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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 308

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 3, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 308 - May/3/24
Mr. Jasraj Singh Hallan (Calgary Forest Lawn, CPC)
  • May/3/24 10:32:09 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member brought up the word “racism”, and it makes me think about some of the things that have transpired under the government after nine years. We see more racism than ever all across the departments after nine years of the government, including in the immigration department. There was a report that came out in 2021, a Polaris report, that showed racism only went up in that department. Since we are on the topic, I would like to get the member's take on the Prime Minister, someone who has done racist blackface. What are the member's thoughts on that and on the rise in racism under the government in all departments?
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Context: House Hansard - 308 - May/3/24
Mr. Chandra Arya
  • May/3/24 10:32:57 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I fully disagree that racism went up during the last nine years in our government. What has happened is that there has been recognition of systemic racism. This has resulted in a higher number of complaints, which have been made public. Those have gone up. That is the reason we see an increase in the statistics.
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Context: House Hansard - 308 - May/3/24
Mr. Xavier Barsalou-Duval
  • May/3/24 10:52:22 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have not read the specific amendments that my colleague is referring to. However, a problem that sometimes comes up when we talk about systemic racism is a prior assumption that there is a situation involving racism or systemic racism. If the goal of the amendments was to automatically assume that everyone is racist, then, of course, there may be a problem. For example, one good thing about the bill is that the commission must report to the government and the public on what kind of complaints it normally has to deal with. Even the RCMP and the CBSA will have to report on how they handle the recommendations that they get and on the nature of the complaints that they normally receive. That means there will already be a way to get an overall picture of what is happening and to look at whether further action needs to be taken in some areas where problems seem to arise more often than in others, such as problems related to racism.
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