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When all the votes for the federal election are cast and counted, at least two of the nine Black sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) won’t return to their seats in the House of Commons.

Liberals Emmanuel Dubourg and former Minister for Women, Gender Equality and Youth, Marci Ien, aren’t seeking re-election.

Ien described the last few months of her time in government as “satisfying yet bittersweet” as she wrapped up her ministerial duties and said goodbye to the people she’s worked with for almost 5 years. Ien expressed her appreciation for Justin Trudeau’s role in her transition from journalist to politician.

“I don’t think anybody would have come to get me the way he did. He saw me as someone who could lead in a different way and frankly, I didn’t see that in myself,” Ien recalled.

Ien said it took several phone calls with members of the party and months of contemplation before she decided to run for office.

“I don’t want to be a politician, I interview them,” she told Trudeau’s former chief of staff Katie Telford. “This is not anything I ever hoped to be.”

According to a first-of-its-kind study conducted by Carleton University in partnership with Operation Black Vote Canada, Black on the Ballot, Ien’s experience of needing to be convinced to run for office is common among Black people.

The study examines what running for and serving in elected office is like using archival research, a national survey, and in-depth interviews with Black candidates and legislators to get details about their experiences.

The study also lists recommendations to encourage more Black people to seek elected office, including adopting a multi-pronged recruitment strategy and providing accessible candidate training, especially at the local level.

A recent study reveals that most Black Canadians involved in politics face significant discrimination and barriers when trying to engage in government. Erin Tolley, the Canada Research Chair in Gender, Race, and Inclusive Politics and associate professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, authored Black on the Ballot: What Black Canadians Told Us About Running for and Serving in Elected Office.

Tolley’s research, which includes the first national survey of Black Canadians in politics alongside archival research, offers a comprehensive look at their inclusion in Canadian politics. “There really is not a lot of research on Black Canadians in politics,” Tolley noted, explaining that political scientists in Canada historically haven’t focused on race. “We tend to think of race as a concept more useful in the United States.”

One of the study’s key findings is the prevalence of negative experiences for Black Canadians entering politics. Of the 95 respondents to Tolley’s survey, 67 reported facing discrimination during their time running for office or while in office. More than half of them indicated that these discriminatory experiences occurred in public spaces or at their offices. These challenges, Tolley suggests, can have lasting effects on how long Black Canadians stay in politics.

Most Black Canadians participating in politics face discrimination and barriers to getting involved in government, according to a recent study.

Erin Tolley, who is a Canada Research Chair in Gender, Race and Inclusive Politics and associate professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, is the author of Black on the Ballot: What Black Canadians Told Us About Running for and Serving in Elected Office.

Her study involved a first-ever national survey of Black Canadians in politics and archival research to produce the most comprehensive account of their inclusion in Canadian politics, she said.

“There really is not a lot of research on Black Canadians in politics,” Tolley said. “Historically, political scientists have not thought about race in Canada. We tend to think race is a construct more useful in the United States.”

One of the key findings of Tolley’s work was how many Black Canadians experience negative reactions when entering politics.

Among the 95 people who responded to the survey, 67 said they had experienced discrimination while in office or running for office. More than half of these people said they were discriminated against while out in public or at their office.

These experiences can influence how long Black Canadians stay in politics, Tolley said.

Twenty. That’s it. That’s the total number of Black Canadians ever elected to the House of Commons of Canada. There have been 372 Johns and 77 Jeans. You can easily find data on women parliamentarians, members of Parliament with military experience and even parliamentarians who have died in office. However, you’d be hard-pressed to find a complete list of Black Canadians in politics, never mind a comprehensive account of their experiences.

Because of their relative absence from accounts of Canada’s political history, Black Canadians’ contributions to politics are often overlooked or ignored. This erasure prevents governments, political parties, and researchers from crafting strategies to address political inequality.

When we lack relevant racial data on political candidacy and electoral outcomes, we can’t track progress or identify barriers. And when Black Canadians aren’t present in politics, public policies are less likely to reflect their circumstances and less responsive to their needs.

Groundbreaking new research from Carleton University and Operation Black Vote Canada aims to change that. Through archival research, a survey and more than 30 in-depth interviews, our report, Black on the Ballot documents the presence, backgrounds, motivations and experiences of Black Canadians in politics. Here’s what we found.