Posted: Friday, 30 September 2011

The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) is gravely disappointed that once again the Canadian government has chosen to withdraw from an important United Nations (UN) gathering dedicated to eliminating racism.

Earlier this year, the Conservative government announced it would once again refuse to participate in the UN process to assess how far member states have come in the job of eliminating racism, xenophobia and related intolerance.

Sadly, the Canadian government chose to boycott the meeting before even one paragraph could be written about what progress has or has not been made within Canada to tackle racism.

The Conservative-led government claims these UN meeting unfairly focus on the self-determination issue for Palestine which, it alleges, is anti-Israel.

Another contentious issue at UN conferences to eliminate racism has been the call for reparations for the slavery trade.

The CLC firmly believes that avoiding challenging issues will not help defeat racism.

The first UN conference to tackle these issues took place ten years ago —2001 in Durban, South Africa. The CLC was present and led the Canadian labour delegation. This was the first time the CLC was represented at an international event by a large group of union leaders of colour and Aboriginal descent.

The Canadian labour delegation was also the largest union group present at the conference.

The CLC has a long-standing history of tackling racism.

We established a National Task Force to address racism and that report led to substantive changes within the labour movement to tackle this blight.

Labour set-up its own process to talk with our members and tackle racism in the workplace and our communities.

Affiliates continue this work today in collective bargaining, providing educational courses and leadership development to members, and working in solidarity with anti-racist allies.

It was not easy then and it remains a challenge today—but we remain committed to the job.

We don’t walk away from challenging issues.

In 2001, participating states, including the Canadian government at that time, adopted the Durban Declaration and Program of Action.

The Durban Program of Action called for UN member states to focus their efforts on these issues:

• trafficking in women and children;
• migration and discrimination;
• gender and racial discrimination;
• racism against Indigenous people; and
• protection of minority rights.

While not perfect, the Durban Declaration represents a globally significant and comprehensive statement and action plan for member states to eradicate racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance within their borders.

The adoption of the Durban Declaration in 2001, coupled with years of strategic lobbying by the CLC, finally resulted in the 2005 Liberal government led by Paul Martin at the time to allocate $56 million spread over five years for “A Canada for All: Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy”.

While an initial good start, it was not sufficient to adequately address racism in Canada given the social and economic status of racialized and Aboriginal communities; the lack of political representation of these communities at all levels; and given the contribution these communities are making to the workforce.

With the Conservative’s forming government in 2006, the history of Canada’s anti-racism action plan has been re-written. No longer is the Liberal government of the time or the CLC acknowledged for their instrumental work in developing the action plan.

In fact, the Conservatives today have all but stopped funding most anti-racism initiatives that began in 2005.

Unfortunately, racism remains alive and well in Canada.

Workers of Colour and Aboriginal Peoples represent an increasingly young, educated and readily available workforce that is qualified to assume an active role in the Canadian economy.

By 2031, racialized persons will comprise nearly one in two of the working age population. Similarly, by the end of 2017, the number of working age Aboriginals will be over a quarter million, according to Statistics Canada’s latest projections. During this period, the number of Aboriginal youth will grow significantly faster than the rest of the population. However, their representation levels in the labour force consistently remain below their workforce availability as many racialized and Aboriginal workers still experience significant labour market disadvantages and workplace barriers compared to other Canadians.

Fast facts:

• 2006: 61% of First Nations’ (FN) adults employed compared to 82% non-Aboriginal adults.
• Median annual income for FN=$18,962 (2006) 30% lower than the non-Aboriginal population ($27,097).
• Canadian-born workers of colour have the second highest unemployment rate.
• Immigrants of colour are next.
• Lowest rate of unemployment is with white workers.
• White youth reported higher levels of well-being than racial minority youth and twice higher than Aboriginal youth.
• Workers of colour cohort will generate nearly $80 billion dollars in real GDP growth between 1992 and 2017 despite being underpaid by nearly 15%.

Eliminating racism and economic apartheid requires governments to take seriously the commitments that were made in 2001 when the Durban Declaration and Program for Action was adopted by the majority of UN member states.

The CLC calls on all levels of government to seriously tackle the hard issues of racism and discrimination and not simply walk away from tough challenges.

The CLC is the largest democratic and popular organization in Canada with over three million members.