Deepening representation in schools

Increase the recruitment of PADs

Recommendation 46: To meet the Black-educator deficit in BC schools, the Province must design a credential recognition system that recognizes and allows qualified Black educators who have immigrated to BC to more easily practice their teaching in BC. A supplementary approach is to encourage and support opportunities for part-time teaching, talks and sessions for Black professionals including interested retirees. The education Ministries can maintain a list of willing participants.

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 representation in schools

Support PAD professional development

Recommendation 48: The Ministry of Education must support the professional growth and retention of educators of African Descent through dedicated training on leadership, career advancement and succession planning.

Improving PAD’s civic and democratic engagement

Implement policy and legislative safeguards for PADs

Recommendation 78: The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Elections BC should develop and propose avenues to legislate for persons resident in BC but not citizens to have a vote in provincial and local elections. The contours of this legislation must be arrived at based on deep and reflective consultations with minority community groups, including leaders and experts of African Descent.

Deepening PAD art presence and media representation

Increase the recruitment of PADs

Recommendation 85: The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport should collaboratively develop nuanced guidance to media, arts, and cultural program agencies to promote diverse content, multi-racial decision-making teams, and reliable career paths to liberate the glut of underemployed talent residing within the People of African Descent community.

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.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems in migration and inclusion

Implement policy and legislative safeguards for PADs

Recommendation 90: The Ministry of Municipal Affairs in collaboration with the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Division at the Ministry of Attorney General should consider creating a BC Ministry of Immigration to improve its accountability and ability to respond to changes in immigration paradigms. This is particularly critical to provide a more intersectional response in designing and improving settlement services for students, refugees, and other types of People of African Descent immigrants.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems in migration and inclusion

Enable data collection to measure and report progress in equity and diversity

Recommendation 91: The Minister of Municipal Affairs should ensure that the “Race-based” data legislation provides resettlement service providers with sufficient room to collect and use contextual data to understand the number of People of African Descent that come to settle in the province, versus the number that eventually leave because they are not able to find the community or support systems they require to thrive. It is also recommended that the Province commission a study to understand the settlement patterns of People of African Descent in BC to establish clear baselines for assessment of its performance during the last 3 years of the Decade.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems in migration and inclusion

Support PAD-led models and community collaboration

Recommendation 92: The Province should create an advisory council that includes People of African Descent led settlement services organizations to provide continuous learning and growth in addressing the needs of newcomers of African descent.

Deepening PAD presence in BC

Increase the recruitment of PADs

Recommendation 93: The Ministry of Municipal Affairs should unequivocally establish programs to attract more Peoples of African Descent to British Columbia as part of the Provincial Nominee Program. Here, attention needs to also be paid to the French-speaking Black countries and, more generally, countries that are not adequately represented in BC.