ISARC - Colour of Poverty

A Four Point Plan for Racial Equity
by Colour of Poverty-Colour of Change
[article in ISARC e-newsletter, February 2010]

As Ontarians and Canadians honour and embrace our country’s rich diversity discrimination, prejudice and racism, and related racial disparities are in fact on the rise, affecting Aboriginal, other ethno-racial, faith-spiritual, cultural as well as other backgrounds, identities, inclinations and heritages.

According to the United Way of Greater Toronto - racialized community members (Aboriginal and people of colour) are at least two to three times more likely to be poor than the rest of the population in Toronto.

The Children’s Aid Society of Toronto has documented child poverty becoming ever more “colour-coded” or racialized. In the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area, the LICO-Before Tax (Low Income Cut-Off) rates of child poverty in the year 2000 were roughly:

one child in ten among European (white) groups;
one child in five for East Asian groups;
one child in four for Aboriginal, South Asian, Caribbean, South & Central American groups;
one child in three for Arab and West Asian groups; and,
one in two for children of African heritage.

The Ontario parent advocacy group People for Education echoed these warning signs as Aboriginal children and those from other racialized communities continue to experience much higher school drop-out or “push-out” rates that are over twice the average, leading to much less than equitable chances to succeed in school, let alone in life.

As these realities come to fuller light in Hamilton, Windsor, Ottawa, London and elsewhere, those who are concentrated at the bottom of our socio-economic ladders in this way can no longer be considered to be “minority” populations. In 2006, Aboriginal or First Peoples together with communities-of-colour, made up 25% of Ontario’s population. According to StatsCanada projections this percentage will grow to near 33%, or fully 1/3 of Ontario's population, by the year 2017.

These trends explain why Colour of Poverty - Colour of Change believes that all of our governments - Municipal, Provincial-Territorial and Federal - as well as other key institutional actors or players in education, health & elsewhere need to clearly and specifically address these worsening realities so as not to allow these disparities and inequities to grow further. For if these racialized inequities persist and continue to deepen, the social fabric of Ontario will be stretched well beyond the breaking point.

To focus such needed attention on the real character of the growing inequality in the province, Colour of Poverty - Color of Change proposes the following "Four Point Plan for Racial Equity":

Establish an Equity and Anti-Racism Directorate to provide for the collection and analysis of ethno-racially and otherwise appropriately disaggregated data across all provincial Ministries and public institutions. In order to effectively respond to any identified inequities and disparities. The Directorate – with a pan-provincial government-wide mandate – would complement this data analysis by providing an ongoing monitoring and program development role for the integrated implementation of comprehensive and inclusive equity and anti-racism policies and practices.
Establish an Employment Equity Secretariat fully mandated and adequately resourced in order to implement a mandatory and comprehensive employment equity program in Ontario.
Amend the provincial funding formula for publicly-funded elementary-secondary schools by introducing an Equity in Education Grant – a redistributive mechanism rooted in a range of relevant equity and inclusion measures and considerations with respect to the full range of under-achieving groups – to more effectively ameliorate Ontario’s growing ethno-racially and otherwise defined learning outcome inequities and disparities.
Have all Federal, Provincial and Municipal investment strategies and stimulus packages incorporate a set of strong equity objectives and targeted initiatives and outcomes. Federal investments must extend the Employment Equity Act by attaching such requirements to all inter-governmental and other financial transfers and allocations. These same principles must also be effectively and consistently applied toward all current and future investments, particularly “green” energy, “green” industry or “green” economy job-creating initiatives.

These modest, low or no cost steps can provide for strategies, plans, budgets and investments that can best reflect Ontarians and Canadians fundamental values of fairness, equity and sustainability.