Honourable senators, I am so pleased and feel incredibly proud to be launching a project called The Invisible Visible Minority. Senators, you will have now received by email both the French and English versions of the animated whiteboard video. I will also be distributing an e-book to your offices shortly. The entire project can now also be viewed by Canadians online at mobinajaffer.ca/invisiblevisibleminority. Many Canadians are not sure what systemic racism is and how it impacts our collective communities. That is why, over the course of the summer, my staff and I have been working tirelessly to study systemic racism and its lived realities.

Honourable senators, all my life I have struggled to explain my reality as a racialized woman to people who are not racialized. It can be very easy to understand explicit bias, but systemic racism is deep-seated. My hope is that this project can serve as a tool to raise awareness about systemic racism and thus better enable our country to address the racial, social, political and economic injustices it breeds.

With respect, I encourage anyone who questions the truth of lifelong racism to review the statistics raised in the animation. For example, 50% of racialized Canadian people and families live in inadequate and unsuitable homes.

A study conducted by the Toronto District School Board showed that Black students accounted for 48% of total expulsions, despite representing only 20% of the population. Indigenous children were 0.3% of the student population, while accounting for 1% of expulsions. South Asian students were 4% of the population, and yet they accounted for 8% of all expulsions.

These lived realities are a reminder of our important role as legislators and our responsibility to represent the most marginalized Canadians. I can tell you, senators, I’m still learning about racism. There are all kinds of racism. I’m growing by learning from all of you, and I welcome and encourage all of you to reach out to us, to reach out and see how we can continue to work together to make sure Canadians of all walks have equal opportunities and feel they are part of our Canadian fabric.

Honourable senators, our role is to stand up for all Canadians. Let us work together to make sure we achieve this goal.