NDP MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert says funding to build anti-racist, inclusive communities coming to Vancouver
VANCOUVER – New Democrat MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert says that more people will have better access to the tools and resources needed to address racism and build inclusivity in Vancouver, thanks to funding to local organizations through the BC Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism grant program.
“Thank you to everyone who stands up against racism, and who work to end systemic racism everyday. We can’t move forward together as a province if we don’t acknowledge our history, and recognize how race and colour have been used to divide us, and pit communities against each other,” said Spencer Chandra Herbert, MLA for Vancouver-West End. “I’m glad these many community organizations are receiving support from our government to take the next steps in the struggle against this hateful scourge. We all have a duty to act.”
In Vancouver,16 community organizations received $79,950 of funding for the following projects:
- Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre, $5000
- Vancouver International Bhangra Celebration Society (Operating as 5X Festival), $5000
- Foundation for a Path Forward, $5000
- Historic Joy Kogawa House Society, $5000
- The Society of We Are Canadians Too, $5000
- Women Transforming Cities, $5000
- Stanley Park Ecology Society, $5000
- Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (British Columbia) Society, $5000
- Better Environmentally Sound Transportation Association, $4950
- EYA Environmental Youth Alliance Society, $5000
- Pivot Legal Society, $5000
- rice and beans theatre society, $5000
- Vancouver Asian Film Festival Society, $5000
- re:Naissance Opera, $5000
- Theatre as a Second Language Society, $5000
- Visceral Visions Society, $5000
Almost $300,000 will be given to sixty community-based organizations for projects to dismantle systemic racism, address hate incidents, and support racialized communities across B.C. Funding preference is given to applications submitted by racialized and otherwise marginalized groups.
This grant program is just one way the BC New Democrat government province is working to subvert systemic racism and protect human rights. The province has taken further action to tackle racism including reinstating the B.C. Human Rights Commission after it was dismantled by the former BC Liberal government, developing a comprehensive, multi-year anti-racism action plan for B.C.’s K-12 education system and implementing the Anti-Racism Data Act. Later this year, government will release research priorities under the Anti-Racism Data Act. Developed in partnership with Indigenous governing entities and the Anti-Racism Data Committee, these priorities will ensure that data collection is focused on the areas that matter most to those impacted by systemic racism.
Learn More: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023AG0026-000505