N.B. government won't say what it will do with systemic racism report, months after release
CBC
For months, the province's former systemic racism commissioner met with groups and individuals across New Brunswick listening to their lived experiences of systemic racism.
People shared traumatic, personal stories with commissioner Manju Varma, and excerpts were included in her final report, along with 86 recommendations.
In one section, Varma describes speaking to a Black elementary school student. He told her he was happy to attend school online during the pandemic so he wouldn't have to deal with racist name calling.
"When I asked him when he would be ready to go to school, he said, 'I don't want to go back to school; it hurts my soul,'" Varma wrote.
More than seven months after Varma's report was released, the provincial government still can't say what, if anything, it plans to do with her findings and recommendations.
When Yusuf Shire talks to people in his community about the commissioner's report, he feels a sense of disappointment that nothing has come from the experiences they shared.
"Between the two groups, the Indigenous community and the Black community, we are the most surveyed and researched community members," said Shire, who is president of the New Brunswick African Association.
"This information is there, the data is there, collecting dust probably. We want to be able to see tangible action."
At the end of March, Premier Blaine Higgs pointed to the commissioner's report as being the first in Canada.
Asked what is happening with the report, Higgs said the government is still trying to identify "which things can we actually react on," noting there are a lot of recommendations.
"I don't have a precise timeline," Higgs said in late March.
"But I would say over the coming let's say one, two months, we would be able to put forward kind of a recommendation of here are the things we're going to set as priorities to work on and make a difference."
The premier wasn't made available for a followup interview about the commissioner's report.
"I probably would say to the premier, actions speak louder than words," Shire said.
