I recently became a citizen of Canada. During my first few days in Canada, I found many reasons to be grateful to be here. In pursuit of better economic and academic prospects, I left a blossoming career in communications and public relations in my home country of Nigeria and traveled over 7000 miles to Canada to pursue my post-secondary education. My adopted community in Victoria, British Columbia, afforded me a life-changing opportunity to connect, engage and learn about “inclusivity” and what it means for me as a Black woman in Canada. I learned through my own experience as an international student and through the lived realities of others who, like me, came to Canada as international students, immigrants, or refugees seeking opportunities for self-actualization.

These collective experiences have formed the basis for the work we do at The Inclusion Project, in leading change through research, public engagement, and inclusive leadership. Our work in employment equity seeks to engage organizations and key stakeholders in upholding equitable practices for equity-deserving groups across Canada. We do this by developing and strengthening accountability frameworks, roadmaps, and benchmarks for best-in-class practices in intersectional Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI+). Through our audit, assessment, and advisory services, we serve some of Canada’s leading institutions and stakeholders across public and private sectors on standard practices for employment equity.

In my day-to-day role, I have had many opportunities to learn, educate, and advise many organizations and stakeholders on inclusivity and what it means to me as a Black woman in Canada. The reality for many like me is that these opportunities do not abound. For many Black women, there are fewer opportunities for self-actualization through economic or social access, and in many cases, representation in policy or leadership positions. Sometimes, numbers tell the story:

• Despite growth in Labour Market Availability, in 2016, less than 10% of Black Canadian professional candidates at a Canadian University were hired for middle-management positions and above. Instead, Black hires were overrepresented among service positions, and female candidates were overrepresented in administrative positions.
• In 2016, approximately 70% of Black women and 63.6% of Black men had at least post- secondary or Apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma (StatsCan). About 1 in every 7 working women in the top 1% belonged to a visible minority group, compared with 1 in 5 in the working population (StatsCan).
• A 2021 study by the Diversity Institute shows that the unemployment rate for persons who identify as non-Indigenous and non-visible minority was 9.3%. The rates of unemployment were much higher for those who identify as South Asian (17.8%), Arab (17.3%), Black (16.8%), Southeast Asian (16.5%), Latin American (16%), Chinese (14%), and Filipino (13.2%).

While numbers do not capture all of the multi-layered, overlapping and intersectional experiences of Black people in Canada, it starts to show us where we are as a society and if we follow the prompt of the data, it also tells us what we need to do to move the needle on racial equity. To do so, we must begin by collecting and analyzing race-based disaggregated data and engaging with lived experience and expertise to help chart the course for equity in our policies, process and practices.

I hope that as a society we will find some shared imperatives to do better to respond to the needs of our own First Peoples, and as well, Black, Asian, and all other equity-deserving groups in Canada. As we work toward equity, my hope is that it will be equity for all.

Canada’s Oceans sector should not be left behind in catching up to the change that is already on the horizon. To move forward, we will need to create and strengthen opportunities for cross-sector collaborations and partnerships.

Ruth Mojeed Ramirez is the Chief Equity Officer of The Inclusion Project. She brings extensive lived experience and grounded expertise to her work in racial equity, diversity and inclusion. Her research, engagement and solutions design focus on an intersectional and inter-generational approach to address complex issues of race, decolonization and gender equity. She leads organizational REDI strategy development and coaching among multi-level stakeholders in public and private sectors. You can read about some of her work through the Employment Equity Partnership & the Racial Equity, Diversity & Inclusion.

By: Ralph Eldridge, Indigenous Engagement Lead, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster

Truth and Reconciliation are two very powerful words in the modern Canadian lexicon. Separately, they sit as idle words but when paired they represent a dark past, a painful present, and a country’s continuing effort to make reparations with its Indigenous peoples.

This week, for the first time, we pause as a country to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day to commemorate the lost children of residential schools, survivors, and the generations of those who continue to be affected by this legacy of trauma. It was first proposed, nearly six years ago, as one of 94 Calls to Action of the TRC’s final report. Although a long time in the making, the creation of this new federal statutory holiday was announced quickly after the very painful confirmation of an estimated 200 burial sites at a former BC residential school on the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation and later followed by further evidence by the Cowessess First Nation of an additional 750 unmarked graves at a former residential school in Saskatchewan.

It is estimated that over 150,000 Indigenous children were ripped from the grips of their loving families to face a severe indoctrination that robbed them of their identities. Like most Canadians, I shudder to comprehend the legacy of this trauma and how it has resulted in so much of the disparity and desperation faced by Indigenous communities coast to coast to coast. It’s hard to imagine how this can ever be reconciled any time soon, but without a doubt, it has to begin with the truth, the truth from Indigenous voices, the way they choose to tell it, and that describes the true measurement of forced assimilation.

I have to admit, I have not read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s full reports. I have read scholarly articles and summaries of findings and have read the TRC’s 94 Calls to Action. These calls are a blend of actions that attempt to rebuild what has been lost for Indigenous peoples and are concrete measures for which all Canadians can advocate. These Calls to Action, along with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of indigenous Peoples are good starting points for Canadians to begin to educate themselves on the historical injustices, apartheid, and genocide of Indigenous peoples, and reconciliatory paths forward.

I had the privilege, in a previous role, to be connected with top Indigenous Educators in Newfoundland redeveloping curriculum that would better represent Indigenous perspectives. Through these conversations, I began to appreciate that learning outcomes for Indigenous people must be based in Indigenous teachings that are reflexive, reflective, intergenerational, spiritual, and interconnected. I think all Canadians can apply this in how they approach their own understanding of Indigenous world views. We can do a better job of listening, not with our western linear mindset, but with a circular understanding that what has happened in the past will affect the present, and what we do now will affect the future seven generations. Through understanding there is opportunity.

Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall first conceptualized Etuaptmumk – Two-Eyed Seeing. It is based on an integrated approach to learning – to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of Western knowledge and ways of knowing. Indigenous communities are natural collaborators in ocean resource management, innovation, and research which is rooted in their historical, traditional, and cultural connection to the ocean. For ocean sector participants this wisdom can be the guiding principle to forge relationships with Indigenous communities and build partnerships that identify community priorities that benefit both parties. Certainly, for the Ocean Supercluster this is where our work begins. Stay tuned.

Ralph Eldridge
Indigenous Engagement Lead,
Canada’s Ocean Supercluster

de : Aaron Stevenson, PDG de Ashored Inc

Nous vivons un moment passionnant dans la technologie des océans au Canada et en particulier chez Blue Tech, que je décris comme étant l’intersection des sciences, de la technologie et de l’industrie maritimes.  L’entreprise est née de la masse croissante de connaissances qui examinent la vue d’ensemble en étudiant les façons, les moyens et les répercussions générales de notre présence et de nos activités sur les océans. Elle développe de nouvelles technologies et, dans certains cas, elle les combine à des technologies et des matériaux du passé pour tirer parti des avancées au bénéfice des industries tout en minimisant l’impact global pour le bienfait des écosystèmes océaniques.

En ce qui a trait à l’industrie de la pêche, qui représente le cœur des activités de Ashored, les répercussions négatives font souvent la une et elles présentent des statistiques aussi percutantes que : « l’industrie de la pêche commerciale contribue à 640 000 tonnes de près des 8 millions de tonnes de plastiques qui entrent chaque année dans nos océans » et « environ 140 000 animaux marins meurent chaque année en raison de l’enchevêtrement dans les engins de pêche ». Même sans faire une plongée en profondeur dans les microplastiques et le lessivage par additifs chimiques, nous pouvons très rapidement conclure que cela aura en effet une incidence négative sur la vie des océans. Toutefois, ce qui est moins compris, c’est l’analyse de rentabilisation des pêches pour résoudre les problèmes des engins de pêche abandonnés, perdus et autrement rejetés (ALDFG) ainsi que d’autres défis écologiques.

Par exemple, dans les pêches à engins fixes comme celle au homard et au crabe, l’une des conséquences de l’ALDFG est un scénario connu sous le nom de « pêche fantôme » où la vie marine capturée dans des pièges perdus meurt et devient des appâts pour d’autres espèces dans un cycle continu.  Pour la perte économique reliée à la pêche commerciale, certaines études estiment que la perte due à la concurrence artificielle créée à partir de ces pièges de pêche non tendus équivaut à 4,5 % de la récolte annuelle moyenne.

L’argument le plus convaincant en faveur de la technologie bleue du point de vue de l’industrie vient peut-être des consommateurs finaux. Aujourd’hui, les gens veulent savoir d’où provient leur nourriture, comment elle a été récoltée; ils veulent savoir que leur nourriture est non seulement saine et sécuritaire, mais aussi qu’elle est récoltée ou produite d’une manière qui est aussi saine et sécuritaire pour l’environnement. Les énoncés sur les menus décrivant les aliments ou les ingrédients comme « sans danger pour les baleines », « d’origine durable » et « pêchés à l’état sauvage » traduisent tous un sentiment plus élevé de valeur et de responsabilité environnementale. Ce qui est peut-être encore plus révélateur, ce sont les changements de politique au niveau des gouvernements dans le monde au cours de la dernière décennie qui apportent maintenant des changements aux réglementations et du financement pour soutenir ces initiatives vertes et bleues. L’annonce récente du gouvernement fédéral du Canada concernant la technologie de protection des baleines en est d’ailleurs un bon exemple. Non seulement la technologie de protection des baleines sera obligatoire dans les pêches à engins fixes à partir de 2023, mais on investit également 20 millions de dollars dans un fonds de sécurité des baleines pour soutenir l’adoption de cette technologie avant les saisons de pêche de 2023.

Il s’agit d’une excellente nouvelle pour nous, en tant que jeune entreprise et seul fabricant canadien d’engins de Rope-on-Command (sans cordes). Cela vient positionner le Canada à l’avant-garde de ce changement global vers une économie bleue et crée ici même des possibilités de croissance, d’innovation et d’exportation alors que d’autres pays cherchent à suivre l’exemple du Canada.

Personnellement, la chose qui rend l’économie bleue particulièrement attrayante, c’est qu’elle en est encore plus ou moins à ses débuts et qu’elle est étayée par l’idée de mieux faire les choses au rythme de l’accroissement de nos connaissances. Chez Ashored, nous avons commencé par l’idée que nous voulions nous attaquer à un problème ressenti localement et d’importance mondiale. Nous le faisons, et nous faisons une différence dans le processus, mais pour les entrepreneurs potentiels qui cherchent à faire leur marque, le passage mondial à une économie bleue crée un monde de nouvelles occasions dans un large éventail de secteurs industriels et de domaines d’étude qui offriront de nombreux défis plus importants à l’échelle mondiale pour les années et les décennies à venir.

Aaron Stevenson
PDG de Ashored Inc