CRARR TO HOLD PUBLIC EVENT TO CALL FOR COMPREHENSIVE POLICY ON SYSTEMIC RACISM

Montreal, March 7, 2014 --- Increasingly concerned about institutional refusal to address systemic racism and errors in handling complaints of this nature, particularly in employment, CRARR will join other community groups in hosting a public event on April 15, 2014 to call for a comprehensive policy and plan of action to tackle the issue in Quebec.

The event is also held to mark the anniversary of the coming into force of the Equality Clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Systemic racism is a form of racial discrimination that is not direct or intentional, through which neutral and universally applicable policies, practices and procedures (“the conventional ways of doing things”) produce negative effects that discriminate and exclude racialized persons and Aboriginal peoples. While systemic racism involves indirect and non-intentional factors, many legal professionals and human rights investigators still mistakenly look for direct evidence and intent.

There has not been a single case of systemic racism brought by the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission before the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal in years. The first major court decision on systemic racism in Quebec was delivered last year, involving a Black professional at the City of Montreal, Mr. Olthene Tanisma, who was denied promotion. Mr. Tanisma went to the human rights commission to seek help but after almost three years without result, he decided to go directly to Superior Court, with CRARR's support, to challenge his employer's promotion system.

More information to come.