Dismantling Racism and Hate Act, Amendment 1

Amendment being debated available here.

The Member for Halifax-Needham is tough act to follow. She's not "half-" about anything, as I think everybody now knows. I do want to say this. The reason that we moved this amendment separately was because it seemed like such a simple amendment, and one that we genuinely felt that there could be unanimity on in this House. This government came in under a great deal of discussion around their commitment to equity. Subsequently, they have taken some action on that and one of the actions that this government has taken was to strike this committee and to put forward this legislation.

We recognize that and we recognize that by being a part of those conversations. But I don't think anyone believes that this is the fix. It's a start, it's a first step, it's a big step. but it's a first step. So if this government does in fact take issues of dismantling racism and hate seriously why would we not have a standing committee?

We have a standing committee on Veterans Affairs and we don't even have legislative jurisdiction over Veterans Affairs. A standing committee is an opportunity for MLAs in this chamber to learn. We hear that consultation was done. Well, yes, that's great that consultation was done. Consultation wasn't done on this Act. No one in that consultation saw this piece of legislation, nor did they see a draft of this legislation. They were asked about what they thought about dismantling racism and ending hate and that information was really valuable, no doubt.

But that's not static information. That's not a one-and-done kind of a situation. This is an ongoing conversation and this is an ongoing conversation ˆ might say in the context of rising divisiveness and hate and racism all around us in the political discourse, in the public discourse. It's not going away.

So I am glad to see this legislation come forward, we support this legislation, but this simple amendment asks that this is not the only thing that government does. We are asking to start an ongoing conversation, an ongoing consultation on this important issue, which engages every single one of us. With those few words and with tons of respect for my colleagues who have spoken before me I take my seat.