COLOUR OF POVERTY – COLOUR OF CHANGE

Moving the equity, inclusion and racial justice change-making agenda forward in Ontario !

Facebook – both a “Page” and a “Group” – Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change

Twitter – @colourofpoverty, #racesEDJ

Website – www.colourofpoverty.ca

Background and Context – More than one out of every four people in Canada are either Indigenous or a person of colour.  In Ontario, almost one out of three Ontarian’s are either of First Peoples or peoples of colour backgrounds or heritages – almost 4.3 million Ontarians. According to the Canadian Census 2016 this number is made up of roughly 376,000 Indigenous persons – First Nations, Inuit or Metis and about 3.9 million persons of colour – which make up 2.8% and 29% respectfully of the population of Ontario.

In Canada and in Ontario we must not gloss over the historical wrongs committed against Indigenous peoples and peoples of colour.  We as Ontarian’s need fully appreciate how Canada’s colonial and “colour-coded” history continues to define and shape our society – the individual life chances, life opportunities and life outcomes – starting with our relationships with Indigenous Peoples.

In follow-up to the Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change series of local racial justice change-making round-table conversations held in different parts of Ontario – Windsor, Ottawa, Thunder Bay, Hamilton and Toronto in the Fall of 2017 – we again begin with a shared commitment to the full adoption and implementation of the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ( UNDRIP ) – as we explore issues of equity, inclusion and racial justice in Ontario today.

This 3rd Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change ( COP-COC ) provincial forum – being held in Toronto on May 22-23, 2018 – will bring together individuals, groups and organisations working in diverse areas of racial justice – with Indigenous Peoples, with peoples of colour, and with other of the related and connected marginalised groups, populations and communities – as well as academics, policy makers, advocates, activists and others, to constructively discuss how to build a more equitable and inclusive society for all, to learn together how to best live nation-to-nation Treaty relationships – upon which this country is founded, and to discuss how we can best move forward a racial justice change-making agenda as we make good on our shared obligations as Treaty Peoples.