Canada funds anti-racism projects tackling barriers to justice

The federal government’s Anti-Racism Action Program will provide $20.4 million in funding to 92 projects across the country that address how Indigenous peoples, racialized communities and religious minorities often face obstacles to justice, employment, and social participation.

“We will continue empowering and enabling organizations that aim to dismantle systemic racism to build a more inclusive Canada,” said Bardish Chagger, Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth and Member of Parliament for Waterloo, in the news release.

The selected community organizations will use this funding to fight against racism and discrimination, to encourage intercultural and interfaith understanding, to drive discussions on multiculturalism and diversity at both domestic and international arenas, and to generate opportunities for the affected communities and minorities to participate fully in Canadian society.

Canada’s newly announced funding includes the following:

• $512,000 for the Aboriginal Peoples Alliance of Northern Ontario’s “Blazing Trails for Indigenous Youth Justice,” which deals with the overrepresentation of Indigenous youth in the correctional system through a justice education and mentorship program;
• $240,000 for the Chinese Canadian National Council’s “Cultivating Anti-Racism Allies from Newcomers to Young Professionals” in Ontario, which focuses on training East Asian Canadian lawyers and on developing policy recommendations on hate crimes targeting Asian Canadians;
• $346,700 for the Grand Council Treaty #3 Representative Services Inc.’s “Youth First Nations and the Justice System” in Ontario, which will make educational workshops for Indigenous youth and communities and for local justice officials;
• $49,999 for the La Coopérative Radiophonique de Toronto Inc.’s “STOP RACISME 105.1” that will implement an awareness campaign against racism and discrimination;
• $286,910 for the Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic’s “Breaking Down Barriers to Racialized Communities through Building Community Research and Knowledge Capacity,” which tackles systemic racism in the labour market and the unequal level of social participation by racialized communities;
• $275,000 for Midaynta Community Services’ “Mending the Crack in the Sky,” which will work with the Toronto Police Service to address institutional racism and barriers to justice;
• $219,420 for Nigerian Canadians for Cultural, Educational and Economic Progress’ “Youth Justice Program” in Ontario, which aims to offer extrajudicial measures focusing on restorative justice methods;
• $173,071 for Oasis Centre Des Femmes Inc.’s “Connaissance de ses droits: agentivité des mères et des jeunes noir.es francophones face à la justice” in Ontario, which will identify the systematic barriers encountered by racialized Francophone women who are in conflict with the law or whose children are in conflict with the law;
• $288,387 for the Riverdale Immigrant Women’s Centre “Islamophobia Helpline for Muslim Women and Youth” in Ontario, to alleviate systemic barriers to justice faced by Muslim women experiencing Islamophobia;
• $300,000 for the Sentencing and Parole Project in Ontario, which will create a training program for justice professionals that discusses anti-Black racism and its impacts on the Canadian criminal justice system;
• $170,000 for the Somali Centre for Family Services’ “YOLO (You Only Live Once)” in Ontario, which addresses systemic racism and barriers to justice in connection with student equity suspensions and the expulsions of Black students;
• $235,800 for Urban Alliance on Race Relations’ “Black and Muslim Youth Leadership Initiative,” to improve these youth’s access to the justice system, to government employment and to other resources in the Greater Toronto Area;
• $125,540 for Lytton First Nation’s “Lytton Restorative Justice Outreach, Education (Capacity Development) & Facilitation Development Project” in B.C., to help school systems engage at-risk youth in restorative justice activities;
• $148,000 for the South Asian Legal Clinic Society of British Columbia’s “Engaging Multicultural Youth and Families for Just Outcomes,” to reduce barriers to employment, justice and social participation encountered by South Asians;
• $400,000 for Bureau de la communauté haïtienne de Montréal’s “Justice pour tous,” which aims to reduce the barriers to justice relating to the disproportionate representation of Black and racialized children in Montreal’s youth protection system;
• $113,648 for Lytton First Nation d'aide aux immigrants’ “Silence discriminAction!” in Quebec, to implement an awareness campaign on systemic racism in employment and justice;
• $102,450 for the Desta Black Youth Network’s “DESTA Black Justice Program 2021-2023,” to fight the systemic justice-related barriers experienced by racialized individuals affected by Quebec’s criminal justice system;
• $500,000 for Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Inc.’s “Decolonizing Anti-Racism: First Nations Women, Girls and LGBTQ2S individuals Empowerment Workshops and Advocacy for Safety and Security,” to tackle the subject of justice and social participation among Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2S individuals in Manitoba;
• $352,660 for the Nunatsiavut Government’s “Improving Inter-Cultural Understanding of Inuit in Newfoundland and Labrador,” to engage professionals working in Newfoundland and Labrador’s justice system and members of the Inuit community in addressing systemic barriers.

The Canadian government is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion and to tackling systemic racism and discrimination, with the goal of achieving a more inclusive society where all Canadians can participate fully in the economic, cultural, social and political fields, the news release said.

The funding is part of the federal government’s two-year, $50-million commitment, included in the 2020 Fall Economic Statement, to expand the Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat and re-invest in the Community Support, Multiculturalism, and Anti-Racism Initiatives Program and in the Anti-Racism Action Program.