Michael Coteau and Anti-Racism

Secretariat: But what will the Directorate actually do, and how is it different from the Anti-racism Secretariat mandated under Bill 107 – the 2007 amendment to the Ontario Human Rights Code These are but some of the issues that require further clarification from the Premier and from Michael Coteau, the minister responsible for anti-racism, according to Toronto Star. For the community groups that have been calling for both bodies to be established, the difference between the Secretariat and the Directorate is very clear. This is good news for First Peoples and peoples of colour across the province who have long been calling on the government to develop an integrated and comprehensive strategy to combat systemic racism and to address the growing racial inequities in Ontario. The Anti-Racism Secretariat and the Disability Secretariat are the two bodies under the Ontario Human Rights Code named in Bill 107 as mechanisms to assist the Ontario Human Rights Commission fulfill its systemic advocacy mandate. Yet these two Secretariats were never set up and the concerns of the affected communities still remain. These two secretariats were promised by the then-Attorney General, Michael Bryant, to members of racialized communities and disabilities communities, as a concession to their concerns that Bill 107 would privatize the human rights system and reduce human rights protection. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.