Employment and Underemployment of English-Speaking Blacks in Quebec

About the Series

Featuring presentations and discussions, the series will bring together representatives from the government, education and community sectors to address challenges and solutions for building sustainable minority communities. It will focus on the experience of the English-speaking Black population of Quebec as a subset of the Black Canadian socio-political and economic realities. The series will enable the sharing of experiences and tested strategies and the work of enduring educational networks that positively impact the socio-economic growth of our communities.

Topics will include:

• Research outcomes based on quantitative and qualitative analyses

• Network dynamics and sustaining the vitality of the communities

• Evolution of social and institutional thinking and attitudes

• Building of social bridges and changes in social cohesion

This event will be the first in a series of 2 events.

About Event 1 - "Employment and Underemployment of English-Speaking Blacks in Quebec: The situation and possible solutions"

In the coming years, Canada, and many other countries, will need to deal with the economic fallout of COVID-19, which will likely leave individuals, businesses and the social economy deep in debt and psychologically disadvantaged. Visible minorities and non-visible low-income working-class sub-populations with fewer resources are at risk of being profoundly and negatively impacted by the crisis. 

The Black community of Quebec, the English-speaking Black community in particular, has for long suffered the worst socio-economic and psycho-social conditions compared to other (non-indigenous) populations throughout Canada. The stress of the COVID-19 crisis will worsen these conditions leading to longer periods of unemployment, increasing difficulty to pay bills, and manage other  obligations.

The accumulation of unattended matters will take a deep toll and has awoken the sensitivity to the messages of the “Black Lives Matter” movement. Hence corporations and peoples around the world are proclaiming their support to fight racism.

This event will address ways the English-speaking Black and African population of Quebec faces the disadvantages of the COVID-19 crisis to reverse the long-term threat of social and economic decline. 

Event details

When: Thursday, September 17, 2020, 11 am to 12:30 pm

Where: Online using Zoom. Link will be emailed to registered participants.

Language: The activities will be offered in English. During plenary discussions, organizers will translate if audience members want to ask questions in French.

Program

11:00: Word of welcome by William Floch, Secrétariat aux relations avec les Québécois d’expression anglaise and Graham Carr, President and Vice-Chancellor of Concordia University.

11:10: Clarence Bayne, John Davids and Xiaoyan Fang: Black in Quebec: Presentation on Black Employability and Employment in Quebec. Presentation followed by Q&A period.

11:40: Dave McKenzie: Practical Solutions to Alleviating the Problem of Underemployment in the English-speaking Black Community. Presentation followed by Q&A period.

12:05: Launching of journal: International Journal of Community Development and Management Studies (IJCDMS) and Special Issues Announcement : The Impact of Black Lives Matters Movement in the Era of COVID-19 Pandemic

12:15: Closing remarks by Christopher Skeete, Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier for Relations with English-Speaking Quebecers

12:20: Wrap-up and adjournment 

Organizers and Funders

This series is organized by the Black Community Resource Centre (BCRC), the Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), and the Institute for Community Entrepreneurship and Development (ICED).

This series was made possible through the financial support of the Secrétariat aux relations avec les Québécois d’expression anglaise, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canadian Institute for Research on Linguistic Minorities, and the Black Studies Center.