Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s long-promised action to tackle systemic racism is starting to take shape with the announcement Wednesday of a program that will deliver up to $221 million in public and private funding for Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs.
The announcement comes almost three months after Trudeau vowed to take action “very soon” to address racism entrenched in Canadian police and other institutions. At the time, in mid-June, the Parliamentary Black Caucus in Ottawa — chaired by Liberal MP Greg Fergus — released a detailed call-to-action that was signed by more than 100 MPs in Trudeau’s caucus, including more than half his government’s cabinet.
Among the recommendations in the Black caucus declaration were calls for increased supports to Black businesses, which Trudeau acknowledged Wednesday face “systemic barriers” that have been “exacerbated” by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We need an economic recovery that’s inclusive and equitable for all Canadians,” Trudeau said, speaking at the Hxouse innovation “think-centre” for entrepreneurs on Toronto’s waterfront.
“An investment in Black excellence is an investment in economic empowerment, and economic empowerment is an essential part of justice,” he said.
Billed as the Canadian government’s first “Black Entrepreneurship Program,” the initiative announced Wednesday involved $93 million from the federal government over four years. This will create an “ecosystem fund” to help Black entrepreneurs access training and capital to support their businesses and a separate “hub” that will collect data on Black businesses across the country.
Several financial institutions — including major firms like the Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank, TD and CIBC — will also contribute up to $128 million to a new fund that will lend out sums ranging from $25,000 to $250,000 to Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs.
Earlier this year, the Black Business and Professional Association surveyed its members in Ontario and found that 80 per cent of them indicated they weren’t able to access the federal government’s wage subsidy program — which has since been expanded and made easier to qualify for — compared with 37 per cent in the broader private sector. The survey also found that four out of five Black business respondents believed they did not qualify for Ottawa’s emergency business loans.
The prime minister has signalled his government will do more to address racism in Canadian institutions. In July, Statistics Canada announced it would start releasing race-based crime data — also a demand of the Parliamentary Black Caucus — while the agency has also started publishing race-based jobs numbers.
Trudeau also said in June — amidst the rise global movement against police brutality and racism — that he raised a proposal for RCMP officers to wear body cameras to document their interactions with the public.
He later pledged that his government is developing a “work plan” to craft policies on police and the justice system, improve protections for temporary foreign workers and introduce legislation to expand First Nations policing in their own communities.
This comes after the Liberal government unveiled a $45-million strategy in 2019 to tackle racism in the public service and federal policies. (The Star)
