Campaign 2000 stands in solidarity with Black communities.
June 8, 2020
Ontario Campaign 2000 is outraged by the continued systemic violence and police brutality against Black bodies and the hostile responses to protests opposing anti-Black racism and supporting civil liberties. We grieve with our Black and Indigenous colleagues and community members who are suffering.
We denounce all forms of anti-Black racism, colonialism and white supremacy, and any effort to erase or deny the legacies and ongoing impacts of these systems of oppression and repression.
As an organization focused on poverty eradication, we know that Black and Indigenous communities have much worse health outcomes and exponentially higher rates of poverty than white Canadians and that this is a both a result of and a strategy to maintain systemic oppression. Poverty rates for Black (33%), First Nations (ranging from 32%-48%), Inuit (31%), and Metis (21%) children in Ontario are astronomical, particularly in contrast to the national average (17%). This should serve as a sobering reminder that systemic inequities based on discrimination become intergenerational quickly. This cycle must be ended in our lifetimes.
ONC2000 supports the calls from Black leaders and organizations to:
- Declare anti-Black racism a public health crisis.
- Enhance accountability infrastructure to address police brutality, police violence and harms to Black communities.
- Strengthen the Toronto Anti-Racism Directorate with a clearly articulated, targeted and systemic anti-Black racism strategy.
- Demand the province of Ontario commit to the allocation of protected funds to provide culturally appropriate health and well-being support within Black communities. A critical component of undoing anti-Black racism is working towards making Black life livable. Culturally appropriate organizations must be given the support they need to continue providing these services.
ONC2000 also support the calls from the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) to:
- Fully implement the recommendations of the 2017 Andrew Loku inquest.
- Fully implement the 2019 Ontario Human Rights Commission recommendations on ending racial profiling in law enforcement.
- Strengthen the Ontario Anti-Racism Directorate and the Canada Anti-Racism Secretariat with a clear mandate to end anti-Black racism.
You can read the full C2000 statement, produced with Family Service Toronto, our host organization