Ontario needs to do more to combat racism in schools, says NDP MPP Laura Mae Lindo

NDPMPPLaura Mae Lindo says the Ontariogovernment needs to do more to combat racism in the publicschool system.

Lindo, who represents Kitchener Centre, pointed to several recent incidents, includingoneat a Toronto high schoolwhere a teacher wore blackface for Halloween, and an alleged incident at a Kitchener elementary schoolwhere a child's hands were duct tapedas punishment in October. In that case,the child's father said he suspected was because of the child's race. Police are investigating.

"While we do hear that the governmentis committed to ending racism, the reality is, on my side of all of this, we have an Anti-Racism Actthat doesn't seem to be, A) catching these experiences and B)addressing them in a meaningful way," she saidduring a virtual news conference Wednesday.

Lindo, the Opposition critic for anti-racism, listed three calls to actions, urging theprovince to:

• Initiate an equity audit that takes incidents of racism seriously at all Ontario schools.
• Dedicate a specific budget line for combating racism in the province ahead of the fall economic update later this week.
• Collect race-based data beyond the student population.

She said the equity audit needs to include experiences of racism from students, educators and support staff, including those at the post-secondary level.

There also needs to be race-base data collected from everyone in the school system, Lindo said. While the province is collecting data at the student level, she said it doesn't go far enough to fully combat racism.

"Knowing that the student body is diverse is something that, to be honest, we already know," she said.

"What we don't know and don't have provincial data onis who it is that'sin positions of leadership and the representation on that level compared to the diversity that exists among our student body."

A dedicated budget line will ensure the work gets done, Lindo added.

"In order to rebuild trust with racializedcommunities, there needs to be transparency from government, a budget line that is dedicated to this work and this work alonewill help in large part to get us there," she said.

In an email to CBC Kitchener-Waterloo, a spokesperson forEducation Minister Stephen Lecce's office said, "The government is already acting on these measures, including the expedited directive for boards to collect race-based data, the increase in anti-racism fundingand the requirement that all school boards undergo an equity board improvement plan.

"While we are already taking action on this important work, we have also strengthened sanctions against staff for racist actions or behaviour, mandated anti-racism training for all educators and board staff, along with the transformational destreaming of the Grade 9curriculum, providing a pathway to success for racialized children."

'The movement is not fast enough'

Two members who sit on the Waterloo Region District School Board's (WRDSB) equity and inclusion advisory committee also joined Lindoon Wednesday.

Marcia Smellie,a former educator and member of the Waterloo Region Congress of Black Women,and Maedith Radlein, also former WRDSB educator and elementary principal, have been working with the board to combat racism and advocate for the inclusion and acknowledgment of diverse staff and students.

Smelliesaid the board has made efforts over the last decade to tackle racism and improve inclusion in schools, butmore work needs to be done.

"The very fact that these kinds of situations can arise, it clearly tells you that the movement is not fast enough," she said.

Smelliesaid there also needs to be betteraccountability when incidents of racism occur.

"[The board] has a small team, which is better than what they had 10 years ago, but we stillneed to bring far more people to bare on this work and hold people accountable," she said.

"I think that's the part that's missing in the system. The system doesn't give the kind of accountability that I think community members like myself and others want to see."

Need for equity language: Lindo

In addition to the calls of action, Lindo said she ispreparing to table a private member's bill that defines racism andanti-racism, as well as what racial equity looks like in legislation that oversees education.

"Ultimately the private member's bill is inserting equity language into all legislation that governs education from Kindergarten to Grade 12, as well as post secondary," Lindo said.

The current Anti-Racism Act of 2017that was brought in underthe previous Liberal governmenttalks about doingracial equity work, but doesn't fully define racism, anti-racism or racial equity, though those terms are used, she said.

"In any piece of legislation, if there is no definition, then there is no way to hold anyone accountable."

Adding those definitions will result in better accountability and more transparency aroundon who is sitting at decision-making tables, like in school boards, and ensure that expertise in equity work is included as well, Lindo said.

"Anybody that looks 'different' is invited to the table, but that person doesn't necessarilyunderstand how racism operates, so we're going to require that there are experts at the table that do anti-racism work."