Liberals introduce bill with targeted pandemic aid for businesses, workers


OTTAWA — The Trudeau Liberals have outlined their latest aid package for an economy recovering from COVID-19, proposing targeted support to severely affected businesses, locked-down workers, and extra weeks of benefits that expired just days ago.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The legislation introduced Wednesday in the House of Commons is one of four bills the government wants MPs to pass before the middle of December ahead of a scheduled winter break.


The Liberals are proposing to send $300 per week to workers who find themselves off the job because of a pandemic-related lockdown between now and spring 2022.

The bill would let cabinet decide which regions are considered in lockdown, defined as an order for businesses to close and workers to stay home for at least 14 straight days. It would block benefits to those who refuse to get vaccinated.

Payments would be retroactive to Oct. 24 when the Liberals let a pandemic-era benefit for the unemployed expire. The Canada Recovery Benefit's siblings — sickness and caregiver benefits — would each get revived after expiring this past weekend with two more weeks of eligibility until May 7.

Wage and rent subsidies for businesses would be more generous and targeted over that same period to the still-hurting tourism, culture and hospitality sectors, as well as a long list of establishments such as movie theatres, arcades, casinos and gyms.

All would need to prove a deep and prolonged revenue loss to qualify.

Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, praised the extended list of eligible companies but said the high bar for revenue losses would leave out too many small businesses.

Similarly, Restaurants Canada asked the Liberals to lower the revenue-loss requirement over worries that many financially viable operations won't survive the pandemic.

"We have been asking for months for sector-specific support and we just got a small portion of what we asked," said Olivier Bourbeau, the association's vice-president of federal and Quebec affairs.

The government also wants to extend to May a hiring credit for companies that add to their payrolls by boosting wages, rehiring laid-off workers, or new hires. The credit doesn't require as deep a revenue loss to qualify.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the economy is no longer in the same crisis that gripped the country at the onset of the pandemic when three million jobs were lost over March and April of 2020.

"I see this legislation as very much the last step in our COVID support programs. It is what I really hope and truly believe is the final pivot," Freeland said.

Employment has since rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, although the ranks of Canada's unemployed, including those who have been without a job for six months or more, remain higher than before COVID-19.

The mix of high unemployment and labour shortages helps explain why the government wants to target aid, hoping it jump-starts job hiring.

An analysis of survey data by job-posting site found more respondents were actively looking for work last month compared to July, August and September, and most described their search as "urgent."

Senior economist Brendon Bernard wrote that urgent job searches are usually linked to financial difficulties, suggesting the findings may be an early warning of strain for households.

The minority Liberals estimate the new aid package would cost $7.4 billion, and the government needs parliamentary approval to spend the money.

The Conservatives and Bloc Québécois separately on Tuesday suggested they may support the bill — the former because benefits will go where needed most, the latter because it would mean help for cultural workers.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Tuesday his party wouldn't support the bill unless the government reversed drops in income-tested benefits for low-income seniors and families who received aid last year, which boosted their overall income.

In a letter Wednesday, NDP finance critic Daniel Blaikie asked House Speaker Anthony Rota for an emergency debate to press the government on a plan to help "these financially vulnerable Canadians before they lose their home."

Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough told reporters later in the day that the government was searching for a solution, but didn't want the fix to create extra inequities for those whose benefits were rolled back because they simply earned more without aid.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 24, 2021.

Jordan Press, The Canadian Press

Finland plans to let workers see what their colleagues earn in order to reduce the gender pay gap, and one leading expert says it could help people negotiate pay rises

sjones@insider.com (Stephen Jones) 

© Provided by Business Insider Helsinki, Finland. Lingxiao Xie / Getty Images

Finland announced proposals to let workers know how much their colleagues earn.
Ministers hope that the extra transparency will help to reduce the country's gender pay gap.

Some studies suggest that being open about pay can improve pay equality,

Politicians in Finland have proposed a bill that would let workers see how much their colleagues earn.

Equality minister Thomas Blomqvist told Reuters that the proposed policy aims to reduce Finland's gender pay gap. Men in Finland earned, on average, 17.2% more than women in 2020, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Some Finnish employer groups have criticized the proposals, saying it would lead to conflict between workers — a view commonly expressed by opponents of pay transparency, which is still seen as a taboo in many workplaces in the UK and US. Some workers are even gagged from telling their colleagues how much they're paid.

But being more transparent can help reduce pay gaps, Almudena Sevilla, professor of economics and public policy at University College London and chair of the Royal Economic Society Women's Committee, told Insider.

According to her research into the impact of pay transparency within UK universities, the gender pay gap reduced by 4.37% in the years after the salaries of academics were made publicly available in 2007. This fall was driven largely by female academics negotiating higher wages or moving to universities where pay was more equal, per the research.

"When pay transparency is there, when you know your wage, then individual's react and they ask for either higher wages or they change companies to get those higher wages," Sevilla told Insider.

The gender pay gap is the difference in gross annual earnings between men and women. It's influenced by multiple factors, including that there are more men in senior positions.

When it comes to the wider impact of pay transparency, studies tend to be split. Some suggest employees are less motivated when they know their colleagues are paid more — other studies disagree.

Another working paper found pay transparency led to lower average wages within some organizations. Employers refused to negotiate with any one single employee in order to avoid having to increase the pay of others, the paper found.

Sevilla said the impact of pay transparency depends on how fair a person perceives their organization to be, and how individual companies communicate with their staff.
Finland's policy represents "the next step" in pay legislation

Finland isn't the first country to advocate for gender pay gap transparency.

In Denmark, for example, companies with 35 or more employees have to publish gender specific pay information.

In the UK, companies with more than 250 employees have had to publish their gender pay gap since 2017. The gender pay gap has decreased over time, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics, although reporting was disrupted by the pandemic.

In the US, certain states — including California, Connecticut, Nevada, Colorado, and Rhode Island — have either introduced or are in the process of introducing legislation that says employers must provide job applicants with more information about how much they pay their existing employees. Colorado is going the furthest by requiring employers to provide salary ranges in every job advertisement.

Finland's proposal, which is still being drafted and which the government hopes to pass before April 2023, could be "the next level" in pay transparency, Sevilla said, because it will give people more specific data with which to negotiate pay rises.

Pinterest puts $50 million into diversity programs and releases former employees from NDAs in a settlement with shareholders following harassment claims

ajoyner@businessinsider.com (April Joyner) 

 Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann. 

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Pinterest will invest $50 million into DEI initiatives as part of a settlement with its shareholders, the parties announced Wednesday.

The company will also no longer enforce non-disclosure agreements when employees discuss mistreatment.

The shareholders claimed Pinterest breached its fiduciary duty by failing to respond sufficiently to discrimination allegations.

Pinterest is committing $50 million to diversity, equity, and inclusion reforms after a group of shareholders filed suit against its board following claims of a toxic environment for women and Black workers at the company. The terms of the settlement were announced late on Wednesday after market close.

As part of those reforms, the social image-sharing company will not enforce non-disclosure agreements for former employees who speak out about workplace mistreatment or harassment. Earlier this year, Pinterest said that it would no longer require outgoing employees to sign them.

Additionally, Pinterest will designate a member of its board to co-sponsor DEI initiatives alongside CEO Ben Silbermann and undergo audits twice a year to examine pay equity. The company will also set up an office, run by a third party, where employees can go for advice in pursuing complaints.

These measures come as a result of a settlement with three of Pinterest's shareholders — the Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island, Stephen Bushansky, and Sal Toronto, a trustee of the Elliemaria Toronto ESA — who had filed suit against the company's board of directors last December, claiming that it breached its fiduciary duty by failing to respond sufficiently to discrimination allegations.




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Each of the three complainants are smaller shareholders with less than 5% of the company, according to a recent proxy statement. Silbermann, Pinterest's CEO, owns nearly 8% of the company, according to Bloomberg.

Rhode Island's treasurer, Seth Magaziner, who acted on behalf of the state's employee retirement system, announced the settlement. The law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC represented both parties.

Pinterest has come under controversy for its treatment of employees and what some have called a "toxic" workplace for women and Black employees. Last year, two Black former employees, Ifeoma Ozoma and Aerica Shimizu Banks, publicly alleged that they were paid unfairly and were retaliated against by their supervisors. Insider spoke with 11 former employees who described an environment in which workers were publicly humiliated and subject to sudden firings.

Later that year, Françoise Brougher, Pinterest's former COO, filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the company, alleging that she was paid less than male executives and left out of important meetings and events, including the company's initial public offering roadshow. The company paid her $22.5 million in a settlement.

Pinterest's latest settlement with its shareholders codifies several DEI initiatives the company has put in place since the allegations put forth by Ozoma, Shimizu Banks, and Brougher. Last December, for instance, the company announced the formation of an inclusion advisory council, which has representatives from organizations such as the NAACP, The National Transgender Center for Equality, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice.

The company already releases a diversity report, which will now come twice a year for the next two years and annually thereafter, according to the settlement.

Pinterest will now have a dedicated inclusive product team staffed with current employees across its departments. It already has a head of inclusive product and has rolled out several features, such as skin-tone searches, to make its product more inviting to people from different backgrounds.

The company will also pay a set stipend to the leads of its employee resource groups, who will have term limits. Co-presidents of those groups will receive $5,000 per year, and vice presidents will receive $2,500 per year.

Afghan girl from famous cover portrait is evacuated to Italy

ROME (AP) — National Geographic magazine’s famed green-eyed “Afghan Girl” has arrived in Italy as part of the West’s evacuation of Afghans following the Taliban takeover of the country, the Italian government said Thursday.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The office of Premier Mario Draghi said Italy organized the evacuation of Sharbat Gulla after she asked to be helped to leave the country. The Italian government will now help to get her integrated into life in Italy, the statement said.

Gulla gained international fame in 1984 as an Afghan refugee girl, after war photographer Steve McCurry’s photograph of her, with piercing green eyes, was published on the cover of National Geographic. McCurry found her again in 2002.

In 2014, she surfaced in Pakistan but went into hiding when authorities accused her of buying a fake Pakistani identity card and ordered her deported. She was flown to Kabul where the president hosted a reception for her at the presidential palace and handed her keys to a new apartment.

Italy was one of several Western countries that airlifted hundreds of Afghans out of the country following the departure of U.S. forces and the Taliban takeover in August.

In a statement announcing Gulla’s arrival in Rome, Draghi’s office said her photograph had come to “symbolize the vicissitudes and conflict of the chapter in history that Afghanistan and its people were going through at the time.”

It said it had received requests “by those in civil society, and in particular by non-profit organizations working in Afghanistan” backing Gulla's plea for help to leave the country.

Italy organized her travel to Italy “as part of the wider evacuation program in place for Afghan citizens and the government’s plan for their reception and integration,” the statement said.

The Associated Press

Native American leaders say Chaco prayers being answered

CHACO CULTURE NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK, N.M. (AP) — The stillness that enveloped Chaco Canyon was almost deafening, broken only by the sound of a raven's wings batting the air while it circled overhead.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Then a chorus of leaders from several Native American tribes began to speak, their voices echoing off the nearby sandstone cliffs. They spoke of a deep connection to the canyon — the heart of Chaco Culture National Historic Park — and the importance of ensuring that oil and gas development beyond the park's boundaries does not sever that tie for future generations.

The Indigenous leaders from the Hopi Tribe in Arizona and several New Mexico pueblos were beyond grateful that the federal government is taking what they believe to be more meaningful steps toward permanent protections for cultural resources in northwestern New Mexico.

It's a fight they've been waging for years with multiple presidential administrations. They're optimistic the needle is moving now that one of their own — U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland — holds the reins of the federal agency that oversees energy development and tribal affairs.

Haaland, who is from Laguna Pueblo and is the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency, joined tribal leaders at Chaco on Monday to celebrate the beginning of a process that aims to withdraw federal land holdings within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of the park boundary, making the area off-limits to oil and gas leasing for 20 years.

New leases on federal land in the area will be halted for the next two years while the withdrawal proposal is considered.

Haaland also committed to taking a broader look at how federal land across the region can be better managed while taking into account environmental effects and cultural preservation.

The perfect weather did not go unnoticed Monday, as tribal leaders talked about their collective prayers being answered.

“It’s a nice day — a beautiful day that our father the sun blessed us with. The creator laid out the groundwork for today,” said Hopi Vice Chairman Clark Tenakhongva.

A World Heritage site, Chaco is thought to be the center of what was once a hub of Indigenous civilization with many tribes from the Southwest tracing their roots to the high desert outpost.

Within the park, walls of stacked stone jut up from the bottom of the canyon, some perfectly aligned with the seasonal movements of the sun and moon. Circular subterranean rooms called kivas are cut into the desert floor, and archaeologists have found evidence of great roads that stretched across what are now New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado.

Visitors often marvel at the architectural prowess of Chaco’s early residents. But for many Indigenous people in the Southwest, Chaco Canyon holds a more esoteric significance.

The Hopi call it “Yupkoyvi,” simply translated as way beyond the other side of the mountains.

“Whose land do we all occupy? We walk the land of the creator. That’s what was told to us at the beginning — at the bottom of the Grand Canyon,” Tenakhongva said. “Many of us have that connection. Many of us can relate to how important the Grand Canyon is. Ask the Zuni, the Laguna, the Acoma. They made their trip from there to this region. We know the importance of these areas.”

Pueblo leaders also talked about areas near Zuni Pueblo in western New Mexico and Bears Ears National Monument in Utah that are tied to Chaco civilization.

Laguna Gov. Martin Kowemy Jr. said Chaco is a vital part of who his people are.

“Pueblo people can all relate through song, prayer and pilgrimage,” he said. “Now more than ever, connections to our peoples’ identities are a source of strength in difficult times. We must ensure these connections will not be severed, but remain intact for future generations.”

Acoma Pueblo Gov. Brian Vallo said the beliefs, songs, ceremonies and other traditions that have defined generations of Pueblo people originated at Chaco.

“Our fight to protect this sacred place is rooted in what our elders teach us and what we know as descendants of those who settled here,” Vallo said. “That is our responsibility — to maintain our connection, our deep-felt obligation and protective stewardship of this sacred place.”

Both the Obama and Trump administrations also put on hold leases adjacent to the park through agency actions, but some tribes, archaeologists and environmentalists have been pushing for permanent protections.

Congressional legislation is pending, but there has been disagreement over just how big the buffer should be.

The Navajo Nation oversees much of the land that makes up the jurisdictional checkerboard surrounding the national park. Some belong to individual Navajos who were allotted land by the federal government generations ago.

Navajo leaders support preserving parts of the area but have said individual allottees stand to lose an important income source if the land is made off-limits to development. Millions of dollars in royalties are at stake for tribal members who are grappling with poverty and high unemployment rates.

Haaland’s agency has vowed to consult with tribes over the next two years as the withdrawal proposal is considered, but top Navajo leaders already are suggesting they’re being ignored. Noticeably absent from Monday's celebration were the highest elected leaders of the tribe’s legislative and executive branches.

Navajo Nation Council Delegate Daniel Tso has been among a minority within tribal government speaking out against development in the region. He said communities east of Chaco are “under siege” from increased drilling.

He told the story of one resident who wipes dust from his kitchen table only to have it dirty again the next day due to the oilfield traffic. He said the consequences are having negative effects on residents' spirits and thus their ability to remain resilient.

“Yes, we want the landscape protected, we want better air quality, we want to protect the water aquifer, we want to protect the sacred,” he said. “The undisturbed landscape holds much sacredness. It brings peace of mind, it brings a settled heart and it gives good spiritual strength.”

No matter what side they're on, many Navajos feel their voices aren't being heard.

Haaland on Monday invited everyone to participate in the listening sessions that will be held as part of the process, which she has dubbed “Honoring Chaco."

Environmentalists say the region is a prime example of the problems of tribal consultation and that Haaland's effort could mark a shift toward more tribal involvement in future decision-making when it comes to identifying and protecting cultural resources.

“By creating a new collaborative process with ‘Honoring Chaco’ we have the ability to ameliorate broken promises and to right the wrongs of consultation just being a check-the-box exercise,” said Rebecca Sobel with the group WildEarth Guardians. “Hopefully it will be the beginning of a new relationship.”

Susan Montoya Bryan, The Associated Press

BC
First Nation community cut off by landslides still hasn't heard from government

Almost two weeks after mudslides and flooding washed away whole sections of communities along the Nicola River in British Columbia’s Interior, Shackan Indian Band has still not heard from the provincial government and is going it alone in caring for its community members.


One of five First Nation communities situated along Nicola Valley’s Highway 8 between Merritt and Spences Bridge, Shackan Indian Band Chief Arnold Lampreau went door-to-door in pouring rain last Monday, asking his community members to evacuate immediately as rising waters were imminent.

The night before, Lampreau was called by one of his band councillors, Lindsay Tighe, telling him the neighbouring community of Coldwater Indian Band was on evacuation alert. Not taking it too seriously to begin with, it wouldn’t be until the morning he realized he needed to act.

“I looked out into my field and there was already water in my field, and the water was rising quite fast and furious,” Lampreau said. “So right off the bat, I told my wife Lenora that we need to get out and we have no time to wait.”

Evacuating firstly to Merritt, band members were redirected again after that city itself was placed on evacuation notice. Nine days later, members now find themselves temporarily housed in shelters across the Interior, including Salmon Arm, Kamloops, and even a Trans Mountain pipeline camp outside of Merritt, operated by multi-national Civeo. Lampreau said five band members remain on reserve.

Since then, Lampreau said the band council has not been contacted directly by any provincial agency or ministry. Lampreau said they have given up trying to contact Emergency Support Services or Emergency Management BC and have since gone directly to the federal Indigenous Services department.

“[Emergency Management BC] never looked after our people. We fell through the cracks. We never even got called days after,” Lampreau said.

Lampreau and the band council have been spending the subsequent days taking care of their community by themselves: organizing shelter, food, medicine and emergency finances.

The executive director for the overarching Scw'exmx Tribal Council has also been evacuated, Lampreau explained, complicating communication with government agencies further.

“I was saying how important the tribal council would be now, to come together and pull our chiefs together and [do] some of the legwork for us. And we've been having to do that on our own,” he said.

The hard reality of the devastation to the land and community is slowly sinking in for the band. Lampreau said eventually they will have to confront reality that Shackan may have to move and re-establish somewhere else.

Decimated firstly by wildfires this past summer, the medicines, food, and forests on either side of the river that Shackan had relied upon since time immemorial now no longer exist.

“We need other lands to sustain our livelihood … the possibility of re-establishing Shackan down there, [the thing that] really binds us to that, that is our ancestors,” he said.

“Our loved ones are buried there. And some special places that are dear to our hearts. And we know those names of those places, and some of the ancient places where they dwell, they're there. And those historical spots are there, and we know about them, and we just can't walk away from them.

“But in one breath, we have to be able to find a place to raise our new generation of people, the next seven generations. We have to start thinking about them and ensuring that they have a place to go and a safe place to be,” he said.

At a press conference on Monday afternoon, B.C.’s Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Murray Rankin acknowledged the impact flooding and landslides have had on First Nations communities, including being displaced from their homes, difficulties practicing ceremony and culture, and being separated from family and loved ones.

Rankin also acknowledged how this has compounded the trauma of the last year.

“Chiefs and members of Indigenous communities have shown enormous resilience and great leadership during this difficult period,” he said.

Rankin announced government agencies from different sectors have now been congregated to form integrated Indigenous response and recovery teams, which include members from First Nations Emergency Services Society, First Nations Health Authority, Emergency Management BC, and Indigenous Services Canada.

“Yesterday, I was on was on a call with First Nation leaders and Minister [Mike] Farnworth. We heard from impacted communities; we heard their concerns as to how we can improve our response. And I heard we have more work to do.

“We must improve our communications with First Nation communities in advance of and during emergencies. We need to streamline our processes to help people access supports more easily, and we can work to ensure that the supports provided to First Nation communities are meeting the needs identified by the communities themselves,” Rankin said.

Glacier Media requested specific details from the province regarding its effort to support communities along Highway 8 but did not hear back by time of publication.

However, in response to the announcement, Shackan Indian Band Coun. Yvonne Joe said the integrated response is something that should’ve been done years ago.

“That should have really been in place. Because we’re not invited to the table... there's [no] kind of negotiations that transpire, and it happens within our territories. We're never asked to sit at the table, and we're never asked, ‘What would you like?’, or ‘What are your thoughts?’” she said.

Joe said she’s now expecting a call from the province.

“They're probably now going to reach out, because we're making noise. All the bands in our valley, they're rattling the cages,” she said.

Charlie Carey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, North Shore News

Systemic racism within British Columbia police targets minorities

Indigenous and Black people are highly overrepresented in arrests or chargeable incidents in British Columbia’s two largest cities which also have a high population of vulnerable new immigrants — Vancouver and Surrey — according to a new report revealing systemic racism in the province.

The report, funded by B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender, includes expert analysis of data from the Vancouver Police Department, the Nelson Police Department and the Surrey, Duncan and Prince George RCMP detachments, which were selected to represent different communities with varied demographic populations in the province.

In 2011, 44 per cent of Vancouver’s population was born outside of Canada, according to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), while Surrey is home to the second-largest immigrant population (220,155) in the Metro Vancouver Region, representing 22 per cent of Metro Vancouver’s total immigrant population.

“The key findings reflect policing issues affecting Indigenous and racialized communities, including new arrivals,” a spokesperson for the Commissioner told New Canadian Media.

Key findings in the 90-page submission by Commissioner Govender to the B.C. government’s Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act (SCORPA) include:

“Systemic racism in policing undermines community trust and safety,” Govender said in a statement.

Govender also said it’s “critical to acknowledge that the data is about individuals, particularly Indigenous, Black and other racialized individuals who experience significant and long-term harm, trauma and mental health impacts as a result of police interactions and involvement in the criminal justice system.”

Scot Wortley is professor of criminology in the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies at the University of Toronto and helped analyze the policing data. According to him, it’s “clear” that “profound racial disparities in police arrest and mental health statistics exist” in B.C.

“These disparities demand monitoring, policy attention and action by police, government and oversight bodies to redress the disparities that this data points to,” he said.

The report called for “immediate and sustained action to address the structural discrimination behind these numbers and to redress the harms caused by it.”

Limited data

Govender also expressed concerns about the limitations of the police data available for research and study purposes in B.C.

For example, B.C. RCMP is the largest policing agency in the province and serves 70 per cent of the population. Yet, they do not currently retain historical records of data after a file is closed beyond the minimum national standard, which in some cases is just 24 months.

“The B.C. RCMP’s failure to retain historical policing data for research and study purposes is deeply troubling as it contradicts principles of transparency and accountability in policing,” Govender’s statement read.

Citing examples based on the data from the five police jurisdictions, the report noted that although Indigenous people represent only 2.2 per cent of Vancouver’s population, they were involved in 24.5 per cent of all arrests captured. Black people only represent one per cent of Vancouver’s population but were involved in 5.3 per cent of all arrests. Latinos and Arab/West Asian civilians were also significantly overrepresented in arrests in the Vancouver data.

Indigenous and Black people were significantly overrepresented in police arrests in Surrey as well. While Indigenous people only represent 2.6 per cent of the population there, they were involved in 6.9 per cent of all arrests. Black people, who only represent 1.8 per cent of that population, were involved in five per cent of all arrests.

For Alicia Williams, from the BC Community Alliance, Govender’s findings are “devastating.”

“Especially for the communities grappling with this discriminatory treatment and for people who have experienced or witnessed negative interactions with police,” she said. “But the Commissioner’s recommendations give us a roadmap for change.”

The RCMP said they are analyzing Govender’s findings.

Fabian Dawson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, New Canadian Media

B.C. human rights commissioner report outlines racial disparities in policing

© Provided by The Canadian Press

VICTORIA — The office of British Columbia's human rights commissioner says an analysis of data from five police services across the province shows "profound racial disparities" and it is calling for changes toaddress discrimination in policing.

The report from Kasari Govender's office includes a series of recommendations for the B.C. government as part of a submission to a special committee of the legislature tasked with examining potential changes to the province's Police Act.

An analysis of data from the five B.C. police services found Indigenous, Black and other racialized people were over-represented in arrests and detentions, as well as in mental health or well-being checks and strip searches, the report says.

In one example, it says data provided by the Vancouver Police Department from 2011 to 2020 showed Indigenous people were over 11 times more likely to be arrested than their representation in the general population would predict. The analysis found that while Indigenous men represented 1.1 per cent of the city's population, they were involved in 19 per cent of the department's arrests.

In Nelson, data from 2016 to 2020 showed Black people were 4.7 times more likely to be involved in mental health incidents than their representation in the population.

The Vancouver and Nelson police services and the RCMP in Surrey, Prince George and Duncan/North Cowichan were chosen because they represent communities of different sizes with varying demographics in distinct parts of B.C., the report says.

The data analysis was completed in September by Scott Wortley, a professor at the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies at the University of Toronto.

Wortley highlighted the over-representation of Indigenous women in arrests and mental health checks by police at a news conference on Wednesday.

Studies across North America show that women, regardless of race, are typically under-represented in police statistics and charge recommendations, he said.

However, he said the analysis of B.C. police data found that Indigenous women were not only arrested at higher rates than women from other racial groups, but they often had arrest rates higher than those of white, Asian and South Asian men.

Serious violent offences accounted for less than five per cent of the charges recorded by all five B.C. police departments, he said. By contrast, between 30 and 40 per cent of the charges related to public disorder or the administration of justice, such as failing to appear in court or to comply with the conditions of a release.

The over-representation of Indigenous and Black people was higher for such charges, which are more likely to involve police discretion, Wortley said. It also was highest among cases that were either dropped by Crown prosecutors or closed if police decided not to pursue charges, he said.

Some would argue that provides "evidence of arrests of low quality or arrests that were based on limited evidence and have very little chance of prosecution," he said.

While the data analysis did not seek to identify the root causes of the racial disparities that it revealed, Wortley said three main explanations have emerged: bias in policing practices, such as surveillance and street checks; police discretion in how minor offences are handled; and bias when civilians report crimes to police.

Wortley also noted the possibility of higher rates of offending among racialized groups that "may be related to issues of colonization, historical discrimination, multi-generational trauma and contemporary social-economic disadvantage."

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, had not yet reviewed the commissioner's report and analysis on Wednesday, but said in general, factors underlying data on police interactions "aren't just policing issues."

"The reason why police do end up needing to respond to issues related to mental health or addictions or homelessness is because there have been cuts to other services or other services aren't available to fill that space," he said in an interview.

"If people are telling us there are issues with the way we're policing in a particular community or the way we're policing a part of a community, then of course the police need to be responsive to that."

The human rights commissioner's report says an array of data shows that the impacts of colonization, immigration policies, systemic racism in the health-care and education systems, and other "embedded social inequities lead to greater involvement of some communities in the criminal justice system."

Systemic racism in policing is unjust, contrary to the law and undermines community safety, Govender told the news conference.

"When marginalized people cannot trust the police, they are less likely to report crimes against them. To build this trust, we need to reimagine the role of police in our province, including by shifting our focus from the police as default responders."

Govender's report urges B.C. to adopt recommendations that include working with other levels of government to redirect funding from police budgets and investing in civilian-led services for mental health and substance use, homelessness and other conditions that could be addressed through expanded social programs.

The report also calls for changes to police oversight in B.C. and says the Police Act should be amended to ensure police boards are representative of the communities they serve, specifically those who are disproportionately affected by policing.

The B.C. RCMP said in a statement it could not speak to the specifics of the report's findings as the Mounties were not invited as active participants in the research and did not receive a final copy of the report until its public release.

In general, spokeswoman Dawn Roberts said the RCMP "has acknowledged the existing broad body of research demonstrating that certain groups are over-represented" in the justice system, including Black and Indigenous people.

The RCMP has been developing a national approach to the collection, analysis and reporting of race-based data in policing since July 2020 in collaboration with Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and Statistics Canada, she said.

The B.C. RCMP's submission to the legislative committee on the Police Act addresses many of the same issues as the commissioner's report, Roberts added.

In Vancouver, Sgt. Steve Addison said police recognize that "historical inequalities have led to over-representation of racialized people in the criminal justice system."

The department changed its policies on street checks last year in response to concerns that people of colour were over-represented in the stops, and the new policy has "significantly reduced the number of checks that occur," he said.

Officers receive anti-bias training throughout their careers, Addison said in a statement.

Police in Nelson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 24, 2021.

The Canadian Press

Black Nurses in BC Face ‘Entrenched and Pervasive’ Racism, Survey Finds

Black, Caribbean and African-descent nurses in British Columbia face frequent “entrenched and pervasive” racism and discrimination at work that is causing trauma and fuelling health inequities for Black and racialized patients, according to a new survey.

In the survey as well as group meetings conducted by the Coalition of African, Caribbean and Black Nurses in BC, nurses described frequent workplace bullying and harassment from colleagues, patients and their families. They described some co-workers refusing, before the pandemic, to touch objects previously handled by Black colleagues.

One nurse described being physically assaulted by a colleague after the nurse informed the colleague that they’d taken the nurse’s chair.

“Everyone who came to our group meetings had different experiences of racism and discrimination,” said Ismalia de Sousa, a nurse and PhD student at the University of British Columbia school of nursing who helped found the coalition in 2020.

But many shared experiences, like being dismissed by superiors, having few opportunities for promotion or being scapegoated for mistakes made by non-Black colleagues, came up again and again, de Sousa said.

Ninety-three per cent of survey respondents were women, and three-quarters were born outside Canada, meaning intersecting sexism, racism and xenophobia further worsen the harm they experience.

“Those experiences have significant impacts for respondents’ personal and professional lives, and have long-lasting traumas too,” de Sousa added.

Now the coalition is calling for transformative action to support Black nurses and end anti-Black racism in health care that is affecting both staff well-being and patient care and outcomes.

“As nurses, student nurses, academics and researchers, we have an ethical duty to safeguard human rights, justice, equity and fairness,” reads a Wednesday open letter from the coalition addressed to the provincial government, health authorities and regulatory colleges for nursing.

“This is why we call on you to heed the B.C. Human Rights Code and work collaboratively with us to find solutions that put an end to racism and racial discrimination and its associated emotional and physical impact on our members, non-members and the public.”

The coalition was founded by a group of concerned nurses in the wake of the pandemic’s first wave and the public reckoning with racism in health care, and anti-Black racism following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Racism and discrimination are not new for Black nurses who’ve been living with them for years and decades, stressed de Sousa, but the events of 2020 shone a light to make them unignorable.

In B.C., the extent of anti-Black racism in health care and its effects is obscured by the lack of race-based data collection and missing research on the specific experiences of Black nurses in the provincial context.

There is a lot of data from elsewhere in the world on anti-Black racism experienced by health-care workers, de Sousa said, but it can’t be considered an exact indication of what is happening in B.C.

Meanwhile, there are very few Black people, let alone nurses, in senior leadership positions in health authorities in B.C. Respondents said this is a direct result of managers being unwilling to invest or train Black nurses for higher positions or to progress in their careers.

“Some of these ideologies and beliefs are deeply rooted in history, for instance the idea that Black people are uneducated,” de Sousa said, noting for many years Black women were barred from attending nursing schools in Canada. “And these beliefs are still manifested, sometimes unconsciously, in the ways people treat and perceive Black nurses.”

For the nearly half of surveyed nurses who were trained outside Canada, like de Sousa, barriers to registration in Canada also contributed to poor mental health or feeling helpless to report discrimination during practicum settings.

It’s also difficult always being the first Black person to do something or the only one in the room, said de Sousa. “That’s the importance of mentorship and seeing someone in a leadership position who looks like you and thinking you could be that person.”

This lack of support or promotion for Black nurses impacts patient care as well, particularly for Black patients who may not feel respected or heard by care teams they can’t see themselves in.

“In certain positions of power, if those people are not representing the people for which we care, then we won’t have health-care practice that represents everyone and that caters for everyone and that is taking into consideration every individual,” said de Sousa, “but we will have inequitable health-care policies and certain groups will remain invisible.”

The coalition hopes, like the In Plain Sight report on anti-Indigenous racism in health care, that the survey’s establishment of the extent and impacts of racism can spur action from government and health-care authorities.

In 21 recommendations, the coalition calls for senior officials dedicated to anti-racism work in every health authority, mandatory anti-racism training for all employees and enhanced policies against racism and discrimination in the workplace.

They also want a commitment to hire more Black nurses into leadership positions by 2024, a review of treatment plans and criteria that differ by race, and the establishment of a centre led by Black experts and community-builders to study causes and solutions to health-care inequities for Black people in B.C.

Barriers for internationally trained nurses to practice in B.C. should be removed, and more resources should be made available for immigrant and newcomer physical and mental health care.

“We urge everyone to recognize that while our skin colour is rooted in genetics, our experiences in society are not,” reads the letter. “Our experiences are manifestations of the deeply racist divisive societies we live in [that] we must all work together to dismantle.”

Moira Wyton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Tyee

‘Historic’ report slams Canadian newsrooms for overwhelming whiteness

A new landmark study shows most Canadian newsrooms remain overwhelmingly white even as immigration continues to redefine this country’s demographics, resulting in much public lament over the lack of diversity in the media.

Described as “historic” in terms of its scope and reach, a new race- and gender-based study from the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) has found that “almost half of all Canadian newsrooms exclusively employ white journalists.”

“The typical Canadian newsroom is not representative of the Canadian population,” the final 17-page report, released Nov. 25, states.

In an email statement, CAJ president, Brent Jolly, told New Canadian Media that “while these numbers do not tell a complete story, they do provide a first glimpse at the makeup of Canadian newsrooms from coast to coast to coast.”

The report, conducted between November 2020 and July 2021, invited the editors-in-chief of 636 radio, television, digital and print news outlets to respond, out of which 147 sent full and verified answers. That represented 209 outlets across the country and 3,873 journalists combined. The results are mapped on out the CAJ’s website.

According to the report’s authors, it’s the first time in Canadian media history that so many organizations agreed to participate in such a study. In 1994, a national survey by the Canadian Daily Newspaper Association was sent to 82 editors, but only half responded. And out of the 18 “largest newspapers” Canadaland surveyed in 2016, only three sent answers back.

“Without a doubt, our industry is undergoing significant changes — from addressing workplace wellbeing and mental health, to uniting against online harassment and infringement on press freedoms, to being transparent about the diversity of our own newsrooms,” Jolly wrote in his email statement.

The lack of diversity has triggered a reckoning among newsrooms and journalism schools, leading to some measures adopted that have seen an increase of it.

But “(n)ewsroom managers tend to overestimate the diversity of their newsroom,” the report asserts.

According to the CAJ, those numbers are likely being inflated by a “handful of large newsrooms that employ a large number of (visible minority) reporters.” Ultimately, however, “most Canadian newsrooms tend to be whiter.”

For instance, even though 84 per cent of newsrooms employ zero Indigenous journalists, “of those that do, 74.8 per cent work at either the CBC or the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.” Likewise, 50 per cent, 40 per cent, and 47.3 per cent of Latin, Middle Eastern and Black journalists, respectively, work at the public national broadcaster.

That means that about nine in 10 newsrooms have no Latin, Middle Eastern or Mixed Race journalists. About nine in 10 have no Black or Indigenous journalists. While Asians are “more prevalent in newsrooms,” the study found, two thirds of newsrooms employ none of them.

“By comparison,” the study states, “just three per cent of newsrooms have no white journalists on staff.”

The study found that some demographics “seem to be overrepresented when compared to the national population level,” including Indigenous (6.4 per cent of journalists compared with 4.9 per cent of the population), Middle Eastern (1.7 per cent compared with 1.5 per cent) and Mixed Race (3.1 per cent compared with 0.7 per cent).

“However, it is important to emphasize that these numbers are driven by just a few newsrooms. Ninety per cent of newsrooms surveyed have no Latin, Middle Eastern or Mixed Race journalists on staff.”

Women, who make up 50.4 per cent of the country’s population, according to 2016 census data, are also at the margins of the industry, the study found, even though the national data shows women journalists outnumbering men (52.7 per cent compared to 46.7 per cent).

That is because most women are working either part-time (61 per cent) or as interns (64.9 per cent). “Among full-time staff, women make up 50.7 per cent of journalists,” the report states, “compared to 48.9 per cent men and 0.4 per cent non-binary.”

The report also found that “84.2 per cent of all white journalists work full time compared to 63.6 per cent of Black journalists and 60 per cent of Middle Eastern journalists. Around three quarters of all Asian, Latin, and Mixed Race journalists work full time. Around 8 in 10 Indigenous journalists surveyed work full time.”

Even at the Toronto Star, which is considered a progressive newspaper often focusing on issues affecting the working class, “68.5 per cent of full-time staff are white, 22.8 per cent are Asian and none are Indigenous,” the report found, based on the Star’s own data.

“The newsroom reported between one and four Black, Latin and Middle Eastern staff.”

(It should be noted that the information is based on the Star’s own “diversified data” which did not “collect specific numbers for certain questions, like the number of Black or Middle Eastern staff, but instead collected ranges.” Therefore, the CAJ did not include their data in the final results).

When asked what they’re doing to encourage more diverse applicants to come forward, some newsroom leaders admitted “no additional steps” are being taken.

Some of the steps that were identified included targeting schools and specific associations representing diverse journalists, posting salaries and creating diverse hiring committees.

In his email statement, Jolly said despite the profession being “under increasing scrutiny and attack,” any long-term solution will require industry leaders working together, transparently.

“While it is incumbent upon all of us to find new ways to tell the complex and important stories of our time, it is also our responsibility to be up to the task of addressing our own strengths and weaknesses with thoughtful reflection.”

Fernando Arce, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, New Canadian Media

All arrested CGL pipeline opponents in northwest B.C. released with conditions

After two days of court hearings, all those arrested from the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline construction site in northwest B.C. have been released with conditions.

Last week the RCMP arrested 29 people from the construction site near Houston, while enforcing an injunction order for CGL and clearing up blockades set up by a Wet’suwet’en group and their supporters.

Among those arrested were Gidimt’en Checkpoint’s key leader Sleydo’ (Molly Wickham ) and two journalists, who were in custody until they appeared in court on Nov. 22.

Some of those arrested, including the journalists were released on Nov. 22, with conditions to comply with the injunction. All of them are expected to reappear in court on Feb. 14.

While non-Wet’sutwet’en members were told to stay out of the injunction zones, those who are Wet’suwet’en can return to hunt, fish, trap and conduct cultural practices. The journalists can return for their work, but were told to be mindful of the previous injunction and keep the peace.

Sleydo’, who was among one of the last to be released on Nov. 23, with similar conditions, was told not to be within 75 metres of any CGL worksites (as opposed to 10 metres for all the others who were arrested).

In the Nov. 23, hearing, Justice Marguerite Church of the Supreme Court of B.C., ordered Sleydo’s release on the condition she appears in court in February.

Even though CGL’s lawyer pleaded to bar Sleydo from returning to the area given past instances where she breached injunction orders, Church said the “blanket exclusion” would prevent her from exercising her constitutionally protected Indigenous rights in those areas.

Church also warned Sleydo’ that violating the conditions of her release would lead to stricter orders in the future.

Upon release, Sleydo’ said in a Facebook video statement, “This injunction has no jurisdiction on our territories, [it is] an inadequate piece of law that has been been used to violate human rights, to violate Indigenous rights, to violate Wet’suwet’en law. It’s not something that should be used when there’s issues of Indigenous land and Indigenous law in dispute with the so-called Canada and the Crown.”

She also said she was removed from her territory “illegally” and called everything that happened since their arrest on Nov. 19 a violation of human rights.

“It was a violation of our human rights, and violation of me as a Wet’suwet’en woman,” she said in the video uploaded by Gidimt’en Checkpoint.

Binny Paul, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Terrace Standard