Stop the Hate! Support an anti-racist COVID-19 recovery

As Canadians continue to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, there is now an opportunity for us to reimagine what an inclusive social safety net might look like. With Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities being at higher risk of exposure to the coronavirus, a COVID-19 recovery strategy that is grounded in racial justice is essential.

To achieve this goal, we need to be united in urging the federal government to ensure that Black, Indigenous, and racialized workers in Canada are properly supported, whether they are currently working or experiencing job loss due to COVID-19.

The government can support workers of colour by helping marginalized communities properly and safely recover from the pandemic, and by supporting anti-racism initiatives led by non-profit organizations.

The government should also ensure that there is a legislative framework in place that empowers the Anti-Racism Secretariat to continue its important work in service of Canadians.

Join the call for an anti-racist COVID-19 recovery strategy by sending a message to the federal government. Sign our petition to Canada’s Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion and the Executive Director of the Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat demanding a just, inclusive, and anti-racist COVID-19 recovery strategy. Add your voice today!

Name:

E-mail:

Message:

Dear Minister Hussen and Mr. Flegel,

I am writing to urge the federal government to ensure that an anti-racism strategy is at the centre of efforts to support Canadians as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The coronavirus has highlighted the various injustices that plague our society, and the ways in which crises can disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities in Canada.

As a result, the pandemic recovery is a chance for us to provide a truly holistic and inclusive safety net for communities across the country.

The federal government must take on the important task of addressing how marginalized communities can properly and safely recover from the pandemic. It can accomplish this by:
 
1.	Addressing the gendered impact of COVID-19, including the gender pay gap experienced by Indigenous, Black, and racialized women, and by working to develop a National Action Plan to end Violence Against Women. 
 
2.	Strengthening its gender-based analysis by enhancing examinations of the intersections of race, indigeneity, disability, and sexual identity.

3.	Creating a universal childcare and early learning system that is grounded in anti-oppressive and feminist analyses, to allow families to navigate the challenges experienced disproportionately by women during this pandemic.

The federal government should also support non-governmental and government initiatives that address racism. The government can work toward this objective by:

4.	Providing sustainable measures to community organizations working to end systemic racism.

5.	Holding provincial governments accountable on the steps that they have taken to eliminate racism.

6.	Working to end institutional racism by increasing societal awareness and education around the criminal justice system, employment, housing, health care, and education.

7.	Fully implementing Jordan’s Principle through full support of the Spirit Bear Plan and ceasing discriminatory funding to First Nations Child and Family Service Agencies in Canada.

Finally, the federal government must ensure that there is a legislative framework in place that empowers the Anti-Racism Secretariat to continue its important work. It can do this by:

8.	Using an inter-ministerial and inter-jurisdictional approach to support the work of the Anti-Racism Secretariat in combating anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, heterosexism, ableism, and other forms of oppression.

9.	Establishing legislation that can govern the work of the Secretariat at the federal level.

Yours sincerely,

Verification

Canada's Private Sector Union

Stop the Hate! Support an anti-racist COVID-19 recovery