The Urban Alliance on Race Relations joins many Palestinian, Muslim, Arab and Jewish organizations in condemning the exponential rise of discrimination against Palestinian, Muslim, Arab and Jewish communities across Canada.
As an organization committed to fighting racism, we oppose the criminalization of peaceful anti-racist advocacy and protest. Currently, we are seeing the targeting and demonization of racialized communities, with several Canadian leaders making statements equating them with “terrorism”. As we’ve previously seen during the so-called “War on Terror '' after 9/11, and Canada’s seige of Kanien’kehá:ka, this framing promotes state policies and practices severely limiting human rights and civil liberties for Indigenous and racialized populations. We also observe that suppression and reprisal against anti-racist and anti-colonial advocacy is a hallmark of the system of white supremacy. We call on Canadian leaders to acknowledge, apologize for and address harms caused by such statements. These harms include drastically rising anti-Palestinian, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab hate incidents on our streets, in workplaces, and in schools.
We simultaneously condemn the recent violent and hateful attacks against Jewish schools and places of worship. We should all be concerned when the safety and wellbeing of Jewish communities is threatened as they exercise their rights to freedom of worship, and freedom to visibly express their religious affiliation and identity. An attack on one of us as we exercise these rights is an attack on us all.
Canada is a member state of the United Nations and as such has an obligation to uphold international law. We believe this is a time for empathy, dialogue, and learning about the detrimental impacts of settler colonialism, white supremacy, anti-Semitism, anti-Palestinian racism, and Islamophobia.
Statement Regarding May 14 Attack
The Urban Alliance on Race Relations expresses deep sorrow in response to the May 14 white supremacist attack in Buffalo, New York.
We honour those who lost their lives to this heinous act of violence: Roberta A. Drury, Margus D. Morrison, Andre Macknil, Aaron Salter, Geraldine Talley, Celestine Chaney. Heyward Paterson, Katherine Massey, Pearl Young, and Ruth Whitfield.
The York Catholic District School Board is accepting applications for: Director of Education
The York Catholic District School Board invites applications for the position of:
Director of Education
Making Good Trouble - March 21st at 3pm
Join us on March 21st at 3pm for our event "Making Good Trouble" to mark the International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The forum will feature conversations around racial justice as it relates to allyship, education, health, workplaces and our broader society.
Register now: tinyurl.com/IDERD2021
Open Letter to Pickering City Council
With Break The Chains Pickering, we have written an open letter to express our disappointment in response to the City's establishment of the Pickering Anti-Black Racism Task Force. We have been raising this critical point to the City of Pickering for the past two months. In response, the Black community has faced either silence or performative activism.
Urban Alliance on Race Relations Launches Peel Legal Defence Fund
The Board of Urban Alliance on Race Relations released the following statement, launching a legal defence fund for parents and community members fighting racism in the PDSB:
“Over the course of the past few months, communities in Peel have witnessed a complete failure of the Peel District School Board (PDSB) to instill trust and confidence in its capability and willingness to address anti-Black racism and Islamophobia in Peel Schools.
Urban Alliance on Race Relations is pleased to welcome Jared A. Walker to our board of directors
Urban Alliance on Race Relations is pleased to welcome Jared A. Walker to our board of directors. Jared also recently became the chair of the Black Youth Fellowship Initiative at UARR.
Urban Alliance on Race Relations calls for an Immediate Public Inquest into the death of Regis Korshinski-Paquet
Say her name… Regis Korchinski-Paquet died in the presence of police officers in her Toronto home last week, her family barred from observing the circumstances.
The Urban Alliance on Race Relations calls for an immediate public inquest into the events that led to Regis Korchinski’s untimely death, in the aftermath of the family’s call for help to the Toronto Police Service. According to media reports, the family met Toronto Police officers outside the door to her apartment. When Ms. Korckhinski-Paquet requested use of the bathroom, the police allowed her, but not her family, to re-enter the home. Her mother and her brother heard her calling for help, but the police continued to bar them from the apartment.
Toronto Centre Parents for Public Education, Urban Alliance on Race Relations and Hispanic Mothers with Autistic and ADHD Children Ontario Urge #TDSB Trustees to vote NO to an austerity budget for public education!
The Ford government’s removal of 1.4 billion from Ontario’s budget for public education has forced public school boards to cut public services in order to deliver the required balanced budget. We believe that the TDSB should refuse to cut public education on behalf of the Ford government. The explanations and justifications are false and mask the true impacts of the cuts. The reality is that the cuts to deliver a balanced budget are devastating for our public schools and the students who rely on public school support the most. We call on Trustees to vote NO.
Let’s make sure Ontario steps up against Islamophobia
United Against Islamophobia is calling on the Government of Ontario to designate January 29 as a Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia.
On January 29, 2017, six worshippers were killed and many others injured during evening prayer at the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City. In that year, hate crimes against Muslims in Ontario rose by 207%. Most recently, a horrific attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, has left us all shaken.
