BILL NO. 12
(as introduced)
1st Session, 64th General Assembly
Nova Scotia
70 Elizabeth II, 2021
Private Member's Bill
Dismantling Racism and Hate Act
Angela Simmonds
Preston
First Reading: October 14, 2021
Second Reading:
Third Reading:
An Act to Dismantle Racism and Hate
1 This Act may be cited as the Dismantling Racism and Hate Act.
(a) "communities" means the communities described in Section 5;
(b) "Crown corporation" means a body corporate conferred such status pursuant to the Finance Act or any other Act of the Legislature;
(c) "hate" means provocation, hostility or intolerance by means of threats, harassment, abuse, incitement or intimidation motivated by the actual or perceived race, colour, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability or sexual orientation of any person;
(d) "Minister" means the Minister responsible for the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives;
(e) "strategy" means the strategy and action plan established under subsection 3(1);
(f) "Race-Based Data Collection Initiative" means the working group that is working in collaboration with the Government to collect personal information as defined in the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to address inequities and better serve racialized people by collaborating on community-level programs and initiatives;
(g) "racism" means the discrimination or antagonism by, or the prejudice of, an individual, community or institution against a person or people based on the person's or peoples' membership in a racial or ethnic group, and having the power to carry out that discrimination, antagonism or prejudice through institutional policies and practices that shape cultural beliefs and values of a society.
3 (1) In collaboration and consultation with communities, the Minister shall create a multi-year strategy and action plan that aims to dismantle and eliminate all forms of racism and hate on the basis of race, religion and sexual orientation, including within each Government department, Crown corporation and arm's-length organization.
(a) a public consultation process with communities to define anti-African Nova Scotian racism, anti-Asian racism, anti-Black racism, anti-Indigenous racism, anti-Semitism, gender-based discrimination, homophobia, Islamophobia and transphobia;
(b) a public consultation process with communities to identify the barriers within the operations, programs, services and human resources practices of each Government department, Crown corporation and arm's-length organization that contribute to the perpetuation of systemic racism and hate;
(c) an action plan that works to dismantle and remove the identified barriers that contribute to inequitable outcomes;
(d) initiatives to advance equity; and
(e) targets and indicators that measure the strategy's effectiveness.
(3) Following the consultations required by clauses (2)(a) and (b) and subject to subsection (4), the Minister may amend the tactics of the strategy.
(4) The Minister may not amend the targets or indicators required by clause (2)(e) without consultation with and the consent of the communities.
(5) The Minister shall publish the initial outcomes of the consultations and the strategy, measured against the targets and indicators, for each Government department, Crown corporation and arm's-length organization within 12 months after this Act comes into force.
(6) The Minister shall report annually on the strategy's progress, measured against the targets and indicators, as part of the Minister's accountability reporting.
4 (1) The Minister shall expand the Race-Based Data Collection Initiative to collect additional data to identify, monitor and track progress on dismantling systemic racism, racial disparities and instances of hate, for the purpose of advancing equity and supporting evidence-based decision making.
(2) The expansion required under subsection (1) must include
(a) the collection of data, including personal information, for the purpose of identification and monitoring;
(b) the use and analysis of information, including personal information;
(c) reporting on the use and analysis of information, including personal information;
(d) de-identification of personal information and the disclosure of de-identified information; and
(e) the secure retention and disposal of personal information.
5 In collaboration and consultation with communities, the Minister shall create a Community Circle, through which the Minister shall consult with traditional, elected and nominated leadership that represents the communities that are most adversely impacted by racism, including Indigenous, Black, African Nova Scotian, Asian and Jewish communities, the LGBTQ2S+ community and communities that are adversely impacted by Islamophobia.
6 At least once every five years, the Minister shall review the strategy in consultation with communities.
This page and its contents published by the Office of the Legislative Counsel, Nova Scotia House of Assembly, and © 2021 Crown in right of Nova Scotia. Created October 14, 2021. Send comments to legc.office@novascotia.ca.
