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.
