MLAs speak in support of colleague after racist comments come to light

Opposition members stood in solidarity Friday with Liberal MLA Angela Simmonds at Province House after learning she was the subject of racist comments by a political staffer.

The staffer, who worked with the Justice Department, was fired by Premier Tim Houston on Thursday after he learned of the comments. The premier informed Simmonds and Liberal Leader Iain Rankin of what happened shortly after he learned about it.

On Friday, during members' statements at Province House, all Liberal MLAs and some New Democrats dedicated their statements to speaking in support of Simmonds, as well as the other Black MLAs in the House — Ali Duale, Suzy Hansen and Tony Ince.

Simmonds said she was overwhelmed and moved by the support of her colleagues.

"I have fought issues before, but it was the very first time in a long time where it was a family and I could just feel people's emotions forming," she told reporters at Province House.

"It was a complete privilege and honour to be standing there witnessing that."

While racism might not be regularly discussed on the floor of the legislature, Simmonds said current and past Black MLAs have been having these conversations and experiences. The conversations need to keep happening, she said.

"We need to be comfortable in our discomfort," Simmonds said. "Saying, 'We acknowledge it and we care,' is not enough.

"It is not enough because we were elected officials to be here and it is not OK to say that we are going to do better. We need to see that we're doing better."

Hansen, the NDP member for Halifax Needham, said it's one thing for conversations to happen inside the chamber, but she said those conversations also need to happen in smaller groups among MLAs.

"We need to have some heart-to-heart conversations, to be uncomfortable, to feel that, but also to share," she told reporters.

"And we need to do that in a space that's going to be safe for everyone."

The premier told reporters that much work remains to fight racism in the province and his government is committed to doing its part.

"There's a lot of initiatives, many initiatives that had already been started by the previous government through the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism. We support those strongly and we'll continue to do as much as possible to fight racism in this province," said Houston.