President of N.B. African Association questions structure of systemic racism commission
Trying to address unique concerns from different communities results in messages being lost, Yusuf Shire says
The president of the New Brunswick African Association says the structure of the province's commission on systemic racism isn't going to address specific issues faced by different communities, including anti-Black racism.
Yusuf Shire said he doesn't support the commission trying to examine several unique histories and challenges faced by different racialized groups under one umbrella.
"This is what we understood from the get-go, when the Indigenous chiefs did not want to participate in the commission because their message will be lost," Shire said in an interview.
"Their issues are very unique. When you want to clump everything in one, you lose the most important things that need to be known."
Shire's criticism comes as the six chiefs of the Wolastoqey Nation of New Brunswick call for Premier Blaine Higgs to cancel the commission, arguing it lacks independence.
- Call for immediate public inquiry shelved after systemic racism commissioner met with Higgs
- Senior adviser to systemic racism commissioner resigns, questioning independence
The chiefs have declined to participate in the commissioner Manju Varma's process from the outset, describing it as an "ill-equipped and ineffective alternative to an inquiry."
The nine Mi'kmaw chiefs in the province withdrew from the process earlier this week, saying the provincial government suppressed Varma's mid-term report.
That report recommended an immediate, Indigenous-led public inquiry to examine systemic racism against Indigenous peoples in the justice and policing sectors.
But the report was shelved following an April meeting between the commissioner, Higgs and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Arlene Dunn.
Earlier this week, a senior policy adviser in Varma's office resigned. In his resignation letter, he too questioned the independence of the commissioner's office from the government.
The premier says he didn't tell Varma not to publish her report, and Varma told CBC News no one has ever told her to shelve, change or remove anything.
Shire said the commissioner hasn't consulted his organization.
'It's not being seen or being heard'
He also questions why the process requires people to self-report to the commissioner either online or by letter.
"That assumes computer literacy and literacy, which in the case of many is not the case at all," Shire said.
"But working with the grassroots organizations or groups could address this issue. It would be good to see a list of organizations that have been involved in this process so far. How many are led by racialized individuals and are grassroots organizations?"
Two other organizations contacted by CBC News, the Asian Heritage Society of New Brunswick and Black Lives Matter Fredericton, said they are also not involved in the commission's process.
Shire said his organization supports an Indigenous-led public inquiry, as Indigenous leaders have called for over the past two years, following the police shooting deaths of Chantel Moore and Rodney Levi. They say such an inquiry is the only way to fully examine systemic racism, because it would compel government organizations to provide information.
Shire would also like to see a separate process focusing on anti-Black racism, which Shire said "is actively present even within the racialized community."
"The Indigenous community and the Black community are the two most marginalized communities in the world, really," he said.
"But at the same time, it seems like all our messages and all our statements and everything we're doing, it seems like it's not being seen or being heard."
The commissioner's executive assistant said in an email to CBC that consultations aren't finished yet, and the New Brunswick African Association will be consulted by the end of the process.
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