Racism versus culture: competing interpretations of racial inequality in Canadian public policy

Abstract

The paper explores why the provinces of Ontario and Quebec devised contrasting policies in response to similar incidents of urban violence in the mid-2000s. In both settings, municipal police departments launched aggressive campaigns against so-called “youth gangs.” However, Ontario went one step further and created a new “youth policy” to expand out-of-school programs for children and adolescents. By examining the origins of the policies in each province, the paper concludes that Black political actors in Ontario were leading champions of the youth policy, whereas, in Quebec, police chiefs took the driver’s seat and advocated for a disciplinary strategy against “street gangs.” The contrasts in policy and Black political participation exemplify the distinct racial politics of the provinces. Race-conscious policy in Ontario grows out of a tradition of Black radicalism and multi-racial coalitions. In Quebec, minority nationalism turns race into a proxy for clashes over ethnicity and culture.