Consultation on systemic discrimination and racism in culture and media

The Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse (CDPDJ) has selected Diversité artistique Montréal (DAM) to hold a local consultation on systemic discrimination and racism in the cultural and media sector. DAM will hold this consultation with Culture Montréal, the English Language Arts Network (ELAN), and Espace Nodal.

The consultation will be held in both official languages and will take the form of two types of activities between November 3 and 8. This will encourage all cultural and media stakeholders to voice their opinions. The activities will include public hearings (Nov. 8) and closed discussion groups (Nov. 3-7) to provide a safe space for testimonies. It will also be possible to post anonymous testimonies on the CDPDJ website.

Racialized English-speaking artists, cultural workers, media professionals, students, cultural development stakeholders, and citizens are welcome and encouraged to contribute their stories. Please consult the call for participation for more information. The deadline to register is October 29.

For more information:

Call for participation – click here
Discussion group registration – click here
Public hearings registration – click here

Other ways to participate:

If you wish to participate online, please wait until the CDPDJ online platform opens in the coming days. The platform will be accessible at http://www.cdpdj.qc.ca/en/consultation-2017/Pages/default.aspx
If you live outside Montreal, you may participate in a local consultation in your region. To find out which organization is leading activities near to you, please consult http://www.cdpdj.qc.ca/en/consultation-2017/Pages/organismes.aspx

Read DAM’s press release here.

Land Acknowledgement

ELAN is an official minority language organization within a country that recognizes two languages as official. ELAN is located in Tiohtià:ke, the original name for Montreal in Kanien’kéha, the language of the Mohawk—also known as Mooniyang, which is the Anishinaabeg name given to the city by the Algonquin. While we are based in this city, our projects have also taken place in many regions across Quebec.

We acknowledge the colonial origin of English and French in Canada, and recognize that both languages benefit from official status throughout the land. The province that we know as Quebec is an amalgamation of the traditional territories of the Innu and Inuit nations, Algonquian nations, as well as the Mohawk nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Kanien’kéha and Anishinaabemowin are but two of the original languages of this province; Atikamekw, Cree, Inuktitut, and Innu-aimun are also among the many Indigenous languages spoken across Quebec as majority languages, all well before French and English.

ELAN acknowledges the important work being done by First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples to revive the traditional languages of these territories, and their advocacy for the official status of Indigenous languages.