People with autism find aspects of everyday life challenging. Interaction and communication with people, even people that are closest, may be difficult. These situations can be confusing to others and stress inducing to the person with autism.
Restricted interests, repetitive behaviours and difficulty with interactions and communications all affect a person with autism’s ability to function effectively in everyday life.
World Autism Awareness Day was established in December of 2007 to bring awareness of Autism to the fore and to ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) in 2013.
Autism can be diagnosed at any age but is referred to as a “developmental disorder” because signs and symptoms typically appear before the age of two. Statistics show that autism is 4.3 times more prevalent in boys than girls.
Autism continues to be a focus of study, creating new developments in understanding aspects of the “disorder”.
Please take a few minutes to read or research about autism. Increase your knowledge. Develop your understanding. Discuss with friends and colleagues; some of whom may be living with autism or have family members that do.
Michael Freeman is the UNE National Equity Representative for People with Disabilities.
The Indigenous peoples in Canada have celebrated March 31st to honour the strength and endurance of our languages. There are thousands of Indigenous Language Champions creating and delivering Indigenous languages programs every day.
I celebrate the work of our Indigenous Language Champions who are revitalizing and are seeking ways to sustain the survival of our languages. I acknowledge the difficult burden they are carrying to reverse more than a century of attempts to erase our languages and identity, mostly through residential schools.
Our communities now have opportunities to live and learn our Mother tongues through Language Nests, Immersion Programs, Language and Cultural Camps, and to offer Master-Apprentice Programs as well as degree programs for our Teachers and those who want to become fluent speakers and Language Teachers. Across the country we have asserted greater determination to use our languages, our identities, and to seek equitable recognition and support to that which is provided to the official languages in this country.
At this time I wish to acknowledge the importance of language and culture for the well-being and resilience of Indigenous communities around the world. It’s also a day to lift up our hands to the many language champions working to address the language crisis facing Indigenous peoples.
Lenora Maracle UNE National Equity Representative for Aboriginal Peoples
March 21st has been earmarked as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and this year’s theme is “Youth standing up against racism”.
On this day, in 1960, police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire killing 69, and wounding 180 people during a peaceful demonstration against apartheid laws. This incident, in 1966, prompted the United Nations General Assembly to proclaim March 21st as the Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
More then 50 years ago, The Sharpeville massacre set the world’s spotlight on the very visible and atrocious, treatment of South African blacks not unlike the recent killing of George Floyd nearly one year ago in the United States at the hands of a police officer that resonated on a worldwide scale.
Despite these very blatant public displays of cruelty, resulting in death, of black people, governments around the world continue to allow racism to feed and grow throughout its institutions, systems and societies.
Decades have passed since Sharpeville and yet the world continues to log many incidences of racism and discrimination. For some, March 21st, simply serves as a one-day show of solidarity or allyship, and once the “smoke clears”, the status quo remains unchanged and their realities go unaffected.
Canada has shown significant progress however, much work remains to be done to create a society that is truly equal and inclusive for all. The Clerk of the Privy Council reported, “… it is not sufficient to simply equip ourselves with knowledge and tools. We must take action in ways we know will be meaningful in addressing all barriers and disadvantages. Being a leader means taking an active role in ending all forms of discrimination and oppression, consciously challenging our own biases, and creating an environment in which our employees feel empowered and safe to speak up when they witness barriers to equity and inclusion. Inaction is not an option. We must encourage and support the voices that have long been marginalized in our organizations. We must create opportunities where they have long been absent. We must take direct, practical actions to invoke change. This is a true test of leadership, and one we must meet head on. Now”. (Clerk to the Privy Council, Call to action on anti-racism, equity, and inclusion in the Federal Public Service).
In Canada, we showcase the richness of the multi-cultural mosaic and all that entails, and most entertain the idea that Canada is racist free; with every member of its citizenry enjoying equality and inclusivity. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, statistics have shown a spike of racism towards marginalized populations. Prior to this, statistics bear witness to the underbelly of the richness of our differences and confirms that racism and discrimination is still an everyday reality for Blacks, Indigenous and other marginalized/racialized groups.
Also, let us use this platform, this internationally recognized day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to acknowledge the many achievements of those amongst us who stand marginalized, their continued struggle to achieve equality in the workplace, to combat conscious and unconscious biases within the walls of institutions and systems fraught with racist and discriminatory practices.
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination provides an opportunity to renew one’s commitment to the responsibilities, both individually and collectively, for promoting and protecting the goal of the elimination of all forms of discrimination and racial oppression. This day can serve as a springboard and as activists, we must make a conscious effort to confront oppression and racial discrimination in all forms and fight for equity in our workplaces, union and our communities.
Hayley Millington UNE National Equity Representative for Racially Visible People
COVID-19 is the most serious public health crisis that Canada has faced. It is showing us where there are fundamental gaps in our society and shown us where it is impacting our already vulnerable and struggling populations. They are hurting and in need, many of those impacted are women and children. Women have been in the front line of this crisis, many facing job losses and many taking on more extra family responsibilities. More women are in essential jobs in this crisis, exposing them to infection and high stress. This pandemic is not over and what we need right now is just a little kindness and a little help while we see the inequality.
We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.
I would like to challenge us all at UNE to commit to calling out inequality when we see it. Standing up for what is right. Maya Angelou said ‘’Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” It all starts with one step and we can make a difference. If COVID-19 has shown us anything, it has shown that there is still a long way to go with fighting against gender bias and promoting equality.
As the Twister Sister song We’re Not Gonna Take It says:
We’re not gonna take it No, we ain’t gonna take it We’re not gonna take it anymore!
Diana Walker UNE National Equity Representative for Women
As we are celebrating Black History Month, we invite you to take this quiz by UNE National Equity Representative for Racially Visible People Hayley Millington to learn more about the legacy of Black Canadians.
Question #1: The first black man to set foot on Canadian soil was a free man. True or False?
Answer: True. His name was Mathieu Da Costa, a free man who was hired by Europeans to act as a translator.
Question #2: Where did the first shipload of enslaved Africans arrive in British North America (BNA)?
Jonestown
Jamestown
Georgetown
Trenchtown
Answer: The first shipload of enslaved Africans arrived in Jamestown.
Question #3: What is the connection between Father Paul Le Jeune and Olivier Le Jeune?
Answer: Olivier Le Jeune was the first enslaved African of New France. Olivier was 6 years old when he arrived in New France and was the property of Sir David Kirke. He received his education by Jesuit priest Father Paul Le Jeune. Father Le Jeune was his last owner.
Question #4: In which code was slavery for economic reasons stipulated?
Answer: Louis XIV’s Code Noir permitted slavery for economic purposes.
Question #5: This King of France permitted colonists of New France to own Black slaves and Pawnees, Aboriginal slaves. True or False?
Answer: True. For more information on slavery in New France: Slavery.
Question #6: This slave set fire to her master’s Montreal home and destroyed 50 homes in Montreal. She was tortured and hanged as an object lesson for all blacks. Who is she?
Answer: Her name was Marie-Joseph Angélique. She allegedly set fire to her master’s Montreal house and destroyed nearly 50 homes.
Question #7: Runaway slaves fled to Canada via:
Greyhound bus
Via rail
Underground Railroad
Horse and buggy
Answer: The Underground Railway was created in the early 19thcentury by a group of abolitionists based mainly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The term Underground Railway began to be used in the 1830s. It was a complex, clandestine network of people, secret routes and safe houses.
Question #8: What was the Imperial Statute?
A. A statue of King Louis XIV
B. A statute about the enslaved only having to be fed and clothed
C. A statute about any child born of enslaved parents be free at 25
D. Anyone released had to ensure that she/he could be financially independent
E. A only
F. All the above
G. Number B-D
Answer: G
Question #9: This group of Blacks left Halifax to relocate to which African nation?
Answer: Black Loyalists realized they would never find true freedom, so they left Halifax, almost 1200 of them, to relocate in Sierra Leone.
Question #10: Upper Canadians were shocked when Chloe Cooley, an enslaved woman from Queenstown, was beaten and bound by her owner and transported across the Niagara River to be sold in the US. This incident convinced Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe that the abolition of slavery was necessary. True or False?
Answer: True. Upper Canadians were shocked when Chloe Cooley, an enslaved woman from Queenstown, was beaten and bound by her owner and transported across the Niagara River to be sold in the US. English law made prosecution impossible and the incident convinced Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe that the abolition of slavery was necessary. The Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada was enacted in 1793.
Question #11: Who were the maroons and where, in Canada, did they settle?
Answer: A group of 600 freedom fighters landed in Halifax in 1796. These immigrants, called Maroons, came from a Jamaican community of escaped slaves who had guarded their freedom for more than a century and fought off countless attempts to re-enslave them.
Question #12: Slavery was abolished everywhere in BNA in 1834, and in 1793, Upper Canada (now Ontario) passed the Anti-Slavery Act. True or false?
Answer: True. Slavery was abolished throughout the British colonies by an Imperial Act, called the Slavery Abolition Act, which became effective as of August 1834.
During the month of February, Canadians are invited to participate in Black History Month (BHM) activities and events that honour and recognize the legacy of Black Canadians, both past and present.
For 2021, as February approaches, the focus centers on Black History Matters: Listen, Learn, Share and Act, which recognizes the important legacy of people of African descent and the long-standing history in the development of Canada.
February signals a time for Canadians to celebrate the many achievements and contributions of Black Canadians who, throughout history have contributed to Canada’s rich mosaic.
It is important to bring awareness to the fact that persons of African descent have been a part of shaping Canada’s heritage and its identity since the arrival of Mathieu Da Costa, a free black man who acted as a navigator and interpreter for the Europeans back in the early 1600s.
Notably, the role of people of African descent in Canada has not always been highlighted in Canada’s historical landscape. As such, we see little mention of the Loyalists who came here after the American Revolution and settled in the Maritimes and that they were people of African descent. Not to mention the patriotism and sacrifices made in wartime by soldiers of African descent as far back as the War of 1812.
Surprisingly enough, few Canadians are aware of the fact that African people were once enslaved in the territory that is now referred to as Canada. Furthermore, they are unaware, that those who fought enslavement also helped to lay the foundation of Canada’s diverse and inclusive society.
Black History Month is a time to learn more about these Canadian stories and the many other important contributions of Black Canadians to the settlement, growth and development of Canada, and about the diversity of Black communities in Canada and their importance to the history of this country.
The commemoration of Black History Month dates back to 1926, when Harvard-educated African American historian Carter G. Woodson proposed setting aside a time devoted to honour the accomplishments of African Americans and to heighten awareness of Black history in the United States. This led to the establishment of Negro History Week in 1926. Celebrations of Black history began in Canada also shortly thereafter. During the early 1970s, the week became known as Black History Week. It was expanded into Black History Month in 1976.
In December 1995, the House of Commons officially recognized February as Black History Month in Canada following a motion introduced by the first Black Canadian woman elected to Parliament, the Honourable Jean Augustine. The motion was carried unanimously by the House of Commons.
In February 2008, Senator Donald Oliver, the first Black man appointed to the Senate, introduced the Motion to Recognize Contributions of Black Canadians and February as Black History Month. The motion received unanimous approval and was adopted on March 4, 2008. The adoption of this motion completed Canada’s parliamentary position on Black History Month.
With all that being said I encourage you to take some time and delve into the History of people of African descent… Black History Matters.
Hayley Millington UNE National Equity Representative for Racially Visible People
Our members have told us that lack of accessibility and accommodation are major barriers preventing them from fully participating in the federal public service. Despite the progress PSAC has achieved through grievances and advocacy, there is still a great deal of work to be done before we have fully inclusive workplaces.
A new study by Carleton University aims to identify these barriers – as well as the support systems available to workers with a disability – to improve employment accessibility across the federal public service.
You can take part in the study, “Career Transitions and Accessibility in the Federal Public Service”, if you have a disability and have ever worked or applied to work in the federal public service.
We encourage all PSAC members with a disability to take part in this research.
How to participate:
You’re welcome to participate in a quick survey, an interview, or take part in both.
You can also register by phone by calling 613-520-2600 ext. 7310
You will be interviewed on Zoom or by phone, and your feedback will only be recorded with your consent. Accommodations are available for accessible participation.
The deadline to participate in the study is March 31, 2021. A report on the research project will be published by the end of the year and shared with PSAC and the federal government.
For more information, reach out to Carleton University’s project officer Mirvat Sanaallah.
International Human Rights Day is a day to celebrate and recommit to advancing human rights here at home and globally.
Seventy-two years ago, on December 10, 1948, the United Nations adopted the Declaration of Human Rights. It was a revolutionary document for the times.
The world was just emerging from a brutal war that killed 75 million people. Workers and others around the globe were demanding a better world. They wanted peace. They wanted jobs. And they wanted an end to all forms of discrimination. They knew there can be no peace without equity, no peace without justice. And the powerful nations of the world had no choice but to respond.
For the past nine months we have been going through another global upheaval and Canada’s marginalized communities have been hardest hit by COVID-19 – people with disabilities, Indigenous, racialized and Black communities, seniors, women, LGBTQ2+ communities, as well as low-income, unemployed and homeless people.
The pandemic has shined a light on deep-rooted historical and ongoing inequities like disproportionate police violence towards Black and Indigenous peoples. These same groups, including persons with disabilities have suffered the most, and so have women, because they hold such a high proportion of front-line, low-paid, dangerous jobs. Women, more than men, have ended up doing most of the child care and eldercare and have ended up having to leave their jobs or reducing their work hours.
Now, as we slowly emerge from the global pandemic, we too must demand a better world and we must organize for the change we want. The pandemic exposed the long-standing and deep systemic inequity in this country. We have to uproot that inequity.
In Canada, that means pushing the federal government to:
Follow through on its commitments to build a universal, affordable and high quality child care system across Canada;
Protect seniors and our most vulnerable by taking the profit out of long-term care;
Make concrete progress and properly fund its commitments to increase diversity and inclusion in workplaces and stamp out systemic racism across Canada;
Deliver on the implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
A just recovery from the pandemic must and will be PSAC’s priority.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada supports the legal action taken on behalf of nearly 30,000 past and present federal public service workers who identify as Black, Caribbean or of African descent. PSAC intends to serve as an intervener in the class action lawsuit filed against the Government of Canada by Black public service workers who have been subjected to discriminatory hiring and promotional practices.
Anti-Black racism is prevalent in Canadian society and the federal public service has not been immune. For far too long, many of our members have experienced the pain of Black employee exclusion; the systemic practice of limiting skilled Black workers from career advancement opportunities and being disproportionally underrepresented in management and high-ranking positions in the federal public service.
The class action, which has been filed with the Federal Court of Canada, argues that Black employee exclusion has led to economic and psychological harm for thousands of public service workers since the 1970s. The claim calls on the federal government to implement a plan to truly diversify the federal public service and provide restitution to tens of thousands of Black public service workers.
PSAC’s support of this class action strongly aligns with the union’s ongoing fight against anti-Black racism.
“Canada’s public service presents itself as a ‘merit-based, representative and non-partisan organization that serves all Canadians,’” said Chris Aylward, PSAC national president. “While laudable as a principle, many Canadians, particularly Black Canadians, have experienced a different reality. The government must do what is necessary to right these wrongs and ensure that these injustices do not continue.”
PSAC echoes the calls of our Black public service members. The federal government must identify and tear down systemic barriers in its human resources practices. It must take action to increase diversity and inclusion within its ranks, especially in positions of leadership. We also expect the government to listen to Black workers and take their lead on how to correct this gross injustice.
