Question Period Note: Federal Budget 2022: Investments in Multiculturalism, Anti-Racism and Combatting Hate

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister tabled the 2022 Federal Budget on April 7, 2022

• The Government of Canada is committed to building a more inclusive, equitable and just society for all, where everyone is empowered to succeed.
• Racism and hate have no place in Canada. Budget 2022 proposes to provide $85 million over four years, starting in 2022-23, to Canadian Heritage to support the work underway to launch a new Anti-Racism Strategy and develop a new National Action Plan on Combatting Hate.
• To push back against religious discrimination, hateful rhetoric, and racism at home and abroad, Budget 2022 proposes to provide $11.2 million over 5 years and $2.4 million ongoing to Canadian Heritage to support the Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism and a new Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia.
• Budget 2022 also proposes to provide $5 million in 2023-24 to launch the Changing Narratives Fund, which will break down systemic barriers in the media and cultural sectors and help racialized and religious minority journalists, creators, and organizations have their experiences and perspectives better represented.

Budget 2022: Investments in Multiculturalism, Anti-Racism and Combatting Hate
Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy
• PCH provides federal leadership to eliminate inequities rooted in systemic racism and discrimination through Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy with an initial investment of $95 million. The Strategy was designed as a first step, laying a foundation for longer-term federal action against racism and discrimination in Canada, with a strong emphasis on community-based projects, including those with a focus on countering online disinformation, racism, and hate.
• Budget 2022 announced a further $85M over 4 years, starting in 2022-23 to support the work underway to launch a new Anti-Racism Strategy and National Action Plan on Combatting Hate. This funding will support community projects that ensure that Black and racialized Canadians, and religious minorities have access to resources that support their full participation in the Canadian economy, while also raising awareness of issues related to racism and hate in Canada to support community projects that ensure that Black and racialized Canadians, and religious minorities have access to resources that support their full participation in the Canadian economy, while also raising awareness of issues related to racism and hate in Canada.
• Budget 2022 proposes to provide $50 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, to ESDC for the Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiative, to continue empowering Black-led and Black-serving community organizations and the work they do to promote inclusiveness.
Combatting Antisemitism and Islamophobia
• To push back against religious discrimination, hateful rhetoric and racism at home and abroad, Budget 2022 proposes to provide $11.2 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, with $2.4 million ongoing, to PCH and GAC as follows:
o $5.6 million over five years, with $1.2 million ongoing to support the Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism.
o $5.6 million over five years, with $1.2 million ongoing to support the new Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia.
New Holocaust Museum in Montreal and the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre
• To keep alive the memory of those murdered during the Holocaust and combat both historical distortions and Holocaust denial:
o Budget 2022 proposes to provide $20 million in 2022-23 to PCH to support the construction of the new Holocaust Museum in Montréal; and an investment of $2.5 million for the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre, as has been approved through the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund and Museum Assistance Program.
Muslims in Canada Archive
• The Muslims in Canada Archive, a collaborative initiative of the Institute of Islamic Studies at the University of Toronto, provides an opportunity to reshape these narratives and provide Canada’s robust and diverse Muslim community a chance to tell their own stories in their own words.
o Budget 2022 proposes to provide $4 million in 2022-23 to PCH to help support the Muslims in Canada Archive.
New Changing Narratives Fund
• To break down systemic barriers in the media and cultural sectors and help racialized and religious minority journalists, creators, and organizations have their experiences and perspectives better represented, Budget 2022 will provide $5 million in 2023-24 to launch a new Changing Narratives Fund.
Federal Funding for the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora
• In 1993, the Honourable Jean Augustine made history as the first Black Canadian woman to be elected to the House of Commons and later became the first Black Canadian to be appointed to the Federal Cabinet.
• The Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora, housed at York University, is focused on addressing the systemic barriers and racial inequalities in the Canadian education system to improve educational outcomes for Black students.
o Budget 2022 proposes to provide $1.5 million in 2022-23 to PCH for a federal contribution towards an endowment which would support the ongoing activities of the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora.

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