A former MP who says she was recently racially profiled by parliamentary security is calling on the service to tackle racism within its ranks.
Celina Caesar-Chavannes said she was questioned by members of the Parliamentary Protective Service in June as she tried to gain access to the compound wearing her parliamentary pin.
The pin, worn by current and former MPs, is intended to allow the wearer access to any building within the parliamentary precincts without having their bags and person searched, she said. But she said security services asked her where she got the pin and tried to search anyway.
Ms Caesar-Chavannes was elected as a Liberal MP in 2015 for the riding of Whitby, Ont., but left caucus in March 2019 and sat as an independent MP until the election the following fall.
Ms Caesar-Chavannes said that after she was questioned, former NDP MP Peggy Nash was able to pass through security without incident.
“Peggy left politics long before me,” said Ms. Caesar-Chavannes. Nobody expects them to recognize us, but the brooch is universal. Security knows what it is. »
Ms. Nash was the MP for Parkdale-High Park in Toronto from 2006 to 2008 and regained her seat from 2011 to 2015.
Although she did not see the first part of the encounter, Ms Nash confirmed that she arrived at the entrance to the Senate building with her own pin and was waved through by security.
Ms Nash recalled that Ms Chavannes-Caesar said at the time that when security asked her where she bought her pin, “it was like they didn’t believe she could legitimately be in possession of it. a parliamentary pin”.
This is not the first time that the security service has been arrested for racial profiling on the Hill.
In 2019, the service apologized after an incident at a lobbying event called Black Voices on the Hill, where several young attendees said they were called “dark-skinned people” and asked to leave a parliamentary cafeteria. by a security guard.
In her farewell speech in 2021, Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, who served as the NDP MP for Nunavut, said she did not feel safe on the Hill. She described being chased in hallways and subjected to racial profiling by members of the Parliamentary Protective Service.
“Every time I walk on the grounds of the House of Commons, speak in these chambers, I am reminded at every step that I don’t belong here,” Ms Qaqqaq said.
In response to a Twitter post from Ms Caesar-Chavannes on the day of the incident, former NDP MP Laurin Liu said: “This daily racial and gender profiling when I was on Parliament Hill there ten years old made me dread coming to work. »
NDP MP Matthew Green, who is a member of the Black Legislative Caucus, said the group had also heard of other incidents.
“We need to work with senior management to ensure there is adequate training for all staff members,” Green said, noting that he is in discussion with caucus members to ensure that this type of situation does not happen again.
Caesar-Chavannes said Larry Brookson, acting director of the Parliamentary Protective Service, responded quickly to the incident and apologized. But she thinks more should be done and said an apology without action meant nothing.
Ms Nash recalls Ms Caesar-Chavannes asking Mr Brookson what steps the service would take.
“It didn’t seem to have been fully thought through, but there was a commitment to working with her moving forward and making sure staff were properly trained,” Ms Nash said.
Ms. Caesar-Chavannes said Mr. Brookson had invited her to meet with their diversity, equity and inclusion specialist, but there was a delay of about five weeks in scheduling the meeting. During this meeting, she demanded accountability and clear measures to prevent similar situations from happening again.
The conversation has died down since then, she noted.
“In a position of power and authority […]you have the opportunity to make decisions about what happens next for people in that space,” she said, adding that she was advocating on behalf of those who are subjected to the same type of treatment and have less the privilege of speaking.
“I think it would be wise to take this seriously because it’s 2022 and this kind of egregious abuse shouldn’t be happening here,” Ms Nash said.
“As long as there are persistent stereotypes, and as long as people dismiss complaints about someone’s hurt feelings, truly representative parliaments will not be able to take their full place, and that is simply undemocratic. »
Asked about the incident, the Parliamentary Protective Service said it was following “a process of assessment and capacity building”.
“We remain committed to continuous improvement, fostering genuine conversations and receiving constructive feedback,” the department said Thursday, adding that its top priority is the safety and well-being of employees and visitors to the Hill.
“We have to do better,” Ms. Caesar-Chavannes said.