A year after the tabling of the Action Group Against Racism (GACR) report, 13 of the 25 recommendations therein are in progress, the government said Thursday.
Quebec has said it is giving itself five years to implement all of the actions. “In five years, it’s unfortunate, but there will be more racism. In fact, it will always be more condemnable, it will always be more intolerable, and it is this aversion to racism that we have the mandate to develop, ”said Benoit Charette. He was himself appointed Minister responsible for Combating Racism in February to respond to one of the report’s flagship recommendations.
In front of the media Thursday, he particularly welcomed the tabling, the day before, of a bill which aims to explicitly prohibit the police stop based on a discriminatory reason. The elected official added that failure to comply with any guidelines could lead to complaints in police ethics. ” [Et] we can talk about other types of sanctions if ever we do not respect these new obligations, ”he said.
Mr. Charette said he had met various groups of police officers, and assured that they “want to do well”, but often lack “tools” to achieve their ends. One of the actions undertaken after the tabling of the GACR report is the addition of social service workers to the police forces in order to create mixed patrol teams.
More visible minorities
Quebec is also proud of having increased the percentage of “visible and ethnic minorities” in the public service from 11% to 14% between March 2018 and March 2021. “That’s too little, we agree, said the minister. But the increase is constant, and we aim to be at 18% by 2023. “Now, 50% of the boards of directors of state-owned companies have at least one representative from diversity. “And here too, we will ensure that this progression does not stop,” said Mr. Charrette.
In the Anti-Racism Coordination Office, which he heads, two of the five employees are considered visible and ethnic minorities. The Office has a budget of $ 500,000. Except that we should not stop at that, insisted the CAQ member Christopher Skeete, who was a member of the GACR. “The coordination office is there to sensitize the various ministries,” he said.
Recently, a government advertising offensive aimed at combating racism has drawn strong criticism. The director of the commercial, Khoa Lê, requested that it be withdrawn. According to Mr. Charette, the effect caused by the campaign is proof of its success. “In fact, I would have been worried if that advertisement hadn’t made people react so much. An advertisement that addresses such a serious issue cannot be an advertisement that is odorless and tasteless, he argued. It is an advertisement that is well thought out. I would have been the first miserable if we had never heard of it afterwards. “
In reaction to Mr. Charette’s presentation, Québec solidaire said that the government’s record was “disappointing”. “The CAQ government continues to deny systemic racism and refuses to adopt the Joyce Principle as demanded by our native brothers and sisters,” said the party.