Thanks to its multiculturalism policy, Canada is known as a model society for tolerance and the accommodation of people from around the world who choose this country as their new home.
However, it is thought that complacency regarding systemic racism may be having a detrimental effect on the country's economy.
In a recent speech in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn delivered the Conservative government's message that systemic racism is threatening Canada's economic prosperity.
Referring to more than a million visible minorities who complained of racism in the 2003 Statistics Canada Ethnic Diversity report, Blackburn said it was "a sobering fact that racism remains an all-too-familiar fact of life for many Canadians."
This comes with a financial cost, says Blackburn, because people who encounter racism in the labour force are unable to achieve their full potential.
"As a consequence, skills aren't utilized. Productivity suffers, and so does our real potential for greater prosperity as a country."
While stating a racism-free work place "is key to Canada's continued economic success," Blackburn also spoke of greater imperatives to end racism.
Because of declining birth rates and an aging workforce, Canada depends on immigration to bolster labour force growth. Under current immigrant intakes, it is expected that by 2017, one in five Canadians will be a visible minority.
Liberal labour critic Judy Sgro says government should take the lead on systemic racism and is pleased Blackburn raised the issue and its impact on the labour market.
"I always felt very strongly that racism is very much a barrier and people aren't talking about it anymore…unless you talk about it and it just continues to grow."
Sgro believes Canada does not want the "melting pot" situation of the United States, adding that multiculturalism is important for "recognizing what we all bring to make Canada what it is."
The ethnic diversity report found that in the general population, the vast majority (93 per cent) of Canadians surveyed aged 15 and over did not feel discriminated against. This is also true for 80 per cent of those belonging to visible minority groups.
However, 20 per cent among visible minorities did report racial discrimination sometimes or often in the five years prior to the survey. Among those who were not part of any visible minority group, only 5 per cent reported being discriminated against or treated unfairly.
Mark Persaud, a well known lawyer and CEO of the Canadian International Peace Project, testified before the Senate Human Rights Committee on the issue of systemic racism in February. He says that while we have been "patting ourselves on the back" in Canada because of our successful brand of multiculturalism, that "certainly cannot be the standard of civility and progress…the measure lies in the quality of life people experience.
"I'm concerned about the smugness because it seems to relieve us of the responsibility of moving forward and addressing systemic issues of racism…dealing with issues in a credible way."
Persaud says Canadians tend to engage in "polite racism" as opposed to the "crass" or overt racism seen in the U.S. and elsewhere. This kind of racism questions the loyalty and affection of immigrants for Canada.
In particular, Persaud is concerned about people in positions of power who don't acknowledge systemic racism, subjecting minorities "to their whims and fancies in hiring and promotions."
Where Canadians can objectively differ, he says, is the nature and extent of the existence of racism in Canada, which could give rise to "legitimate disagreements."
Professor Jeffrey Reitz, who specializes in ethnic, immigration and pluralism studies at the University of Toronto, says in general institutions do not reflect "the demography of the population in ethnic and racial terms."
Reitz cites the case in which the Human Rights Tribunal found systemic racism in Health Canada a few years ago in Ottawa.
"So we were at a case where finding of discrimination is set right alongside of vehement denials on the part of the institution itself that discrimination exists…we certainly have denials right across society."
Because of the role of immigration in Canada, systemic racism as an issue is gaining prominence, says Reitz. However, it is also a political hot potato that politicians are reluctant to address because "they are going to be punished by the electorate."
Systemic racism is complicated to prove empirically, making the extent to which it exists controversial. Because discrimination is illegal, "where it exists, it is often underground and…not easily viewed by the public."
As long as there are so many minorities reporting being discriminated against and people in institutions denying it, "we have a credibility gap," says Reitz.
"For the sake of the integrity of those institutions [particularly in the perception of minorities] we need to close that gap."
Reitz says we must take "a forthright approach" as in Royal Commissions in the past that dealt with problems relating to gender discrimination, bilingualism and biculturalism.
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