Marking Canada Day with hopes for a more equitable future for all

The Canadian Race Relations Foundation wishes everyone from coast-to-coast-to-coast a peaceful and reflective Canada Day. It is an opportunity to recognize that until systemic barriers are broken down, and past historical wrongs made right, not everyone will be able to celebrate this day.

Despite the resumption of many in-person Canada day celebrations, the impacts of COVID-19 continue to be felt on many communities. At the height of the pandemic, marginalized communities bore the brunt of this public health crisis, demonstrating how addressing inequitable access to housing, health and other social services must become a high priority for policymakers.

Ongoing protests surrounding public health measures have additionally led to brutal racialized attacks both online and offline, including an alarming rise in anti-Asian racism, anti-Black racism, anti-Indigenous racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, as well as other forms of discrimination.

This Canada Day, the CRRF calls on all Canadians to speak up and denounce acts of hate and violence and to work proactively to nurture inclusive communities.

On this journey, CRRF highlights its commitment to reconciliation and working alongside and learning from First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities in their ongoing search for justice.We hope that the Pope’s visit later this summer will put a meaningful spotlight on the destructive horrors of the residential school system. It is up to all Canadians to ensure such dehumanization and racial violence never happens again and that every effort is taken to support Indigenous communities in a spirit of reconciliACTION and decolonization.

As we work together, the CRRF continues to engage with communities on how to build on our shared values of equality and inclusion. We all have a part to play in fostering a sustainable  and equitable future that we can all be proud of and collectively celebrate.