Current events remind us of the importance of articulating a cohesive, strategic public policy agenda that addresses the challenges to well-being that are being faced by Black communities, including challenges related to health, education, employment and a greater sense of empowerment. Canadian policy frameworks created to respond to these key areas of well-being are often developed without the meaningful participation of Black Canadians, and as a result, Canada’s policy systems do not adequately represent the interests of Black communities. This gap in engagement contributes to significant issues in Canadian policy-making and inequities in community outcomes experienced by Black Canadians.
In Context: The pandemic and global movement for racial justice
The first months of 2020 have shown us the importance of sound policy-making, driven by evidence, transparency and the meaningful participation of all communities in public governance systems. In Canada, governments are taking collective action to create a path to recovery from the pandemic; however, it is clear that Canadian institutions must innovate and transform in order to create a path forward that includes the priorities of Black Canadians.
The pandemic has impacted all Canadians profoundly, transforming our lives in several unexpected ways. The experience of Black Canadians has been particularly concerning, with Black businesses, frontline workers, families, youth, and organizations facing a myriad of challenges. Toronto Public Health recently released data showing that from May 20 to July 16, the local Black community was significantly overrepresented in COVID-19 cases: while 9 per cent of Toronto’s population is Black, 21 per cent of cases during this time period were in the Black community. In early July, Toronto Public Health reported that as of June 18, higher case and hospitalization rates were found among people from racialized communities, in addition to people who are unemployed, have lower education levels or live in crowded households. Specifically, these findings demonstrated that in areas of Toronto with high case rates, 18 per cent of the local population was Black. The collection of race-based data shows the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on Black people and highlights areas that require strategic policy responses designed and delivered in partnership with Black communities.
These experiences around health status, housing security and economic well-being, among other areas, reflect the continued impact of systemic, institutional racial discrimination aimed at people of African descent that has existed in this land at least since the enslavement of Africans was endorsed by colonial Canadian institutions in the 18th century. This endorsement and related colonial policy-making contributed to the institutionalization of racism, which became a part of Canadian governance systems. To this day, this aspect of the institutional makeup of Canada has not been meaningfully addressed or rectified by Canadian governments and as such, institutional racism has endured in the Canadian confederation in various forms.
The pandemic and the growing, worldwide movement for justice in the face of institutional racism have made it clear that now is the time for meaningful action that repairs the relationship between Black Canadians and Canadian governance systems. This relationship has a history and a continued legacy that upholds deeply troubling ideas, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours around people of African descent and places the interests of Black Canadians below those of other groups. Repairing this relationship will require a range of actions.
Through partnerships between Black communities and Canadian governments, the building of Black policy networks can support the development and implementation of coordinated, strategic public policies that respond to the priorities of Black Canadians. This is especially important now, when such an approach to public policy is required to create a sustainable pandemic recovery framework that works for all Canadians. This is not only a moral imperative, but a requirement for our collective economic and social well-being. Greater and more meaningful Black participation in public policy systems can be a part of the reparative action that breaks down the attitudes, behaviours, beliefs and ideas behind institutional racism.
The recently created Canadian Black Policy Network, launched earlier this month, is a welcome development and has the potential to achieve significant gains in the Black policy landscape. The rest of this commentary offers guidance for how such a network, and other similar initiatives at national, regional or local levels, may position themselves to support the elevation of Black voices in Canadian policy-making.
Envisioning Black public policy solutions
Many Black peoples, including those of my ancestors who lived in West Africa, descended from traditions of excellence and justice through a love of knowledge, learning and inclusive governance. This is illuminated by legendary Black authors such as Cheikh Anta Diop, who outlined the traditional governance practices of societies in precolonial Black Africa. Speaking to our spiritual well-being, W.E.B. Du Bois, in his iconic The Souls of Black Folk, explored the importance of pursuing “goodness, beauty, and truth,” in an energy of love as Black communities in the Americas. Black peoples have a rich history on which to build our collective future through positive, progressive energies that uplift us all. By embracing the Akan (Ghanaian) philosophy of Sankofa, “retrieving what has been forgotten or lost,” we can re-imagine traditions of good governance and empowerment to improve our collective well-being.
To support the elevation of Black community voices in policy-making, policy networks can help to coordinate and advance a Black Canadian public policy agenda that meaningfully addresses the well-being of Black Canadians, reflecting the new public governance approach of policy-making and delivery of public services. Black Canadian policy networks can help to bring together research, community voices and policy analysis to strategically address Black policy priorities, working with governments to co-develop policy responses through balanced partnerships. Through this work, we can collectively envision and manifest a more just Canada, where systemic racism is no longer a part of the current Black Canadian experience.
Black Canadian policy networks may have the following objectives:
- Improve the design and implementation of priority public policies for and with Black communities;
- Build local capacity for effective service delivery to Black community members;
- Fill key information and expertise gaps in local, regional, provincial and federal policy-making systems; and
- Build an institutional governance structure that supports sustained Black policy action.
The work of Black policy networks may include the following activities:
- Collecting public policy priorities from diverse Black communities;
- Generating policy-relevant information and advice to inform policy processes;
- Supporting the capacity of organizations and groups in local policy delivery chains;
- Supporting community members’ public policy capacity and civic engagement;
- Monitoring and disseminating policy information locally; and
- Creating space for policy dialogues that focus on Black well-being.
To support sound governance practices and sustainable, progressive policy outcomes, Black policy networks may include governance foundations, such as:
- Strategic points of connection to link together different parts of the network;
- A leadership group to guide decision-making;
- Steering groups to support knowledge integration; and
- Working groups to support knowledge creation.
The sound governance of Black policy networks would benefit from institutional processes that support healthy and effective interactions among network members, whether members are organizations, groups or individuals. These institutional processes may include:
- Formalizing internal relationships and partnerships through agreements;
- Strategic coordination and engagement to guide internal and external operations;
- Asking members to sign on to a collective action agreement;
- Formalizing resource and knowledge exchanges;
- Establishing ongoing network feedback loops; and
- Utilizing decision-making protocols.
The work of Black Canadian policy networks must be supported by principles that recognize and prioritize justice, integrity, high ethical standards, transparency, community accountability and a commitment to collective action. Black policy networks should prioritize being structured, but not rigid, allowing flexibility and an ability to adapt to the diversity of approaches and ways of being that are inherent in Black communities. In addition, principles of leadership and trusted stewardship are crucial in supporting sound governance and a drive toward sustained action.
Black policy networks can also support other priorities that have been collectively expressed by Black communities in Canada. From creating meaningful and diverse opportunities for decent work, allowing for connections with the broader, global African diaspora, and creating space to explore Black and African cultures, Black policy networks can support sustainable growth in Black communities across a range of interests. Moreover, Black policy networks can create fertile ground for testing new ideas, approaches and innovations, in ways that are open to community members from all ages and backgrounds.
Black Canadian policy networks can support improved policy-making by creating access to policy advice relevant to challenges affecting Black communities – policy advice from the voices of Black community members themselves. This is a crucial institutional innovation that will support sound Canadian policy-making as we navigate months and years ahead of economic and social change. Public policy is a powerful tool through which Black communities can embrace an energy of love and desire to pursue truth and goodness as we collectively elevate our consciousness toward greater well-being.
This commentary builds upon a policy brief that was originally published through Elevate Policy.
Kimberly Nesbeth is a freelance Policy Analyst and social entrepreneur with a goal of elevating public policy to better reflect the priorities of communities and the broader public interest. She is the founder of Elevate Policy, a policy and research social-purpose consulting platform that aims to better connect local organizations and groups with policy-making processes.
