Equality in our Lifetime - OFL Statement on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, March 21, 2012 | The Ontario Federation of Labour

Equality in our Lifetime – OFL Statement on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, March 21, 2012

On March 21, as Canadians join people all over the world in recognizing the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Canada’s racialized wage gap and poverty-stricken Aboriginal communities tell the story of a legacy of colonialism and ongoing systemic racism that continue to conspire against equality within our borders. Even modest strides toward wage parity for some of Canada’s workers of colour are being offset by a growing gap between the richest Canadians and the rest of us. However, recent international attention on income inequality and Canada’s deplorable treatment of its First Nations has inspired a new movement to fight for real equality within our lifetime.

“It is time that every level of government took responsibility for its role in perpetuating racial inequality and took concrete steps towards closing the wage gap. Our economy cannot prosper until everyone prospers,” said OFL President Sid Ryan. “In two decades, 30 percent of the Canadian population will be racialized and they cannot wait any longer for justice, fairness and dignity.”

In Ontario, people of colour are far more likely to live in poverty, face barriers in their workplaces and earn less than the rest of Ontarians. The most recent Census data available reveals a shocking disparity in which racialized families are three times more likely to live in poverty than non-racialized families and unemployment rates for nearly 90 percent of all people of colour are three percent higher than those facing non-racialized people. For those fortunate enough to find work, earnings remain significantly lower than the general population – a disparity fueled by systemic and individual racism and compounded by sexism. In Ontario today, racialized men continue to earn only 73.6 cents for every dollar earned by non-racialized men and racialized women make 16 percent less than their non-racialized counterparts. This double disparity results in racialized women earning 53.4 percent of the wages of non-racialized men.

However, for Aboriginal peoples, Canada’s legacy of colonialism has left them the poorest of all Canadians. In 2006, the median income for Aboriginal peoples was only $18,962—30 percent lower than the rest of Canadians. While the income disparity between Aboriginal peoples and the rest of Canadians narrowed slightly over the previous decade, that rate of improvement would delay equality for another 63 years.

For many Aboriginal peoples in Canada, wage inequality is only part of the crisis they are facing. In the 15 years since the release of the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, little has been done to improve the living conditions in many First Nations communities. As the international media attention on the community of Attiwapiskat has finally exposed, many Aboriginal people continue to live in deplorable conditions of poverty that would never be allowed to persist in another community. Recent reports estimate that 114 First Nations are living under a boil water advisory and 46 percent of water systems on Ontario reserves were considered high risk. While the Harper Government was moved last month to reintroduce Bill S-8,Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act, there is little indication that the Conservatives will make serious efforts to address the need for proper housing, the lack of educational facilities or the failure to respect the autonomy and treaty rights of Aboriginal people.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t the conditions of absolute squalor, boil water advisories and alarming rates of youth suicide that have caused the Harper government to finally take notice of Attawapiskat and First Nations poverty across Canada, it was collective action,” said OFL Executive Vice-President Irwin Nanda. “The lesson for those seeking equality and justice is that we can’t wait for it – we have to demand it.”

Unions, governments, organizations, communities and individuals each have a significant role to play in breaking down the barriers to the full inclusion and participation of all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or country of origin. We have even more to do to counteract the damage done by our colonial past on generations of Aboriginal people and to honour and respect their land and treaty rights. The Ontario government’s failure to protect the sacred and traditional land of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation, and so many others, has unnecessarily escalated tensions between mining companies and the many Aboriginal communities taking a stand against the exploitation of their land and the decimation of their culture.

“It has been more than 50 years since South African police murdered 69 people who protested the apartheid ‘pass laws’ in Sharpeville, South Africa, but March 21 continues to be a powerful reminder that we must all challenge the public policies and private attitudes that continue to perpetuate racism,” said Ryan. “The strength of the labour movement is its diversity and we will continue to challenge our unions, our communities and our governments to end racism and inequity in our lifetimes.”

The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario and is Canada’s largest provincial labour body.

For further information:

Joel Duff, OFL Communications Director: 416-707-0349 (cell) *ENGLISH/FRENCH*