Ottawa resident and community activist Robin Browne had doubts when the city released its anti-racism strategy in 2022.
“I had concerns that it would be kind of another example of something that was giving the illusion of change happening, but wouldn’t actually lead to any fundamental change and would take a long time,” said Browne. “And that’s exactly what’s happened.”
The strategy was started, in part, as a response to a racist incident that occurred in 2019, one that Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Rawlson King will never forget.
“A family in my ward had the N-word spray-painted on their garage door,” King said.
Ottawa Police say Black Ottawans have consistently ranked among the top three targeted groups of people that have faced hate crimes in the city since they started collecting data six years ago.
The hate crime in King’s ward was one of 29 incidents that year that were listed as ‘mischief to property’ against Black Ottawans, but the impact was nonetheless one that hit hard.
“Advocacy groups asked me … ‘what was the city going to do about this’?” said King.
In 2019, governments across the country were creating anti-racism secretariats, and community leaders pushed King on whether he would do the same.
“I had said yes,” King said. “So, we convened people in the community to have a discussion as to what that anti-racism office or secretariat should look like.”
The result was the creation of an Anti-Racism Secretariat and a five-year Anti-Racism Strategy, which is now at the halfway point. The plan includes seven areas of focus covering everything from housing to economic development, with 28 recommendations and 132 actions to be implemented.
The strategy notes that the city would collect and analyze race-disaggregated and other socio-demographic data to inform its work and monitor the effectiveness of its anti-racism initiatives. This is where Browne believes there’s a huge gap.
“The city has done nothing in terms of disaggregated data in relation to Black folks,” said Browne. “If I wanted to know even how many Black employees there are in the city, they haven’t done the most basic stuff.”
King says that the data collection effort is challenging. He also acknowledges that they still don’t have what’s needed to get the work done, though he says progress is being made.
“It’s important for us to determine and get our foundation straight before we can really make meaningful change in the community,” said King. “If we want to determine whether we’re successful, we have to have the tools for measurement … that requires time in terms of creating data collection frameworks and working on projects. But that work is underway.”
Browne says that despite the strategy being in place for four years, it has failed to move at the pace community members expected.
“It’s not moving fast enough,” said Browne.
King agrees.
“I want to see things move faster,” said King. “But we’re also realists in the sense that we know that we have to work deliberately and constructively with the community to continue to build community trust because only that leads to meaningful change.”
King says 31 actions have been completed, with another 20 expected to be implemented within the upcoming stage of the anti-racism strategy.
Another issue Browne notes is that the City’s anti-racism strategy doesn’t cover policing.
“As of January 2020, the Ottawa police were forced to start collecting race-based data on their use of force and, of course, it showed not good things,” said Browne. “Those numbers are not getting any better. And the anti-racism strategy is doing nothing about that because it doesn’t apply to the police.”
In an emailed statement, Paola Jani, Director of Equity, Diversion and Inclusion at OPS, refuted Browne’s claim.
“The City of Ottawa’s Community Safety and Well‑Being Plan — and the anti‑racism commitments embedded within it, along with the City’s Anti‑Racism Strategy — apply to the Ottawa Police Service through a shared responsibility for municipal community safety under the Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA),” Jani wrote.
Also, Jani said: “It is important to recognize that OPS is a distinct entity with its own governance structure, overseen by a municipal police services board, and is subject to specific legislative obligations under the CSPA.”
In 2023, the OPS launched the DRIVE2 Strategy, which it says, in part, is focused on building relationships with diverse communities, addressing and preventing systemic discrimination in programs, projects, operations and decisions, as well as reducing violence and victimization and confronting hate against marginalized groups.
Jani says that the strategy commits OPS to continuous public reporting with board oversight, based on evidence, community feedback, and evolving expectations, which they believe helps them develop more trust in their policing.
“OPS believes it is essential to have a dedicated and comprehensive strategy like DRIVE2 because addressing racism and systemic barriers in policing requires sustained, measurable, and transparent action,” said Jani.
Browne says there still needs to be more systemic changes within municipal government for progress to be made.
“Unless that larger structure is changed, then you’re going to get things like this strategy — which is ineffective,” said Browne.
At the heart of it, Browne says activists like himself need disaggregated data to help underline the issues that Black Ottawans face.
“When we come, and we say there is a systemic anti-Black racism, people rightfully say to us, bring us the data,” said Browne. “Get us the data.”
