The Senate

Honourable senators, I speak today from the unceded territory of Mi’kma’ki, the traditional land of Mi’kmaq people.

I stand in support of Senator McCallum’s Motion No. 11, calling on the federal government to adopt anti-racism as the sixth pillar of the Canada Health Act. The existing five pillars do not adequately protect racialized Canadians. Indigenous and Black people in Canada experience health inequities and report experiences of racism within the current medical system. Adding antiracism as a pillar would lay the foundation for much-needed systemic change.

In short, honourable colleagues, racism is bad for health. According to the Black Health Alliance, Black people in Canada are more likely to live in poverty and are subject to more health disparities than the rest of Canadians, including chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and issues related to mental health.

During the study of forced and coerced sterilization of persons in Canada, the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights heard many accounts of racism and mistreatment within the medical system, resulting in forced and coerced sterilization. Dr. Josephine Etowa stated:

As is the case for Indigenous communities, a history of structural racism, discrimination and exclusion in Canada has created inequities in the health and well-being of African Canadians.

When race intersects with gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, sexual identity or immigration status, we can see even more barriers that the default policies and practices cannot reach, and at times seem invisible.

Honourable colleagues, I invite you to be a “story catcher” today as I take on the role of storyteller. Imagine you are walking to work and you slip on a patch of ice. Later that night, you wait in the emergency room with searing pain in your hip and shoulder. After waiting for 10 hours, barely seen by any medical staff, you are sent for X-rays. When the attending physician finally appears, they do not actually examine you. They simply read your X-rays, say nothing is broken and they prescribe a treatment of ice, ibuprofen and acetaminophen. They say you should be feeling better in a few days. After you leave the hospital, you realize then that the doctor never even asked to rank your pain on a scale of 1 to 10, and you realize it is a 12. You continue to move through the pain because you were told to return to work. Eventually the pain is so unbearable that you cannot dress yourself. Two weeks later, you are correctly diagnosed with a shoulder fracture. However, the initial misdiagnosis and lack of treatment have aggravated the fracture and led to multiple other injuries to your shoulder.

Three years later, you still feel that pain in your shoulder and each day are reminded of being dismissed and misdiagnosed. You feel anger, rage and helplessness because a slip on some ice should not have led to years of pain, medical appointments and now possibly surgery. What if this had been a life-threatening illness with no time to get a second opinion?

Honourable colleagues, my story catchers, this story is not fiction. This happened to me in April of 2019, and it continues to impact my life every single day. My experience is not an isolated incident. When I share my story with other African-Canadians, they nod, understanding my experience because they too have experienced the racism and discrimination in the Canadian medical system.

I have witnessed the similar treatment of my spouse, other family members and community, across the country with different conditions, different health care providers, but the same medical system that dismisses our pain.

A study conducted in 2016 in the United States showed the presence of racial disparities in pain assessment and treatment by medical doctors. Racial bias and false beliefs, originating with slavery times, impact the way Black patients are treated by medical professionals.

Hopefully, with the collection of more disaggregated data in Canada, we can see how Canada compares for systematically untreated pain. My prediction is that our experience is similar. These types of experiences are too common for Indigenous and Black people, especially those of us who live with intersecting oppression.

In November of 2021, Nova Scotia witnessed a groundbreaking dialogue during the Desmond inquiry about the connection between race and health. Lionel Desmond was a young, Black man who served in Afghanistan and was suffering from PTSD. When he sensed his mental health was declining, he sought medical attention. The day after he was discharged, he ended his own life after fatally shooting his wife Shanna, their 10-year-old child Aaliyah and his mother Brenda. Leading up to this tragedy, the Desmond family must have been in a crisis. A Black veteran dealing with PTSD was not able to find the help he needed at the time he needed it the most.

During the inquiry there has been a glaring absence of recognition of the systemic racism faced by Lionel Desmond in the lead up to the murder-suicide. That is until the landmark testimony presented by a panel of representatives from the Health Association of African Canadians. They identified the crucial need to address race and racism in this inquiry and, indeed, in the health system in Nova Scotia.

In theory, antiracism should be woven throughout the other five pillars, but as my story and the Lionel Desmond story highlight, the existing pillars do not always “protect, promote and restore the physical and mental well-being” as they are meant to.

Honourable senators, we cannot afford to wait for another tragedy before making serious changes to the federal health system. It is time for us to be bold for change. Including antiracism as a pillar is about ensuring health equity for those who are victims of systemic racism. Health equity is a way of recognizing and accounting for the barriers that exist and working towards removing those barriers. Accessibility and universality, two of the five existing pillars, are not guaranteed for people on the margins. As Senator McCallum asked:

How can health care be accessible and universal when people are afraid to go to the health centres because of racism?

Until we get to a place where universality and accessibility are a reality, it must be a conscious decision and deliberate action.

Honourable colleagues, Indigenous and Black people do not feel safe in the current medical system. In this chamber, we make evidence-based decisions, and we consider the experiences of marginalized Canadians. Accordingly, I support Motion No. 11, and I thank Senator McCallum for bringing it forward again. This motion will lay the foundation for a future in which equitable access to safe and culturally responsible health services is truly available to all Canadians.

Passing this motion enables us to be bold for change, and to lead the changes we want to see in the health care system. Asante. Thank you.