Public consultation on systemic racism in Quebec to start in September

Quebec's upcoming public consultation on systemic discrimination and racism will seekconcrete andpermanentsolutions, says KathleenWeil,the province's minister of immigration, diversity and inclusion.

Weil unveiled the details of the public consultation, whichwill begin in September and continue through the fall, at a news conference Thursday.

"The fight against racism and discrimination is a continual priority in open, inclusive and democratic societieslike Quebec. It's a collective responsibility," she said.

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Weilsaid theprovince has created several different ways for the public to participate in the consultation, in order to get a wide variety of responses.

Starting in September, the province will launch a website where Quebecers can answer a questionnaire and share personal stories.

It will also create four working groups to focus on different areas where discrimination is a concern, including work and employment, health, education, and social services and housing.

Quebec's commission on human rights and youth rights (CDPDJ) will submit recommendations to the government at the end of the consultation process.

The government is expected to release findings and an action plan in the spring of 2018.

Input from racializedcommunities essential, activist says

Will Prosper, a former police officer who is a spokesperson forthe community groupMontral-NordRpublik,welcomed the news,but says he still has questions about who will be included in the process and where the consultations will take place.

He wants to ensure the consultation will travel across Quebec, and be inclusive.

"If you don't have theracializedcommunities ... [involved] through the whole process, I think we might be missing some key facts from people that are affected by systemic racism," said Prosper.

Montral-NordRpublikwas foundedto fightsystemic racism andto demand justice forFredyVillanueva, who was shot and killedby Monteal police in 2008.

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Prosper, along with the organizationQubec Inclusif, gathered 2,662 signatures in a petition calling for a consultation on systemic racism that was presented in the National Assembly last September.

"In Quebec we've been waiting too long to have this conversation and it's about time we start having it," he said.

Weil said Thursday that non-profit groups located in different parts of the province will be selected to hold consultation sessions with residents through September and October. Their purpose will be toget personal testimonies from people who have experienced discrimination and racismand to gather proposed solutions.

A public forum is planned for Novemberthat will hear expert testimony and information gathered through the consultation sessions and working groups.

'Quebecers on trial'

Not everyoneis happy with the government's decision to proceed withthe public consultation.

CarolePoirier, thePartiQubcoiswhip and MNA forHochelaga-Maisonneuve, said she was "very, very disappointed" with the move.

"You can choose to defend people and you can choose to help people. They choose just to talk," she said.

Poirier said the PQ proposed 20 recommendations in January, and accused the Couillard government of ignoring thoserecommendationsand failing to take concrete action.

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"It's going to be a political strategy," said Poirier, who questioned the timing of consultation's final report, expected in the spring of 2018. That could benefit the Liberal governmentahead of the provincial election in the fall, she said.

Poirier saidthe consultation is effectively "putting Quebecers on trial."

"We don't want that. We want action," she said.

'Afirst step'

HarounBouazzi, the co-president of the Association of Muslims and Arabs for Secularism in Quebec, said the consultation is a "first step."

"Evidently a commission is not an outcome, it's a start, it's a process," he said."It's important that the commission isn't just talking about the issuesbut gets to the bottom of things, to talkabout how things are."

"Unfortunately, there have been a lot of otherconsultationsin Quebec on lots of differentsubjects where the results have been set aside."

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Bouazzisaid hearing from people who are oppressed, such as Indigenous people andblack andLatino people,should be prioritizedduring the consultations.

"One of the problems of systemicracismis that we talk about them, but we don't listen to them," said Bouazzi.

The recommendations that come out of the consultations must be sweeping, Bouazzi said, to cover everything from housing, access to social services, culture, and employment.

Finally, Bouazzisaid he wants anevaluation mechanismto chart progress or lack of it onthe consultation'srecommendations.

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