Canadian Heritage committee  In terms of interfaith dialogue, certainly I think there's strength in solidarity. There always is. The greatest human rights battles have been won when people come together across their own identities. I have seen the power of that. There are a lot of interfaith groups, especial

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes. I think even bringing together all the ministers of justice or ministers responsible for human rights or ministers responsible for anti-racism to talk about common areas of concern and how to attack those across the country in a concerted evidence-based way would be a huge r

Canadian Heritage committee  All I would say is that I think what is really important as we move towards the government collecting quantitative data is that we analyze that data with the qualitative data, the lived experiences that are there. Otherwise, that data can be analyzed in a way that isn't consisten

Canadian Heritage committee  I think first of all that, at an individual institutional and leadership level, we need to counter that with our own narratives and our own views. I think we are very scared of using the word “racism” but I think that we do need to be bold and to counter those narratives. I have

Canadian Heritage committee  I have talked to our attorney general about that, and how there needs to be a boldness on the part of our elected officials to call hate hate when they see it. Lawyers know if we never put the law, it's not going change. In terms of being worried about old case law from 20 years

Canadian Heritage committee  I think what's interesting is that gender impact analysis is a very common analysis both in Canada and internationally. The idea, as others have discussed, is to start to look at policies and start to project the disparate impact that they may have on different communities at the

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes. I think the TRC report has really given us an opportunity and a greater understanding as Canadians of intergenerational trauma and what the outcomes of that are. I think we're starting to understand what the intergenerational trauma of slavery has been in the United States a

Canadian Heritage committee  The last plan was in 2005, so certainly I think it's due for a refreshing. I think what's really important in these plans is that the government set out benchmarks for how it's going to report publicly on progress against the plan, because we see a lot of plans that, quite frankl

Canadian Heritage committee  Somehow any time you talk about Islamophobia or anti-Muslim racism, you quickly get into conversations about whether this limits legitimate criticism of religion. I think it's really important that we maintain that marketplace of ideas and that we do have space to criticize relig

Canadian Heritage committee  I think that racism and religious discrimination are distinct concepts for some people, but I think when you're talking Islamophobia, often the manifestation of race is what people react to. I've faced Islamophobia. I'm not Muslim, but people are reacting to my race. I think that

Canadian Heritage committee  We actually have a 50-page policy on it. I'd be happy to share that with the chair, because we have developed a protocol for how to assess the different rights and try to come to a compromise solution.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Madam Chair, for inviting me to speak today. I'd like to begin by acknowledging that we're on the traditional territory of the Algonquins of Ontario and by recognizing the long history of first nations, Métis, and Inuit people in Canada. Every day, people tell me abo