Colour of Poverty - Colour of Change - Media ReleaseColour of Change Network - according to protocol - at her departure from the country - the UN Independent Expert on Minority Issues issued an "exit statement" on Canada.
Please see below the Media Statement released by the Colour of Poverty Campaign - Colour of Change Network.
The Experts full report with more comprehensive and detailed findings and recommendations will be released sometime near March 2010.
For Immediate Release - October 2009
Racialized Communities Welcome Statement by the United Nations Independent Expert on Minority Issues Concerning Canada's Record on Minority Rights
The Colour of Poverty Campaign (COPC) welcomes the Exit Statement made by Ms. Gay McDougall, the United Nations Independent Expert on Minority Issues, to the Government of Canada at the conclusion of a 10 day official visit at the invitation of the Canadian Government.
Members of the Steering Committee of COPC as well as a diverse group of members of the Colour of Change Network met with Ms. McDougall during her visit to discuss issues facing racialized communities in Canada, including a) the growing racialization of poverty, b) the lack of equitable access to employment opportunities for members of racialized communities, women and people with disabilities, c) the impact of poverty and other social determinants leading to health and other life chance inequities, and d) increasing inequitable educational outcomes for children from certain racialized communities.
Members of the COPC are pleased to see the UN Expert addressing many of the above concerns in her Exit Statement as provided to officials of the Government of Canada this past Friday. In particular, the UN Expert rightfully highlights the real urgency underlying the need to address the issue of the growing economic disparities that confront racialized communities. The noted priorities in her preliminary statement echo and support COPC's key positions that governments in Canada must continue to expand both the collection and the use of ethno-racially and otherwise appropriately disaggregated data, and implement and improve legislative as well as regulatory measures to ensure equitable access to employment for all marginalized community members.
The Colour of Poverty Campaign urges both the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario to heed the advice of the UN Expert. Members of COPC look forward to working with both orders of government as well as other key political and institutional actors to implement the fuller recommendations coming from Ms. McDougall sometime in the near future.
For more information, please contact:
Avvy Go, Clinic Director, Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic at (416) 971-967
Amy Casipullai, Policy , Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants at (416) 322-4950 ext. 229
Mohamed Boudjenane, Executive Director, Canadian Arab Federation at (416) 493-8635 ext.23