Thread by @wickdchiq

Alright. I'm on the @blackvotecanada webinar with provincial leaders speaking to the Black community. @CBCAdrianH is moderating. I'm asking an audience question. Here we go. @AndreaHorwath is first. Lemme live-tweet this 🪡

She called out @fordnation for not showing up and I can’t disagree. She talks the unequal impact of the pandemic, systemic racism. Yet doesn’t talk about the police. She tells us that Ford doesn’t give a fuck about Black people. Says the @OntarioNDP does #ontpoli

The @OntarioGreens dude needs better audio. But also calls out @fordnation for not showing up. But does talk about the police. Spends a lot of time acknowledging his privilege in the face of Black ppl’s experiences. This is not a value judgement just reporting #ontpoli

Alright @StevenDelDuca let’s see what you got.
Yes yes @fordnation is AWOL we got that. (Ok maybe not reporting perhaps mixed with commentary)
He’s looking forward to the discussion. He hasn’t named any Black struggles yet

Starts talking about anti-Black racism, ending streaming, touts diversity in policing (like that’s a solution), ongoing de-escalation training, stats on diversity and inclusion of police services. #ontpoli

Harewood: talks about the UN decade for African peoples, what struggles do you see affecting Black people most?

Horwath is stumbling on her words a bit. Doesn’t sound smooth

Poverty 🙄, economic, remove barriers. Says that little have been done. Recommits to getting things done

Greens: raise min wage, housing affordability, ensure Black people achieve the highest quality of life, mental health, help Black entrepreneurs, pulled over due to the colour of their skin (this sounds like the same line he delivered in his opening remarks), environmental racism

Mike Shriner is his name

Del Duca: fewer words more action. No more empty words (🙄). Ford Conservatives have no respect for public education. Talks Ford sending rapid tests to private schools while public school parents were left with anxiety. Talks more streaming #ontpoli

Adrian asks what will they commit to achieving to lift the Black communities across this province.
Del Duca: update anti-Black racism strategy, invest $5 in anti-racism approach, crown attorneys prosecute hate crimes, extend human rights reporting time from 1 to 5 years #ontpoli

Mike schreiner: addresses rising hate, grant programs for Black entrepreneurs, affordable housing, investments in schools with a curriculum with and anti-racist lens. Then quotes MLK 🙄. I wish they wouldn’t. Investing in youth wellness clubs in Black neighbourhoods #ontpoli

Horwath goes full-on MLK and I’m already tired. Touts anti-racism directorate these solutions are so tired #ontpoli

I gotta break and say these pithy, yet broad-stroked soliloquies, are more of the same of what we’ve all been hearing since birth. Up next: anti-Black racism in healthcare and the social determinants of health #ontpoli

Schreiner for the @OntarioGreens: Ford didn’t spend the money from the feds to expand pandemic care capacity. Fund healthcare workers. I wrote about Ford withholding federal healthcare dollars here: #ontpoli notinmycolour.com/resist-the-mag…

Del Duca: Ontario Liberal Plan for Economic Dignity and talks paying healthcare workers, tackle social determinants of health, Ford sucks #ontpoli

Horwath: access to holistic services as a part of healthcare, talks racism and harassment of Black murders. My mom Ian’s aunt are retired Black nurses so this hits personally. Majority of workers in the care economy are Black and racialized women. Talks education on sickle cell

Mental health❓: Black metal health worse than white mental health (yeah cause racism and white supremacy). What you gon do?
Del Duca: Affordable benefits package—touts workplace benefits. Attached to the worker instead of the employment situation. Includes mental health care,

Prescription drugs, dental care, pathway to retirement.
Horwath: Tours some sort of Black mental health day which does nothing. Mental health services to be covered under OHIP. Will address access. But supply is a problem. Increase existing services by 8% #ontpoli

Increase mental workers. Increase training for social services workers to retrain as mental health practitioners. Expand through and intersectional lens
Schreiner: Puts forward mental health strategy: 8% increase in funding for staff, culturally appropriate mental health

Reduce youth mental health wait times to under 30 days. Have to address intersection between race and police (?) encounters. Proposes a hotline to call. Um…okay. And then what? How to reduce stigma? Treat mental health like physical health through OHIP. They have a plan.

Talks about CAHOOTS program in Eugene, OR to address the intersection of race and mental health. Champions using mental health professional instead of police
Horwath: COVID forced us to have the mental health convo. Can’t go backwards #ontpoli

Sorry meant 5M. Must’ve been Freudian

Del Duca: highlights direct link between systemic anti-Black racism and mental health challenges. FINALLY. And then we can’t access healthcare. Crumbling schools, poverty, the usual suspects #onpoli

❓on environmental racism. like that this issue is getting some shine.
Q: how will your government respond to an inclusive transition to a sustainable and equitable economy?
Horwath: situations left BIPOC communities behind. Ex transatlantic, little Jamaica and the LRT expansion

We need to fix the water. Climate crisis: ensure that every effort no community is left behind. Gotta say reminds me of Dubya’s No Child Left Behind and how successful that was 🙄 A just transition is what they committed to. #onpoli

Del Duca: cites inclusive environmental assessment with diversity. Tours community benefits programs for economic development using training trades. #onpoli

Schreiner: must acknowledge environmental racism exists. Grassy Narrows, Sarnia. Need to have the data to see where environmental racism exists. This guy sounds like he discovered racism after George Floyd and is angry. But he’s not wrong. Electrifying transportation, have a plan

Oh yeah and building retrofits.
Economic development: Black entrepreneurs felt the impact of COVID and are at increased risk since issues occurred pre-pandemic. What will you do to reduce barriers that keep Black biz from thriving.
#onpoli

Schreiner: talks Little Jamaica, funding agreements
Supports like community benefit agreements need to be available to Little Jamaica. Help biz to scale through providing to funds.
Make investments to be a global leader in the climate economy. #onpoli

Lack of labour force access. Free tuition for 60K young people doesn’t say how they will be chosen.
Del Duca: no corporate income tax for those hardest hit. But how many Black biz are incorporated? Gov procurement: more deliberate in structuring procurement to support small biz

$10M for Black entrepreneurs. I mean. I guess. The devil is in the eligibility criteria.
Horwath: talks need to grow capital. 78% of Black women entrepreneurs have trouble finding financing, utiilixation on public procurement that focusses on Black biz #onpoli

Black youth doubles rate of unemployment to average of non-Black youth
❓: how to equip Black youth to access labour market at an equitable rate?
Del Duca: we will not leave any talent sitting in the bleachers. Well dude that’s not by choice and that’s what we’re hear for #onpoli

Horwath: Black youth have not had support when the Liberals were in power. Facts.
Min wage (but this is an issue of access not wage primarily), training programs are supported with core funding (this is important. A-base funding), covert OSAP loans to grants. #onpoli

What’s with the Liberals and the NDP touting trades for Black people? Sounds like they’re doing some streaminjg themselves. Why can’t we be lawyers, doctors, etc. The trades is good but not the only pathway for Black people. Sounds like they need unconscious bias training #onpoli

Schreiner: reverse cuts to OSAP, shifting OSAP from loans to grants, huge labour shortage in emerging sectors esp in the climate economy. Repeats 60,000 new places, targeting BIPOC and women, a year of employment in apprenticeship. #onpoli

Rising costs of housing and food
❓: housing and food insecurity worse during pandemic and lockdown. Many tenants lost rentals and mortgage payments chosen over food. How will they create programs with an intentional solutions to have a safe place to call home and healthy food?

Horwath: more people using food banks are working people. Rent controls including on vacant units. Talks renoviction
Schreiner: low-wage workers don’t get an adequate income. Doubling of social assistance rates. Legislated poverty. Raise min wage. Going after speculation #onpoli

Govt must get into the business of housing: co:ops 160K more housing, 60K wrap-around housing with supports #onpoli
Del Duca: rent control, reinstate the basic income pilot, Plan for Economic Dignity, Queens Park would have your back (🙃) under a Liberal government ⬆️ supply

Now we’re into gun violence: crisis continues. Doesn’t see the political will to address the root causes. Calls our giving money to the police. What will you do to address the root causes?
Schreiner: bam handguns. Investment in communities. High rates of unemployment of Blk men

Social supports, fund schools, have infrastructure to maintain social connections: community centres, parks. Supporting Black entrepreneurs. Investing in livable affordable connected communities #onpoli

I feel like I may be up next.
Del Duca: partner with feds to ban handguns. Work with the feds for a national ban on handguns. Invest in fighting anti-Black racism and economic dignity for works and their families. Ford fought against gun control #onpoli

Horwath: opportunities for Black young people diminishing. Nuff nuff reports sitting on shelves collecting dust. We know the solutions. Govt must prioritize. Get rid of streaming. Give kids hope for the future. I HAVE A DREAM! #onpoli
Ok I’m not next

❓: What more needs to be done to create an environment where racialized students excel and so does #BlackExcellence?
Del Duca: beside ending streaming, cancel highway 413. Will take money and invest in school infrastructure. Hiring of 5000 new special education professionals,

Massive uptick in education funding that Liberals will provide but doesn’t talk about how that money will be distributed to Black communities
Horwath: streaming shouldn’t end in grade 9 or 10 but end it permanently for every grade. Yeah I didn’t get the targeting of those grades

Talks about inequitable punishment and policing of Black students in school. Talks handcuffing Black students. Basically she should just name it—the school-to-prison pipeline. What are they gonna do to stop that? #onpoli

Schreiner: teach children how to be anti-racist and bullying. Required professional development for #DEI. He should contact @NotInMyColour for that. Representation of educators. Changing funding formula for equity for at-risk students. Mental health supports in schools #onpoli

Adrian asks about people coming to school in Blackface and how educators have stayed silent. Lack of representation of teachers creates unsafe spaces for students. Now to Zoom questions #onpoli

Community questions: Rising economic inequality. Provincial infrastructure plan. Benefits for the Black community in procurement and construction. How will you ensure?
Schreiner: job opportunities for those in the neighbourhoods of the projects. Community projects #onpoli

After a while these politicians just give the same answers to different questions.
Del Duca: Yes. (Gotta scroll up for the ❓ lol) Ford tried to strip those benefits. Finch West LRT Ford wanted to cut. Needs a lasting economic development opportunities, access to apprenticeship

Let’s create a lasting legacy for economic development.
Horwath: Yes. Ford scrapped diversity requirements for community developments. SHAME. Targets and accountability around implementation of community benefits agreements and hiring #onpoli

Im up! Given that one particular provincial representative on the Ottawa Police Services Board was shown as corrupt and Ottawa Police have been shown as colluding with seditious occupiers,

what are the measures you will propose to reign in the police and include more police oversight that has power to remove officers? Please do not include proposals that increase funding to the police? #onpoli
Del Duca immediately proposes increased funding to the police 🙄#onpoli

Horwath: references the tall Black parents have with their kids about the police. SIU needs to change. Need to create more accountability and transparency get rid of carding and carding data #onpoli

Schreiner: Ford was missing in action. Facts. Reform employment process? De-politicize the process of appointed positions and have some knowledge of what they’re doing and reflect community voices. Transparent and adequate oversight. #onpoli

Community investments and supports to reduce the need for police . So in other words Defund.
❓: What focused priorities for COVID recovery?
Horwath: recovery fund for Black entrepreneurs and small biz. Black women in caring economy took the brunt #onpoli

.@MikeSchreiner: more supports for Black care workers, more support through economic development plans to increase people with for COVID recovery
Del Duca: supports arts and culture sector (Schreiner mentioned it too). Gov procurement. Black community abandoned by Ford. #onpoli

Random checks by police through Ford. Conservative COVID carding. He’s not listening however @StevenDelDuca didn’t hear my question about not increasing funding to the police #onpoli

❓: what will you do for Black women entrepreneurs who aren’t getting capital for their biz and being rejected from banks.
Schreiner: support innovation centres, mentoring programs to help provide capital networking and mentorship supports. Regulation of financial sector #onpoli

Del Duca: public procurement better everywhere else than Ontario. Only the select few will continue to benefit from current processes. Genuine shot to access.
Horwath: lack of access for Black biz to government programs. 78% of Black women couldn’t access those programs #onpoli

Must designed with an intersectional lens. Lord this language and these concepts have hit politicians which means they will be automatically watered down. Can we stop with the phrase “we know there’s work that has to be done”? It’s platitudinous now #onpoli

❓about Black seniors about pensions, care for Black seniors. Uses “so much work that has to be done” phrase 🙄.
Don’t have a sufficient community-based home care programs for seniors to stay on their home. What is they don’t own their own homes? What about those seniors? #onpoli

Horwath: COVID ripped through long-term care homes because the Liberals didn’t do shit. Fix long-term care and home care systems with culturally sensitive approach. Bring in universal dental care. Piggybacking on federal NDP-Liberal pact. #onpoli

Schreiner: we need a commitment to re-imagine how we care for elders. Can age at home in an affordable way with proper care with publicly funded home care with workers paid living wages with full time work and adequate transportation #onpoli

More housing options housing for elders like co-housing to solve isolation and loneliness. Honour our elders
❓: first responders embedded with police. What is your stance on non-police intervention. Black people and the police we’ve had 3 questions on this already #onpoli

Horwath: they issued a paper 🙄. Separate mental health response. Cites mental health crisis in her family where police responded but they were still terrified the police showed. Need to fix a broken system. Touts crisis response teams alongside police #onpoli

Schreiner: treat mental health crisis and addiction crisis as a public health crisis instead of a public safety crisis. Advocates a crisis response line for mental health. Cites CAHOOTS again. Successfully de-escalate in health crises. #onpoli

Police don’t want to do mental health. (Yeah but I’m sure they’ll take the increase funding to do mental health). More adequate housing. Invest in communities.
Del Duca: Loves the police. All responders need to be properly trained around de-escalation. #onpoli

That sounds like increase funding to the police. If Del Duca thinks the problem with police is that they’re not properly trained he might as well be @fordnation. This sounds like more Liberal gobblygoop that gives more power to institutions that harm us the most #onpoli

I won’t bore you with the various outros.

#onpoli

—End

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Now we’re done. 🫡