When will the changes for Blacks in the Yukon change?

In all, 265 black people call Yukon home, according to 2016 census data. This is the fewest of the provinces and territories. The demographic group, however, comes from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, which presents a challenge when it comes to bringing everyone together.

” There is no community, which is what I hope to start with these gatherings. To bring together all these different cultures, black cultures, and try to create a uniformity, a unity. »

Activities or gatherings for members of the black community are rare in the Yukon capital and yet the city is not spared from racism, according to the restaurateur.

Just recently, while picking up a pizza, Mrs. GreenOliph had to call out to the cashier who had served the white man behind her first. A second similar incident happened to him the same week.

It’s so demoralizing that these kinds of things keep happening and I’m getting more and more discouraged. I sometimes wonder if it’s worth going through all that, constantly putting yourself forward to challenge peopleshe laments.

The weight of the case

A Yukoner for thirty years, Paul Gowdie is also tired of talking about the same issues without seeing any changes. Black History Month in February, for example, has lost its meaning, he says.

It’s daunting trying to stay front and center [de la cause]. I am in no way an activist. It’s hard to stay positive […] How to shed the weight of the cause when the rest of the population does not seem to care?

It is that two years after the big demonstrations for the Black Lives Matter movement (Black lives matter), it is clear that little change has been made to the place of blacks in society, according to Paul Gowdie and Antoinette GreenOliph , who deplore the current state of play.

” There’s frustration, there’s disappointment and then outright pain [lorsque nous réalisions] that we seem to represent a fashionable subject, and when the fashion has passed, we are forgotten, but we are here, we are always there! »

Calling the courts for change

Among the long-awaited changes is better access to public service or private sector jobs. After May 2020 there were many promises of action and I’m not sure what was done. Maybe it’s time to take stocksays Paul Gowdie.

In the Yukon, the territorial government admits, via email, that it has no specific measures for hiring or retaining black employees, but argues that the action plan for LGBTQ2S+ members helps ensure that identity factors, including ethnicity, are taken into account in decision-making processes.

At the federal level, the actions do not satisfy the organizer of a class action awaiting certification which currently includes more than 1,300 employees or former employees of the federal public service. Nicholas Marcus Thompson says there has been systematic discrimination in the federal government since the 1970s.

” When we saw Prime Minister Justin Trudeau [en 2020] demonstrate and declare that anti-black racism is real […] we believed that change was coming, [qu’il y aurait] changes in the way black people are treated in the country […] in all sectors, but this has not happened. »

The group was asking for a $100 million black-specific psychological support fund, but the most recent federal budget calls for $3.7 million instead.

Yukon MP Brendan Hanley’s office argues by email that $200 million is earmarked for the creation of a Philanthropic Endowment Fund and $265 million over four years is to be dedicated to creating a Black Community Entrepreneurship Program, in addition to other targeted measures.

Brendan Hanley points out, in an interview, that these amounts are accessible to all organizations that work with the black community.

Unique measurements

Nicholas Marcus Thompson believes that the federal government’s approach to redressing wrongs committed against black people in this country will have repercussions for the rest of society. The federal government sets the standards for the rest of the countryhe notes.

Paul Gowdie believes, for his part, that the Yukon’s approach to First Nations, like the hiring strategy, somewhat overshadows the cause of black people, even if the reconciliation process is important. I don’t think that’s the only issue or the only cultural group that needs to be worked on.

Antoinette GreenOliph believes some improvements have been made, noting that she herself is the president of a co-working space organization. The City of Whitehorse also has minority representatives among elected officials. But it looks like it’s just little pockets of change, she regrets.

” Representation is important in a community. To be able to identify with this community. […] See a black person in the mountains or play hockey [par exemple] gives a sense of belonging. »