Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says a first ministersB次元官网网址� declaration condemning racism didnB次元官网网址檛 mention systemic discrimination because not all the premiers would agree.

The statement released Thursday says firmly that all 14 first ministers oppose racism and will drive the governments they lead to fight it.

B次元官网网址淩ecognizing that one of the strengths of Canada is its diversity, first ministers condemn all forms of racism, discrimination, intolerance, and bigotry,B次元官网网址� it says in part.

B次元官网网址淔irst ministers are determined to combat it B次元官网网址� including anti-Black, anti-Indigenous, and anti-Asian racism and hate, as well as anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Hate has no place in Canada and will not be tolerated.B次元官网网址�

But the statement doesnB次元官网网址檛 talk about more subtle forms of discrimination, in which members of some groups are denied opportunities because of the way systems or programs are designed, without overt expressions of bigotry.

B次元官网网址淭here was not consensus on using the phrase B次元官网网址榮ystemic discriminationB次元官网网址� or B次元官网网址榮ystemic racism,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Trudeau said Friday. B次元官网网址淚 have been crystal clear that the federal government recognizes it in order to be able to better address it.B次元官网网址�

Trudeau wouldnB次元官网网址檛 say which premiers werenB次元官网网址檛 on board.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Friday that he was.

B次元官网网址淔irst of all, I agree, there is systemic racism,B次元官网网址� he said in his own news conference.

B次元官网网址淚 guess the biggest concern about the letter, with all the premiers, is a letter is one thing. We all acknowledge it, and I think weB次元官网网址檝e all acknowledged it in our own provinces, and three to four weeks later weB次元官网网址檙e putting this letter out. We want action, and I know the prime minister wants action, too, but all the premiers are saying, B次元官网网址楨nough of the talking. LetB次元官网网址檚 start getting action.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

Talk is cheap, he said, and itB次元官网网址檚 time to do things about racism.

Public officials such as RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki and Quebec Premier Francois Legault have said publicly that they want to root out racism but have rejected the idea that there are discriminatory features inherent to their institutions.

Lucki later reversed herself with a written statement that there is indeed systemic discrimination in the Mounties, though she has had difficulty citing examples.

The national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls offered several instances in its purview a year ago, including the forceB次元官网网址檚 poor data on Indigenous homicide victims, gaps in dispatching in remote areas, a lack of cultural awareness among officers assigned to Inuit communities and numerous instances of Indigenous womenB次元官网网址檚 reports of crimes not being taken seriously.

Legault, though he set up an anti-racism task force for Quebec earlier this month, has stuck to acknowledging that there are racists in Quebec but no deeper racist structures.

B次元官网网址淢y definition of systemic racism is that thereB次元官网网址檚 a system in Quebec of racism and I donB次元官网网址檛 think thereB次元官网网址檚 a system,B次元官网网址� he said at the announcement of the task force.

Trudeau said he thinks the gap in the first ministersB次元官网网址� statement indicates how much work needs to be done to fight systemic racism.

The Canadian Press

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