Canada is changing. Abusing people of colour in public life has to stop

Canada is changing. Abusing people of colour in public life has to stop

What a sorry week this has been for people of colour in politics. Not only did Annamie Paul resign as leader of the Green Party of Canada, but she quit the party altogether with the strongest repudiation of her former colleagues she could muster.

In Western Canada, Renee Merrifield, a leadership candidate for the right-of-centre B.C. Liberals, attempted to attack the NDP government in that province but ended up under attack herself for dismissing visible minority members of the governing party’s cabinet and caucus as “tokens” when in fact they are individuals who are there because they want to be, have done the work, and have something to offer.

For the rest of this piece, please view it on the Ottawa Citizen’s site where it was initially published.

Image – Wikimedia Commons