A Canadian is a Canadian, is a Canadian, is a Canadian – The Good
Edmonton is a welcoming city, as someone who has traveled to cities in most continents before building my nest in Edmonton, I personally call Edmonton fantastic Edmonton because of its people and their supportive spirit to help build a fantastic community, second to none.
Every year, from the countless multicultural events that I cover for Diversity Magazine, reports that I read from multiple sources, and stories that I write, I always take time to summarize how Edmonton is doing as a community in keeping up its welcoming spirit, call it state of diversity and inclusion in Edmonton, or the good, the bad, and the ugly of diversity and inclusion in Edmonton for 2018.
Edmonton has been welcoming to different cultures, as I could see different communities coming out to learn about other cultures, share their values, customs, and traditions, and different levels of government support financially the organizers of major cultural festivals such as the new arrivals; Africanival, Latin Fest, Edmotnon Carnaval, Filipino Fiesta and many more. Some political parties such as the NDP Caucus has organized their own versions of cultural events such as Black History Month, Diwali and many more. These events that I personally covered for Diversity Magazine, I must say are exemplary compared to other cities across Canada or Alberta when I search for who is doing what on different multicultural day celebrations. Some of these cultural celebrations have been embraced as part of the fabric of Edmonton’s Festival City signature, and could be found on all major websites for tourists visiting the Festival City.
The three levels of government have gone beyond just throwing money to celebrate culture. There has also been support for newcomers to integrate into Edmonton community, as well as, find work for those who want to work, and start a business for those entrepreneurial minds coming to town. While there has been some progress in this space, a lot needs to be done as newcomers still struggle to have their qualifications recognized, and build a career that befit their experiences, skills, expertise, and recognition, that impressed the Canadian Government to approve their coming to Canada.
Minority newcomers still struggle to share their opinions without fear of repercussions from law enforcement, politicians, or employers, as such, it is difficult to engage these communities on certain issues to improve integration and find solutions. Most stories I have written on the police or politics, or different employers, rarely gets anybody who want to comment publicly. This is the same reason why their involvement in the political process is low and best integration lessons cannot be shared between communities to enhance integration. Edmonton, is this a missed opportunity? Workplaces too have had their own fair share of un-friendly practices towards minority workers, once again with the fear of speaking out, and not knowing where to report. The Alberta Human Rights Commission is over loaded with reports and can do very little to help.
Through consultation with community agencies and internal stakeholders, City of Edmonton Administration found that the majority of municipal services are accessible to undocumented individuals. An internal review determined five municipal services/programs that may require forms of identification or verification of income. These include the Ride Transit Program, the Leisure Access Program, Community Peace Officer interactions, Vehicle for Hire licensing and Adult-oriented business licences. While providing specific proof of immigration status is not a requirement of these City services/programs, undocumented individuals may still not access them due to fear of experiencing sanctions resulting from the discovery of their immigration status. On September 18, 2018, the proposed City Policy C606 Access to Municipal Services Without Fear would govern the City’s approach to improving accessibility for undocumented individuals and ensure that City programs and services are accessible to all Edmontonians, regardless of immigration documentation and status.
The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) has stepped up hiring people of minority background, spiced up with training on dealing with people from multicultural communities, so too is the new diverse faces on the Police Commission. The latter has gone a step further to investigate carding in Edmonton with some recommendations. A lot needs to be done to get all the recommendations implemented by EPS. With a new Police Chief in place and a diverse commission, I will optimistically hope for change in the horizon.
They came in numbers. The young, the old, the workers, and the decision makers all put a halt to their daily routines and dashed into the magnificent Edmonton City Hall. From schools, governments, reserves, police post, businesses, parliament, council chamber, legislature, non profits, and many more with one message, NEVER AGAIN! Edmontonians came out in numbers on September 28, 2018, at Edmonton City Hall, dressed in orange shirts to reflect the horrendous memories of the devastation of residential schools on First Nations communities across Canada.
A terrorist is a terrorist, is a terrorist, is a terrorist – The Bad and the Ugly
While so many good things have happened in 2018 worthy of sharing with you, lots of challenges remain in fostering diversity and inclusion in Edmonton. Ugly things have happened too with disastrous consequences for newcomers coming to Edmonton, job loss, and families risking being thrown out in the middle of winter in a time that is difficult to find a job. My ugly list is as extensive as the others. The first that just does not stop ringing even in my sleep, is the fate of the Francophone Welcome Centre, an organization that predominantly welcomes newcomers from Africa and is run by mostly people of African descent, but sadly, has not been given a second chance by Immigration Canada and Alberta Labour, after some mistakes were made by its leaders. In Canada, murderers, rapists, and serial criminals get another chance, right? But this has not been the case for the Francophone Newcomer Welcome Centre, in French, Centre d’accueil et d’établissement du nord de l’Alberta, or in short, CAE, a community building organization that hires 30 people and welcomes 2,000 newcomers every year but is being punished for the actions of its former employee and former Board even after the community members that it serves formed a new Board and launched a new beginning.
Also on the ugly part of my list, is the realization that labels such as “racist” sucks out the energy and distracts from the focus on policy and legislation which guarantees systemic weaving of diversity and inclusion into the fabric of the society, and makes it part of everyday life. Labels such as “racist” and “terrorist” are the most unwelcome description of people in the dominant and minority halves of Edmonton.
Interestingly, leadership qualities in dealing with a racist label surfaces when political leaders are publicly stamped with such a label. A good example is MP Kerry Diotte, a member of parliament in one of Edmonton’s most diverse area, an award winning journalist who worked in multiple media and has written countless stories with some un-friendly ones towards newcomer communities, before becoming a politician, threatens to drag to court an Edmontonian when called a racist, and in another situation, lands in court a potential mentee, a University of Alberta Student Newspaper for calling him a racist.
Another aspect of labels distracting from the focus on policy and legislation is the 2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada, published by the Canadian Government, “terro-wash” multicultural communities, even those that have not been active for a long time, while embracing right-wing groups involved in terror. Let me bring my point to live with this quote from the report , “In Canada, individuals who hold extreme right-wing views are active online, leveraging chat forums and online networks to exchange ideas, as opposed to openly promoting violence. These individuals leverage online chats and forums in attempt to create an online culture of fear, hatred and mistrust by exploiting real or imagined concerns”.
This report has provoked disappointing reactions from multicultural groups such as The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), who says that the federal government’s 2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada unfairly stigmatizes Canadian Muslim communities and other racialized minority groups while minimizing the growing role of white supremacist and far-right groups in perpetuating violent attacks inside Canada. “This report fails to properly account for the growing prominence of white supremacist and far-right groups in Canada and minimizes the impact of their hateful ideologies in launching violent attacks by describing them generally as ‘sporadic’ and ‘opportunistic’. By doing so, the government is harmfully suggesting to the Canadian public that only Muslims and other racialized communities are the real terrorist threat,” NCCM Communications Coordinator Leila Nasr.
In Ottawa, on December 11, 2018, the World Sikh Organization of Canada was deeply disappointed by the addition of “Sikh (Khalistani) Extremism” to the Public Safety Canada’s 2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada. “The 2018 report on Canada’s terrorist threat environment included the ‘Sikh extremism’ component for the first time this year. While the 2018 Public Safety report does not make any reference to current extremist activities in the Sikh community, it does state, ‘some individuals in Canada continue to support Sikh (Khalistani) extremist ideologies and movements’”.
Where there is a will, there is always a way
The way forward to foster diversity and inclusion in Edmonton is not just leadership but good leadership at different levels of government, law enforcement, the media, the newcomer communities, and work places, in dealing, identifying, and objectively presenting race related issues and other issues of common interest to multicultural newcomer and mainstream communities in Edmonton. We have seen the media present two terror attacks carried out by two different people of two different racial backgrounds with one being a good guy that is out of character, and Islamic “terro-wash” the other within hours even though he has not been found guilty in any court.
Some of the initiatives by the different levels of governments have come under fire from those who do not support the fostering of diversity and inclusion in fantastic Edmonton. Fear is justifiable in some instances and can lead to negative sentiments and for sure needs to be addressed. Support from multicultural communities and other welcoming communities is crucial to get the diversity and inclusion leadership going. Language is a big deal in this business. Everybody who do not agree with us is not a racist. Those who do not appreciate our work are not all racists. There are some good things as well as some bad and ugly ones in 2018. Perfection does not exist in the continuum of human existence, but good will always thrive over evil, and those with influence can choose to use it for good or for bad. What have you chosen?
