 Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to BC's Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Awards. My name is Hassan Alam, and I am a member of the province's Multicultural Advising Council, which provides advice to the provincial government on issues related to multiculturalism and anti-racism. I'm excited to be your emcee for today's awards ceremony, and I'm joining you today from the traditional and unscrupulous territories of the Coast Salish people, which includes the territories of the Musqueam, the Swaylatu, Squamish, and Stola nations. I'm grateful to the indigenous stewards of these lands for the opportunity to live on this land. As a part of this land acknowledgment, I invite myself first, and all of you, to reflect and learn about the history of the indigenous territories in which you are situated and the colonization, displacement, and marginalization of indigenous peoples which is taking place there. I'm honored to be part of this event to recognize the inspiring and important work that's being done across BC to make this a more just, equitable, and inclusive province. Joining us today is Premier John Horgan, Attorney General David Ebe, and Parliamentary Secretary for Anti-Racism Initiatives, Rushna Singh. We will have the LaPonga dancers performing for us later in the show, and we'll be hearing from our five award recipients who we're all excited to hear from. To begin, I'd like to introduce Florence Dick and Darwin Sewed from the Songhi's First Nation to welcome us to this event. Hi, it's a very big honor to include and do proper territorial acknowledgments of the indigenous people of the land. I am Florence Dick. My Indian name is Naamptanat. I come from the Songhi's First Nations and been doing territorial welcomes probably for over nine years. And it's an honor to be at this stage level doing the welcome with my grandson and educating people how we do re-enter all our teachings onto our children. And I've done this with my grandson, Darwin Sewed. He does the territorial welcome and I ground people to the land of which the awards would have been at. And I'm so grateful to have this and share this knowledge with my grandson and how you would have seen it visually is a blanket ceremony. The blanket ceremony which protects him, covers his heart, which you'll see the blanket on him. The headband you see is actually the headband that protects the words that come out of his mouth. It's an honor and a tradition that's always been in place throughout any ceremonial event that we do as indigenous people. And the little pouch acknowledges the connection we have in this event for today. Hi, it's Ghasian. Hello, everyone. My name is Darwin Sewed. My Indian name is Ghasimit. I am with the Songhees First Nations. I am here to do a territorial welcome in our language. Hi, it's Ghasian. I'm Ghasimit. I'm Ghasimit. I'm Ghasimit. I'm Ghasimit. I'm Ghasimit. I'm Ghasimit. Thank you, everyone. That is a territorial welcome in our Lekwungen language that I taught my grandson. It's always important to acknowledge the ancestors of the land. And educating the people about territorial acknowledgments is so important to the indigenous people. It brings back the strength that we need to be where we are at today. And acknowledging that we are not gone. We're here and will always be here when we hand down teachings, which means the future. I've included my grandson there to be the future voice of our people. And he'll always will be here. I'm the present to remind people we've never went anywhere. We're always going to be here. Hi, it's Ghasian. Thank you, Darwin and Florence, for such a beautiful start to the event and for that territorial acknowledgement. It's truly a privilege to have you with us here today. Now I would like to welcome Premier John Horgan to say a few words about what these awards mean. Thank you very much. And I want to also acknowledge that I am coming to you with my colleague, Roshna Singh, and Attorney General David E.B. from the traditional territory of the Lekongan-speaking people, Dyskwim Alton, Song He's First Nation. And I want to thank Florence Dick and Darwin C. Weed for getting us started in a good way and acknowledge Florence, how important it is to be passing on as a knowledge keeper, passing on your learnings over your lifetime to Darwin and other young people as they come forward. It's truly an inspiration to all of us. Yesterday I was with the Casca Dene in Vancouver and hearing the stories about Dene territory and the sentence that stuck with me was, we're still here, we'll always be here. And of course, that rings so true here on Lekongan territory, where I grew up and have the honor to live in the territory of the South and the Chianu and the Chalmouth peoples in Pichida territory in Port Renfrew. So it is a great day to welcome everyone as we tune in to talk about the celebrations that are before us. Of course, we're marking the International Day of the Elimination of Racism and there is no better way to do that than by recognizing those that are leading the way. Today's awards honor anti-racism champions from around British Columbia. As community leaders, they exemplify the best of British Columbia. Through their actions, we see what it means to build a stronger province, one that is welcoming, just and equitable for everyone. That's our shared vision, but systemic racism and discrimination remain an ugly reality, especially with indigenous and racialized communities. As we come through the global pandemic, we're reminded of the harshness that many Asian Canadians were met with as COVID had its grip on our community. And although it was a tragic moment in our history, it was also a defining moment. And citizens of all backgrounds stood together and spoke with one voice and said, there is no room for racism in British Columbia. We are dealing with a global pandemic and only if we deal with it together wherever we may have come from to come to these indigenous territories, the only way we will come through this is if we work together. And we have much work to do. We started as government by re-establishing the BC Human Rights Commission. Resilience BC is a provincial anti-racism network that is now operating in over 40 communities. Soon, indigenous focused coursework will be a requirement for citizens or kids to graduate from BC high schools. And we're going to introduce new race-based data legislation in the spring session of the legislature so we can continue to advance a better understanding of our communities and how important they all are. This will help us remove barriers to marginalized citizens and also make it easier to access services. Parliamentary Secretary Rashta Singh has been leading this work in close consultation with communities right across British Columbia. Anti-racism work is about listening and learning from one another, choosing compassion over division, especially when times are tough. As we've learned over the past two years, the times don't get tougher than what we've been through. And because we've been able to do this together, we're better off as a province. To the award recipients and nominees tonight, I say thank you. By celebrating multiculturalism and fighting against racism, you are making British Columbia a better place for everyone. And now I want to turn it back to Hassan and I look forward to enjoying the rest of the program. Thank you, Premier. It's a pleasure to have you here with us today and thank you for the work that your government is doing. Over the last two years, the province has strengthened its commitment to fighting racism in BC. To lead this work in November of 2020, Premier Horgan introduced Suri Green Timber's MLA, Rajna Singh, as the first parliamentary secretary for anti-racism initiatives. Together, we'll be announcing the award recipients for today. And I'd like to extend a warm welcome to Parliamentary Secretary Rajna Singh to say a few words about what the provincial government is doing to tackle racism in this province. Thank you so much, Hassan, for the introduction. I am joining you today from the traditional territories of the Lekwangan-speaking peoples of the Eskenalt and Songhi's First Nations. We are grateful for the history, traditions, perspectives, and ways of life that are foundation of these lands and contribute to our strength and prosperity. Thank you, Florence Dick and Darwin Seabed, from the Songhi's First Nation, for your opening welcome to start our event in the right way. And I would also like to thank Premier Horgan who just made some introductory remarks. I also want to recognize the members of the BC Multicultural Advisory Council who are joining us virtually, including Hassan, our MC for this evening. I would like to acknowledge all of the past award nominees as well as members of our Resilience BC network. Thank you for all that you do to offer support, advice, and leadership on issues of diversity, inclusion, racial oppression, and discrimination. It's important to talk about why we are here today. The last two years have been incredibly challenging. The uncertainty of the pandemic has placed a significant strain on our health and well-being. From losing jobs, family, and friends to struggling with isolation, the impact of COVID-19 will be felt for many years to come. But for Indigenous peoples and racialized communities, there's also been a staggering increase in racism as a result of the pandemic. The Office of the Human Rights Commissioner recently reported that more than a quarter of British Columbians had been victim of hatred or they witnessed it. Those numbers may be shocking for some, but for these communities, it's just another reminder of the daily barriers that they face in their lives. Now more than ever, we must celebrate diversity and recognize those who are fighting back against discrimination. Their efforts are helping to make BC a safer, more inclusive province for everyone. Each year, we come together for this event on March 21st, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It is a chance to recognize and celebrate those who are strengthening our communities and leading anti-racism efforts across British Columbia. It is also a chance for us to see ourselves within the larger movement of change makers across the province who are taking on the call to stand against racism and hate. There is no place for hate in BC, and we are committed to make this province where everyone is treated with kindness, respect, and dignity. One where no one faces discrimination in their daily lives or systemic barriers that stops them from getting ahead. Soon we will be introducing new legislation to support more consistent collection of personal information such as ethnic origin, ancestry, racial background, or religion. This legislation will help to address systemic racism and pave the way to a more equitable, inclusive province. It will also deliver better outcomes for those who rely on government programs and services such as healthcare, education, and policing. Let me give you a few examples of how this legislation may help. BC Housing has previously collected data about race and found that specific programming was not serving the marginalized populations. Using tangible data, they were able to adjust these programs to improve outcomes for those communities. Social programs such as rental assistance or the affordable childcare are another good example where we can improve access to these programs if data shows there are barriers for applying for some communities. We also know that this is a very complex issue and we must proceed cautiously and with care and understanding. That's why we have developed this legislation in consultation with the Indigenous peoples and following extensive engagement with other racialized communities throughout our province. We will continue to work in partnership with the racialized communities to ensure that they are part of the conversations around how their personal information is used. These conversations will be critical to deciding whether together what information should be collected and how that should be collected. This significant new legislation will build steps that we have taken over the past few years to address racism, including re-establishing the BC Human Rights Commission, launching Resilience BC, our provincial anti-racism network, updating BC's K-12 curriculum to reflect other histories and ways of learning. We know that these actions alone won't put an end to racism. We need to come together as a society to commit to being anti-racist and calling out discrimination when we see it. I hope that you are inspired by the stories of tonight's recipients and are encouraged to take actions against racism, whatever that looks like for you. Now, without further ado, let's celebrate the people of our province who are standing up to racism and making BC an even better place to live, work, and play. And now I'll hand back things to Hassan and to start the show. Thank you, Parliamentary Secretary Singh. And thank you for all the incredible work that you're doing in your role. As a member of the province's Multicultural Advisory Council, I look forward to working with you and the provincial government to stamp out racism and systemic discrimination in all its forms and make this a more inclusive province for everyone who lives here. And as Parliamentary Singh said, it's time for what we're all here for, the awards. I will begin by outlining each of the categories and then Parliamentary Secretary Singh will share our honorable mentions before announcing our award recipients. Our first award of the evening is Intercultural Trust. There are two recipients of this award, which is provided to an outstanding organization or individual for their work in building intercultural trust and understanding and reducing racism and hate between communities. Over to you, Reshna. Thank you again, Hassan, for the Intercultural Trust award. Our two honorable mentions are NISA Helpline from CERI for providing free counseling for up to 800 Muslim women throughout North America through their Confidential Helpline and Kitimat Truth and Reconciliation Committee for working with the Heisle Nation, the District of Kitimat and its resident to put together a month of activities for Truth and Reconciliation in September of 2021. Thank you to both these organizations for the incredible work that they are doing in their communities. And now it's time to announce our first award recipient of the day, Imtiaz Popat from Vancouver. Imtiaz is the co-founder of the Coalition against bigotry, pacific, and the community-based anti-hate task force. He has been a vocal advocate for equal rights and social justice for many years and organized rallies to support the LGBTQS plus and other Indigenous communities. Congratulations, Imtiaz. And please tell us a little bit more about your work and what inspires you. Thank you so much, Reshnaji. You told everybody the work I've been doing but it's been working many years to work with different cultural communities to build that cultural trust against racism and bigotry. And this award means a lot to carry on that work, to double our efforts because the work isn't done. So this will strengthen and empower us to carry on a circle of equality. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Imtiaz Pai for sharing your story and your commitment to giving a voice to the underrepresented in our province and Canada more broadly. Our second recipient is the stand with the Asian coalition in Burnaby represented by Doris Martadale. The organization is being recognized for its work to support victims of anti-Asian racism and hate crimes. Bringing together cities from across the country last year to proclaim May 10 as Day of Action against anti-Asian racism. They also partnered with the city of Burnaby to create a shoe memorial commemorating the 215 First Nations children who were found in unmarked graves at a formal residential school in Kamloops. These shoes were then donated to the First Nations partners to be provided to children in need. It's great to have you here Doris. Please tell us more about what motivates your work. Good evening Distinguished Guests Premier John Horgan Parliamentary Secretary Honorable Rajna Singh Attorney General Honorable David E.B. My name is Doris Ma. I would like to also recognize that I'm joining this meeting from Ottawa the unceded traditional territory of the unconquered Anishinaabe people. I am the co-founder of the San Juan Asian Coalition. On behalf of our board and our 2,500 Facebook group members I want to sincerely thank the BC government for selecting San Juan Asian Coalition as this recipient of the BC Multiculturalism and Anti-Raisism Award in the category of interracial intercultural trust. I would like to thank our nominator and our reference Burnaby City Councilor James Wang MP Peter Julian. San Juan Asian Coalition Movement started only a year ago in April from my kitchen table after I read the hate crime in Burnaby increased by 350% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vancouver saw 700% increase. Few of us came together really quickly to form this coalition because we felt that something got to be done to tackle racism. Many hours went into uniting cities across the country to proclaim May 10th last year as a deal of action against anti-Asian racism. In acknowledging the urgent need to develop more effective policy initiatives and systemic change to protect all Canadians. Well, I would like to thank many grassroots activists across Canada who worked tirelessly to obtain these proclamations from their cities. 8.7 million Canadians were behind our movement last year. Well, this year we're calling all Canadians to join our movement to fight against all forms of racism, hate and discrimination so that we can build a stronger, more inclusive society where everyone can feel safe, happy and healthy. Thank you very much. Congratulations to both of you. We are now going to welcome the Laquanguan dancers for a special performance. Since 1978 the dancers have been performing and sharing their songs at schools, festivals, parades and other events throughout DC. The trope spans multiple generations and includes dancers as young as three as well as members who've been dancing since the group started. It is an honor to have them here to perform for us today. Please join me in welcoming them to the event. Thank you to the Laquanguan dancers for that amazing performance. Again, we were so lucky and fortunate to have you here today and free to bless us with that performance. Next is our Breaking Barriers Award. This is given to individuals or organizations who are tackling systemic or institutional racism and reducing barriers for marginalized communities. There are two awards presented for this category and I'm going to pass it to parliamentary Russia saying to talk about these awards and categories. Thank you, Hasan. And for our Breaking Barriers Awards we have three honorable mentions. Nina Charlie from Lady Smith for helping to organize the first Black Lives Matter rally in Nanaimo in June of 2020 as well as sharing her own experiences with racism to educate others. Stephen Noh from Burnaby for his advocacy for improvements to the reporting of hate crimes in Vancouver as well as his work to promote equity for Asian legal professionals and the community more broadly. And Navjo Jassal from Victoria for developing a program while studying at UVic to provide training and feedback in litigation skills for racialized law students. Thank you all of you for doing for what you are doing to break down barriers and support communities that are impacted by racism. And now for our awards recipients first we have Amy Shelley Fu from Nanaimo for more than 25 years Amy has supported indigenous and marginalized communities including street entrenched youth and the LGBTQS plus population to find housing access education and find work. Over the years she has also worked with many residential school survivors helping them reconnect to their culture and language and find safe housing. Welcome Amy and please tell us a little bit more about your work and what this awards means for you. Thank you. Amy Natigason Oma Nia Nawaewan Shelley Fu Edmonton Alberta Ochinia Maga Miigwetch Nanaimo Niwikken My name is Amy my birth name is Shelley Fu I am from Edmonton Alberta I now live in Nanaimo and I'm very grateful to live learn and work on the lands of the Sinemach Sinawis Suminis the first station and the home of the Mid-Island Metis My journey began with the loss of my daughter it was all to honor her my family used to say it was my grief that drove me and they were right missing and murdered indigenous women girls and two-spirit go missing still at an unacceptable rate and their loved ones are left to grieve and my work supporting women other grieving families would cross my path I started sharing my story soon it became easier to share the rest of my story through storytelling and poetry my work continued to bring me the lives parallel to my own people who had fallen through the cracks of foster care LGBTQS addiction and mental health cultural and identity loss an interwoven web of marginalization due to racism hate crimes and exploitation of indigenous women and youth can't be undone the awareness of what the impact of residential school and how it is affected how we are seen is not only imperative our lives depend on it the highway of tears is not an urban legend my work in the north with indigenous youth showed me the scary connection with predatory and criminal behavior against indigenous people and how it ran all the way to Vancouver Island and our kindness has been poisoned with desensitization we turn the channel we cross the street and we think of something else when we hear of the hate crimes as one person I can't do this work alone however with the support of so many organizations behind me I can bring language and culture to those who cannot access it I can bring food to the ones denied entry to most places and I can ask my community to help everyone access safe supply treatment beds detox crisis intervention dignified medical treatment for BIPOC and for youth it's the collaborative efforts of all the teams I have the honor of working with that help it become a reality and all of these things were born from grassroots people thousands of individuals with dreams of bringing safety to their community and by talking about what is really going on out there we give voice to those too scared to report the crimes against them grassroots podcasts radio poetry and storytelling events are giving them a platform for the voices that have been kept quiet literacy is providing the means to write it and to give access to education every year once more more once silent voices are given a platform they will be our neighbors our teachers and our poets and I'm grateful I can help them get there to the ones who nominated me thank you from the bottom of my heart you have given me a platform to help my community because you believe in this work as well and I share this moment with you all hi hi Kenanis Kovotina thank you so much Amy for your inspiring work and I would again like to congratulate you on your award today our second award goes to the Kamloops African Society represented today by Sally Martin the Kamloops African Society works to support and include people of color through mentorship community engagement and cultural promotion in February 2021 the organization held the first ever Black History Commemoration in Kamloops this event gave the opportunity the chance to share stories promote their diverse culture and and hear guest speakers to talk about a range of issues including mental health and financial literacy thank you for joining us Sally and please tell us a little bit more about what motivates your work thank you PS Singh thank you everyone I'd like to greet you all carnival John and distinguished guests here today I would like to acknowledge the lens of where I sit and speak from today of the Kamloops Chukwapmi people and see the traditional territory of the Chukwapmi people after experiencing hard times just because of the color of my skin I was motivated to start and create a platform that could provide a safe space for all cultures to come and share their issues of racism my experiences not only have shaped and created this but also the experiences of those that continually go through the heart and the harm that is inflicted by racism I am so honored and humbled today to be the recipient of the multiculturalism and anti-racism award it means so much not just to myself but also the community of color and the young BIPOC women that have been part of the work that we were doing this award and initiative represent hope and the idea that it is possible because there is progress being made thank you so much to the government of BC the province of BC sorry for recognizing the states that are being met towards the right direction and inspiring more actionable change in individual and organizations I am so grateful to the people that nominated us myself but more so to individuals and organizations that have accepted and started the work of addressing the deep-seated issues of racism and discrimination for we can't treat that which we can't see nor identify because that meeting these are problem will create better solutions our common humanity should be the great equalizer and reminder that we're all one race the human race and therefore all of you I want to leave you with the spirit of Ubuntu the spirit of oneness Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu meaning I am because you are and I hope that we get there together thank you thank you Sally for your dedication to make our make your community a more inclusive and welcoming place for everyone thank you so much now before we introduce our last finalist Hassan will take a moment to tell us about the award thank you yes congratulations Sally and Amy and thank you for all the important work that you're doing Amy as you so powerfully put it this is work that shouldn't fall on any one individual it's work that needs to be done collectively by all of us and Sally thank you for reminding us of the oneness of our communities our last category is the emerging leader award this is given to an outstanding individual 15 to 30 years of age for their work in building intercultural trust tackling racism or reducing barriers for marginalized communities and I will now hand it back to parliamentary Singh to announce our winners thank you again Hassan let's start with the honorable mention for our last category Rania Sahin from Victoria nominated for working to include more diverse voices and representation as well as to improve racial and intersectional safety for students in school district 61 thank you so much for all your incredible work to make our schools safer for students and all walks of life and this year's emerging leader goes leader award goes to Dr. Rahel Zuba Day from Vancouver Dr. Rahel is the founder and president of the Black Physicians of BC a non-profit society that provides a community of support for Black physicians and medical trainees throughout the province through her work at UBC she has also advocated for an institutional anti-racism policy that led to change to the undergraduate medical curriculum and we supported more equitable diverse and inclusive hiring practices welcome Dr. Rahel thank you very much and be saying and good evening everyone coming from Vancouver from the unceded territories of the Mesquian, Squamish and Soleiluatu nations thank you very much to the government of British Columbia for honoring me with the emerging leader award I founded Black Physicians of British Columbia during my first year in the province after experiencing how institutionalized racism has contributed to the marked scarcity of Black physicians and trainees and how it has impacted the care provided to Black patients I would like to take this opportunity to thank the board members and advisors of Black physicians of British Columbia it is only through our collective effort and energy that we've been able to bring structural changes in BC's medical training and healthcare system within a short time and I also want to extend the special gratitude to Dr. Gina Oglivi and Dr. Ruth Hapte for their nomination to this award and for their constant support and guidance in my leadership and advocacy work I would like to share one of my favorite quotes from Audrey Lorde that echoes the power of community and advocacy so Audrey Lorde says without community there is no liberation I'm grateful to have built a community of Black physicians, medical students and residents that will sustain the work of tackling institutionalized racism and advocating for Black patients as well as physicians and mentoring young Black students I'm incredibly honored to be recognized for this work thank you Hugh Rahale for doing so much to lift others in your community and congratulations on your award the recipient of the Emerging Leader Award also receives a $5,000 grant to be donated to a non-profit of their choice and this year Dr. Zubu Day is donating the grant to the Black physicians of British Columbia for this year we received more than 100 individual nominees for the awards and each one deserving a recognition in their own right their ongoing commitment to support those impacted by racism and to foster diversity and inclusivity serves an inspiration for us all thank you for all that you do your work is making a difference every day I would also like to thank all of the other individuals organizations and volunteers throughout British Columbia who are furthering this work we are stronger in our fight against racism because you are standing along with us before we close I would also like to thank everyone involved in putting on these awards and I would now like to welcome Hassan for our closing remarks thank you so much thank you Parliamentary Secretary Singh and congratulations again to all of our recipients and thank you for the work that you are doing I'm grateful to everyone who joined us today to Premier Horgan and PS Singh Florence Dick Darwin Seeweed the Laquanguan Nation and our award recipients these awards are an important opportunity for us to come together as a province in order to recognize the individuals from these communities who are engaged in this important and vital work but we know that there is more work to do from the tragic killing of George Floyd to the alarming rise in anti-Asian racism during the past two years we've been harshly reminded that systemic racism is something that continues to plague our communities and is something that must be continuously acknowledged and confronted despite these challenges communities of color have been resilient and have mobilized to fight racism and dismantle systemic barriers that we face in order to create a more just and equitable society ultimately though we dream of a day where there's no longer a need to recognize individuals who are engaged in fighting racism because we live in a society where everyone regardless of color are viewed as being equal in closing I hope you join me in not only imagining this future but also fighting for it to everyone watching at home I hope that you're inspired by the stories you've heard today because I am and that these champions of anti-racism motivate you to stand against discrimination and hatred too as we say goodbye I'd like to welcome Attorney General David E.B. to provide some final remarks before we close thank you everyone Thank you so much Asan and congratulations to all our champions of anti-racism on your awards and your amazing work and your compelling remarks during this ceremony Throughout the pandemic our province has seen a really disturbing rise in discrimination and hatred we've seen physical and verbal attacks vandalism and racist graffiti racialized communities who have been targeted for their race people targeted for their ethnicity their faith or simply the color of their skin As a government we're committed to fighting this racism in all its forms but we can't do it alone that's why it's so nice to have a hopeful event like this to recognize champions fighting racism in our province but it's not just our award winners tonight there are so many individuals and organizations across the province that are supporting those affected by racism that are changing systems for the better and bringing people together to celebrate our diverse communities you and they are inspirational examples of how we should treat each other with kindness dignity and respect I encourage everyone in the province to join together to fight against racism it's time to commit to be anti-racist and to have important conversations together we must do more to challenge the status quo to speak up when we see examples of racism and fundamentally shift our institution so that everyone can be included by working together we can build a more inclusive and welcoming province congratulations again to all of the nominees and to the recipients of the awards for your wonderful work thank you