Winnipeg mayor admits some racism allegations are 'accurate,' vows action

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman appears on Canada AM, Friday, Jan. 23, 2015.

Mayor Brian Bowman says he will reconvene Winnipeg’s aboriginal leaders to measure progress on tackling discrimination one year from now, after a national magazine declared his city the most racist in Canada.

Bowman says it is “difficult” to read a story with details of something negative happening in the community.

“What’s even more difficult is when some of the things that are being mentioned are accurate,” he told CTV’s Canada AM Friday morning.

Bowman gave an emotional press conference to respond to the story on Thursday, when he was flanked by numerous aboriginal community leaders.

Many of them were already devising ways to address racism, Bowman said Friday, and he plans to send out invitations soon for a meeting in one year’s time to measure their progress.

“There’s a lot of work to do and many of the leaders that were there yesterday are going to be part of how we move forward together to tackle these very difficult issues,” Bowman told Canada AM.

“It’s good to get people together, but the conversation has to convert into action.”

During his Thursday news conference, an emotional Bowman said that he wants his own sons to be able to be proud of both their Metis roots from his side, and their Ukrainian heritage on their mother’s side.

Maclean’s magazine gave the city the disgraceful title of “most racist” after a number of high-profile attacks on aboriginals. Those include a white high school teacher’s comment on Facebook that aboriginals “have contributed nothing,” the unsolved death of Aboriginal teenager Tina Fontaine, and the sexual assault of another Aboriginal girl, Rinelle Harper, who was left for dead in the Assiniboine River.

Rosanna Deerchild, an aboriginal writer and broadcaster in Winnipeg, told the magazine of her long experience with racism in the city.

“[Every few weeks] someone honks at me, or yells out ‘How much’ from a car window, or calls me a stupid squaw, or tells me to go back to the rez,” said Deerchild.

“Every time, it still feels like getting punched in the face.”

The magazine also cited polling data that showed nine out of 10 Manitobans reported hearing a negative comment about an indigenous person in the previous year. That was the highest rate of any province.

The Manitoba Human Rights Commission issued a statement Friday to remind members of the province’s aboriginal community that the Human Rights Code protects citizens from discrimination when seeking housing, employment, or when trying to shop or enter a business.

The agency encouraged anyone who has experienced discrimination to report the incident.

“We have reported an increase in complaints based on ancestry and that includes Aboriginal people over the last few years,” executive director Azim Jiwa said in the statement.

“We are, however, painfully aware that these complaints just scratch the surface of what is happening in our city.”

Bowman and others note, however, that racism is not unique to Winnipeg, and challenged Canadians in cities across the country to address the problem.

“It’s experienced by people of colour and white people as well,” former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Ovide Mercredi, said Thursday.

“This is a national problem.”

Bowman said Friday that it is “a source of pride” to him that Winnipeg has the largest urban indigenous community in Canada, and the population is growing. Still, the city has “issues we have to tackle.”

On Thursday, Bowman noted that racism won’t be eradicated in a day.

“But we’re sure as hell going to try.”