Improving PAD access to health services

Deepen equity in service delivery by and to PADs

Recommendation 23: The Ministry of Health should work to expand MSP coverage to mental health care and support. This should include the creation and funding of health advocates and patient navigators services focused on making the hospital experience of People of African Descent safer.

Improving PAD access to health services

Deepen equity in service delivery by and to PADs

Recommendation 24: The Ministry of Health should promote and fund an advocacy mechanism dedicated to the promotion of the health and mental wellbeing of Peoples of African Descent in BC. It is particularly recommended to prioritize the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of health professionals of African descent in BC. This care of health care professionals of African descent should be implemented along other incentives designed to retain them in BC.

Improving PAD access to health services

Support PAD-led models and community collaboration

Recommendation 25: The Ministry of Health should fund and promote the creation of mental health hubs and free People of African Descent-led counseling and clinical mental health sessions that are easily accessible for Peoples of African descent across the Province.

Deepening representation in schools

Increase the recruitment of PADs

Recommendation 44: The Ministry of Education must prioritize the training, recruitment and retention of more mental health and career counselors of African Descent for BC schools.

Deepening representation in schools

Deepen equity in service delivery by and to PADs

Recommendation 47: The Ministry of Education must provide educators of African Descent with the needed emotional and material support as they face navigate racist structures and institutions. This includes dedicated support to Black professionals within BC’s education sector to run their solidarity and mentorship programming. Also, it is critical for the Province to design and support training programs for educators of African Descent on how to effectively deal with the racism they will encounter from students and peers. The program must be led in design and implementation by educators with lived anti-Black racism experiences as an unreflective program can be retraumatizing.

Deepening PAD representation in post-secondary education

Increase the recruitment of PADs

Recommendation 58: The Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training must support and encourage the training, recruitment and retention of more mental health and career counselors of African Descent for BC’s post-secondary schools.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems in public engagement

Implements policy and legislative safeguards for PADs

Recommendation 73: There is the need for an Anti-racism legislation that provides sustainable redress mechanisms for candidates of African Descent, at all levels of politics in BC, facing racism in the form of sabotaged campaigns through inequitable party funding allocations, exploitative tokenism practices, and lack of contextualized supports, including mental health support. To improve equity of such mechanisms, In developing these mechanisms, inputs from current and former candidates of African Descent themselves should be sought to best address exploitative practices of PAD candidates in terms of the constitution of their support team, messaging, media appearances etc.

Deepening PAD representation in public engagement

Deepen equity in service delivery by and to PADs

Recommendation 77: The Ministry of Municipal Affairs should provide candidates of African Descent with the necessary resources, including dedicated mental health and counseling support, to allow them to navigate structural challenges and inequities they historically face during and post electoral campaigns.

Improving promotion and support of PAD art, craft and media

Support PAD-led models and community collaboration

Recommendation 89: The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport must support and the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Division at the Ministry of Attorney General should fund the establishment of major People of African Descent community cultural centres at suitable locations across the province. This strategic support should enhance ongoing community efforts toward establishment of vital cultural spaces through grants, material support, donation of available physical facilities. These physical gathering spaces are critical to serve as hubs for cultural education, migrant settlement services, targeted training, mentorship and mental health support, intra-community dialogue, cathartic social gathering as well as multi-cultural socialization. The Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia, opened in September 1983 could serve as a model. The African Descent Society in BC is seeking funds towards an African heritage centre in BC.

Increase access to resettlement services for PADs

Support PAD-led models and community collaboration

Recommendation 95: The Ministry of Municipal Affairs in collaboration with the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Division at the Ministry of Attorney General should fund advisory services to help grow the capacity of People of African Descent-serving settlement services organizations, so that they can effectively deliver on services including, but not restricted to, employment transition support, language training, mental health services, financial literacy, and youth mentoring programs etc.