community capacity building and commitment implementation work in the years following the global gathering.
Between May 2000 and September 2001, NARC was busy outreaching to various communities of colour, immigrant and refugee advocacy groups and other anti-racist/anti-discrimination organizations across Canada in order to best organize our communities around the WCAR process. Many of the NARC members attended the WCAR as representatives of their respective communities. Collectively as well, NARC released a report entitled 'The Two faces of Canada: A Community Report on Racism', in order to assist the Canadian NGOs attending the WCAR in telling the truth about Canada's record on racism.
Within one year, NARC has grown from a small group of primarily locally based organizations to a truly National Network of Canadian community-based non-governmental organizations committed to anti-racism and opposing related intolerance, to the sharing of anti-racism related information and resources, and to building and supporting local, regional, national and international strategies to effectively address racism and related intolerance. Our membership includes national organizations representing immigrants and refugees or ethno-racial groups, such as the Canadian Council for Refugees and the Chinese Canadian National Council, provincial networks such as the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians, and local advocacy organizations and community based legal clinics like Urban Alliance on Race Relations, African Canadian Legal Clinic and the Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic. We also have community groups representing the various regions of Canada ranging from the Multicultural Association of Fredericton in the East, to the Vancouver Association of Chinese Canadians in the West.
About this Report
Building upon our experiences at the WCAR, members of NARC have come to recognize the important role of international human rights instruments in the development of domestic anti-racism and anti-oppression agenda. While Canada is recognized internationally as a humanitarian country and while policies of the Canadian Government are routinely adopted by other countries as model policies for promoting equity, Canadian NGOs are all too aware of the real struggles we face within our country. Despite the official rhetoric, racism is alive and well in Canada, and is indicative of the failure of our Government to address this fundamental problem. Even more troubling, is the fact that often times racism is born out of the laws and policies of the Government of Canada towards persons of colour, immigrants and refugees.
While numerous Canadian NGOs advancing environmental justice, gender equality, or rights of the indigenous peoples have long been active players on the international stage, informing discussions at the UN level on Canada's record in addressing their concerns, the same cannot be said of the Canadian community-based anti-racism organizations. A lack of familiarity with the UN process, inadequate resources and expertise, and skepticism about the effectiveness of the international human rights system, are among the reasons for our lack of participation at the UN CERD Committee process. As a result, reports submitted by the Canadian Government to the CERD Committee are by and large left unchallenged. The absence of community participation is perhaps also one of the reasons why the Canadian Government has been able to get away with its late filing of the compliance report.
NARC welcomes the opportunity to provide the CERD Committee with a community perspective on the status of compliance with the Convention by our government. The submissions that we have prepared are the product of a collective effort and consultative process, whereby members of NARC and several outside experts were invited to help put together a document which covers a wide range of issues, including immigration, employment and human rights, etc. Because this is the first attempt by NARC - and indeed by many of the NARC members - to compile a shadow report on CERD, and because of the time constraint, we are unable to explore all the issues in all parts of Canada that are relevant to our communities. What the submission attempts to achieve is a snapshot of the problem of racism - systemic and otherwise - in our country, and the success, if any, on the part of our Government in addressing the issues.
While much of our submission focuses on the compliance with CERD by the Canadian Government, we have dedicated two chapters to address the specific issues within the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. These two provinces are among the largest in Canada, and they also have the highest proportion of racialized people, immigrants and refugees in our country. We also decided to highlight these two provinces as they have each gone through dramatic political changes over the last few years, leading to significant implications for the protection and advancement of human rights.
As Canada is five years behind its reporting schedule, much has changed since 1997. In particular, as a result of the aftermath of the September 11 event, we need more than ever a strong commitment from our political leaders and international bodies to stand up against racism. We need to be even more vigilant in stopping the spread of hate and intolerance. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is becoming most relevant, and the need to comply with the provisions therein is becoming most pressing at this critical moment.
Throughout the report, we use different terminology interchangeably to describe our constituencies: racialized communities, communities of colour, and visible minority communities. While we prefer the first two terms, the latter term is used when we are quoting from another source.
Finally, representatives from NARC will be attending the Committee meeting as observers when Canada presents its report. We look forward to the probing and informative discussions at this critical meeting. [More]
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