N.B. government won't say what it will do with systemic racism report, months after release
‘Actions speak louder than words,’ New Brunswick African Association president says of province’s response
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.
Varma disappointed with lack of response
When the province first announced it would appoint a commissioner of systemic racism in 2021, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Arlene Dunn said the intent was for the government to use the commissioner's recommendations to "actually start changing things for people who live this every single day."
But two and a half years later, Dunn sent CBC a statement that includes no detail about how the province plans to change anything for people who experience systemic racism, saying the government is "still determining next steps."
"If we want this province to be truly welcoming, inclusive and supportive of equal opportunity, we want to ensure that we take adequate time and care in formulating a response to the commissioner's report," Dunn wrote.
"We are in the process of assembling the proper expertise from the relevant departments to facilitate this work."
Varma said she wanted her report to be a road map, laying out 86 steps the government can take. The logical first step would be to start following those steps, she said.
"I am really disappointed that there's been very little response from the government," Varma said in an interview.
Report called for permanent commissioner
One of those steps was to create a permanent body to tackle systemic racism, with a commissioner or deputy minister appointed to take the lead. Varma's contract expired after she delivered her report in December 2022.
The permanent commissioner would be tasked with providing training for the provincial government and with leading "an anti-racism approach across all departments," the report says. They would also be responsible for developing a campaign "to sensitize New Brunswickers about systemic racism."
But that position hasn't been created, and it's unclear who is taking the lead on implementing Varma's recommendations.
Other levels of government and organizations like church groups have contacted Varma to try to implement parts of her report, she said, despite "relative silence from the provincial government."
The report's recommendations build upon work the City of Saint John is already doing, including education about truth and reconciliation and creating a 10-year strategic plan aimed at building a more inclusive community, according to a statement from the city's commissioner of growth and community services, Jacqueline Hamilton.
In Fredericton, the city's manager of community inclusion, Ben Griffin, pointed to an office of community inclusion and continuing work on an anti-racism task force, among other measures.
Varma recommended task force, not public inquiry
Calls mounted for the province to call a public inquiry into systemic racism against Indigenous peoples in policing and the justice system, after 26-year-old Chantel Moore and 48-year-old Rodney Levi were shot and killed by police officers in 2020.
A mid-term report from Varma seemed poised to endorse a public inquiry, but plans to release anything mid-term were shelved after Varma met with Higgs and Dunn in spring 2022.
That prompted the chiefs of several Mi'kmaw communities in New Brunswick to say they would no longer participate in the commissioner's process, alleging political interference in the commissioner's work.
They joined the six chiefs of the Wolastoqey Nation, who had declined to participate in the systemic racism commissioner's work, describing it as an "ill-equipped and ineffective alternative to an inquiry."
Varma's final report stopped short of calling for a public inquiry but instead recommended a task force focused on "dismantling systemic racism in New Brunswick policing." She recommended it be led by members of the Indigenous and Black communities, along with staff from the Department of Justice and Public Safety.
But the province's statement to CBC News says nothing about that task force.
The report also recommended the province address recommendations from coroner's inquests into the deaths of Moore and Levi, without delay.
Tracy Cloud said she's disappointed but not surprised to see the province has done little with the commissioner's recommendations.
"This is usually what we have come to expect from the province, unfortunately," said Cloud, who is the director of trilateral negotiations with Mi'gmawe'l Tplu'taqnn Inc. (MTI), an organization representing several Mi'kmaw communities.
Cloud said communities are feeling left in the dark about what will happen with the report.
"I'm sure there was a considerable amount of public funds that were spent on the report and we want to know how that will be implemented moving forward."
'Anti-Black racism still exists'
Shire also questioned the broad mandate Varma was given, noting that the history and challenges faced by his community are completely different than those faced by Indigenous peoples, but everything was "all put into one box."
Other than the call for the government to form a task force, Shire said he didn't see any recommendations focused specifically on tackling anti-Black racism.
He pointed to Nova Scotia as a model the province could follow. That province recently introduced an equity and anti-racism strategy, after passing the Dismantling Racism and Hate Act last year.
But in New Brunswick, Shire has heard silence, and for him, the issue requires urgency.
"Our members are still facing the same issues," he said. "Anti-Black racism still exists."
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
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