Black MPs and senators calling on government to reduce systemic racism

Black parliamentarians and allies have come together to call on the government to take new steps to decrease the amount of systemic racism in Canada, according to CBC News.

The request comes from the Parliamentary Black Caucus in a statement. The group was formed in 2015 and is a mixture of senators and members of Parliament from different political parties.

The statement comes after many protests against police brutality and racism throughout North America following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.

The Parliamentary Black Caucus is proposing measures to reduce "pernicious and widespread phenomenon" after saying that non-blacks are just learning about the amount of racism in Canada now.

"The members of the Parliamentary Black Caucus are heartened to see so many of their fellow citizens taking to the streets to peacefully express their desire for Canadian society to stamp out racism," wrote the group.

"However, to rid our society of racism will require concrete actions by all levels of government to begin to make a difference."

One of the groups priorities is improving race-based data that is collected and also eliminating bias and discrimination in the police force as well as the justice system.

The group calls for more support from the government in businesses run by black Canadians, more investments in black arts and culture and an increase in black representation in public service.

"While Canada is a great country, for many black Canadians it has yet to achieve its full potential," the group said. "For more than 400 years, black Canadians contributed to what all Canadians enjoy today, in spite of the legal, social and economic barriers.

"In order for Canada to fully realize its potential, we must work to eradicate the consequences of systemic discrimination faced by black Canadians."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to the calls during his daily appearance.

"We are committed to moving forward on a huge range of measures. We're working with communities, we're working with leaders like members of the Parliamentary Black Caucus to identify what exactly we need to move forward on first ... " he said.

"I think it's really important that we all come forward and look at bold ideas that we can take on very soon to fix the systemic discrimination that continues to exist in our country."

He says his government has already been working on much of what the Parliamentary Black Caucus is calling for.

"We will be moving forward on a number of those recommendations," Trudeau said.