Questionnaire will inform new BC anti-racism legislation
The provincial government is inviting BC residents to tell them about their experiences of systemic racism by completing a short questionnaire.
The responses to this questionnaire will inform new anti-racism legislation that the province will introduce in 2024.
This legislation aims to hold the government accountable for systemic racism in its programs and services and to offer supports to people who have experienced negative impacts from systemic racism. The new legislation will also build on the Anti-Racism Data Act, which became law in June 2022 and allows the province to start collecting race-based data. This data will help them identify where systemic racism happens within government services.
One area where we know systemic racism happens is when people receive involuntary care under the Mental Health Act where they are detained in hospital and treated against their will. Historically, the province didn’t collect data on race and involuntary care, so we don’t know exactly how many racialized people are affected. But the Ministry of Health acknowledges, for example, that Indigenous youth are disproportionately detained under the Mental Health Act and that they are not receiving the kind of culturally specific care that would help (Detained, pages 5, 70).
Submissions to a review of anti-Indigenous racism in BC's health care system showed that Indigenous people seeking health care are stereotyped as being “less capable” and “non-compliant” (In Plain Sight, page 37), which may prompt staff to use forceful or coercive treatments allowed under the Mental Health Act.
We know from other places that systemic racism in involuntary care is a problem.
In Queensland, Australia, Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders have been disproportionately subjected to involuntary assessments (Queensland Health Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Mental Health Strategy 2016–2021, page 11).
In the UK, members of Black African and Caribbean communities experience higher rates of involuntary mental health detention (Final Report of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983, page 59).
Māori people in New Zealand disproportionately experience seclusion rooms in health and disability settings (Time for a Paradigm Shift, pages 41–42).
Detained Black/African American and Hispanic patients in the US experience higher rates of physical restraint in the emergency department (“Disparities in Care”).
We can also learn from the ways other places have changed their laws and policies to address systemic racism in involuntary care.
Nunavut’s Mental Health Act (2021) uses land-based healing and cultural programming to support mental wellness in its treatment services. It also seeks input from Inuit cultural advisors.
In Victoria, Australia, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act (2022) aims to “provide culturally safe and responsive services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in order to support and strengthen connection to culture, family, community and Country.”
The anti-racism legislation public questionnaire offers a way for BC residents to help the province understand the impact of systemic racism within government services like involuntary mental health care. It is available in 15 languages and takes about 12 minutes to complete.
The anti-racism legislation public questionnaire closes September 30, 2023. See the government’s news release to learn more.
You might also be interested in participating in the BC Demographic Survey, which is another way the government is learning more about structural racism. This survey asks BC residents aged 13 and older about their ethnic and cultural background, as well as their gender, sexual orientation, income, education, and disability. The survey also invites people to sign up to be involved in the government’s future anti-racism research.
The BC Demographic Survey closes October 15, 2023.