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Dr. Alika Lafontaine, an anesthesiologist in northern Alberta and the president of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada, spoke with Lawrence Nayally of CBC Radio's Trail's End about the racism and discrimination Indigenous people face in Canada's health care system.

Recently, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled that Canada discriminates against First Nations children on reserves by failing to provide the same level of child welfare services as exist elsewhere. The tribunal ordered the federal government to speed up changes in response to that ruling.

It wasn't her first bad experience at Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital. In 2008, she sought medication for what she describes as severe stomach pain. She discussed the pain with a doctor, as well as her struggles with alcohol and finding a home. 

While the findings and recommendations are not binding, Smith said they highlight the challenges faced by African Canadians for the international community and hopefully put more pressure on Ottawa to rectify the inequities. "The situation is only going to get worse," Smith said. "We have families in the community torn apart at an alarming rate. "The future looks pretty bleak for our young people."

The UN delegation was in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax to meet with government officials, community members and rights groups to identify good practices and gaps in protecting the rights of black people. "We had been trying to secure a visit to Canada for a long time. It's a great joy that we were officially invited here," the working group's chair Ricardo Sunga told the Star in a phone interview Tuesday. "We look at Canada as a model in many ways when it comes to human rights protection.

We appreciate Canada's effort in addressing discrimination in various forms, but no country is exempt from racism and racial discrimination." Despite the wealth of information on socio-economic indicators in Canada, the investigators criticized the "serious" lack of race-based data and research that could inform prevention, intervention and treatment strategies. "The working group is concerned that the category 'visible minorities' obscures the realities and specific concerns of African Canadians," its report said. "There is clear evidence that racial profiling is endemic in the strategies and practices used by law enforcement. Arbitrary use of 'carding' or street checks disproportionately affects people of African descent."

The overrepresentation of black people in the criminal justice system was of particular concern for the group, who found African Canadians make up only 3 per cent of the population but account for 10 per cent of the prison population. In the last decade, the number of black detainees in federal correctional facilities has grown by 71.1 per cent, it warned. Among other findings by the UN experts: Across Canada, African Canadian children are being taken into child welfare on "dubious" grounds. Forty-one per cent of children in Children's Aid Society of Toronto's care were black when only 8 per cent of children are of African descent. The unemployment rate for black women is 11 per cent, 4 per cent higher than the general population, and they earn 37 per cent less than white males and 15 per cent less than white women.

A quarter of African Canadian women live below the poverty line compared to 6 per cent for their white counterparts. One-third of Canadian children of Caribbean heritage and almost half of continental African children live in poverty, compared to 18 per cent of white Canadian children. Chris Ramsaroop, an advocate with Justicia for Migrant Workers, hopes the report will raise awareness of the plight of African Canadians. "We need every opportunity to hold the feet of the federal and provincial governments to the fire," he said. The UN experts recommend a national department of African-Canadian affairs to develop policies to address issues facing black people and implement a nationwide mandatory disaggregated data collection policy based on race, colour, ethnic background and national origin.

Odion Fayalo, of Justice is Not Color Blind Campaign, protests racial profiling before a Toronto Police board meeting. • René Johnston/TORONTO STAR file photo

"BLMTO, our ally team, Toronto's dedicated community organizers and new converts alike have been keeping #TentCity alive." These are the words of Janaya Khan, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Toronto chapter. Khan is referring to the March 2016 occupation outside Metro Toronto Police Headquarters, where demonstrators gathered to protest police violence and anti-Black racism. The ally team consisted of Indigenous, labour and community groups, all of whom played a pivotal role in helping to occupy the space.

Of those surveyed some statistics are worth repeating: 43 per cent were paid less than minimum wage, 52 per cent did not receive overtime pay, 61 per cent did not receive public holiday pay and more than 20 per cent of respondents were owed wages.

No, exploitation is not "cultural"

The Importance of The Fight for 15 and Fairness for Immigrant Workers

No Future for Labour without Real Solidarity with Immigrants and Migrants

Like supporting the call of migrant workers for status, supporting The Fight for $15 and Fairness is a step towards building genuine solidarity across racial and ethnic lines.