A group calling on the city of Montreal to hold public consultations on systemic racism and discrimination has gathered enough signatures on a petition to force the city to do it.
The group collected 20,000 signatures of Montreal residents - 5,000 more than the number necessary to oblige the city to hold public consultations.
The group calling itself Montréal en action deposited the petition this morning at the clerk's office at city hall.
This is what 20,000 signatures on a petition look like. Group calling on the city of #Montreal to hold public consultations on systemic racism and discrimination. 15,000 was what was needed to force the city to do it. #CJAD800 #polmtl pic.twitter.com/hX9hdjwQSD
— Shuyee Lee (@sleeCJAD) July 27, 2018
Organizer @BalaramaHolness says they got 20,000 signatures over the past three months - more than what's needed to force the city of #Montreal to hold public consultations on systemic racism. Ball is in its court. #CJAD800 #polmtl pic.twitter.com/KTSIwNZ8sW
— Shuyee Lee (@sleeCJAD) July 27, 2018
Organizer Balarama Holness was accompanied by over a dozen people who helped collect the names.
"Twenty thousand Montrealers said that the job that the current administration is doing in regards to inclusion, in regard to diversity, in regards to the 'Vivre ensemble' is inadequate," Holness told reporters.
Holness, a failed candidate for Projet Montréal in last fall's municipal election and an ex-Montreal Alouettes player, said Montreal's Public Consultation Office - an independent body- should conduct the consultations.
Organizer and spokesman @BalaramaHolness says they collected more than the 15,000 signatures needed for their petition to force the city of #Montreal to hold public consultations on systemic racism. #CJAD800 #polmtl pic.twitter.com/xLtdFmnZOU
— Shuyee Lee (@sleeCJAD) July 27, 2018
Nelly Zarfi and Joël Nawej Karl Itaj are among the 20,000 people who signed the petition calling for public consultations on systemic racism in #Montreal. They helped collect names along with organizer @BalaramaHolness. #CJAD800 #polmtl pic.twitter.com/V2OYVozIdP
— Shuyee Lee (@sleeCJAD) July 27, 2018
Groups supporting the petition include the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR), Côte-des-Neiges Black Community Association, Jamaican Association of Montreal, Council of South Asian Communities and the Concordia Student Union.
The groups say they want to spread awareness about employment equity, under-representation of visible minorities in the civil service as well as the wider issue of racism and discrimination in every day life.
The city's executive committee has 21 days to respond.
Organizer and spokesman @BalaramaHolness says the 20,000 petition signatures send a strong message about wanting change when it comes to systemic racism and discrimination in #Montreal. #CJAD800 #polmtl pic.twitter.com/NrVeiH3sx9
— Shuyee Lee (@sleeCJAD) July 27, 2018