Premier Meets With Black-Rights Advocates

New Brunswick’s premier is reviewing a motion from Saint John council calling for racial discrimination to become a punishable offence.

Blaine Higgs was given a copy of the motion Wednesday during a meeting with Saint John Black Lives Matter founder Matthew Martin and Ralph Thomas of the New Brunswick Black History Society.

“I want to understand what the next steps are and how we can move forward in a productive way,” Higgs told reporters after the meeting.

Saint John council voted unanimously Monday on a motion to lobby for racist discrimination to be made punishable under the Criminal Code.

Mayor Don Darling introduced the motion which was accompanied by a presentation from Dr. Timothy Christie, a lecturer at UNB Saint John and the regional director of ethics services for the Horizon Health Network.

In addition to petitioning the provincial and federal governments to make racist acts punishable offences, city staff will also look for ways to enforce punishment locally.

“I think our meeting today was actually a really good step for New Brunswick, bringing attention to Mr. Higgs that systemic racism is a part of New Brunswick,” Martin told reporters. “I do feel confident that Mr. Higgs has heard us.”

Saint John council’s motion was not the only thing discussed during Wednesday’s meeting.

The three also talked about improving Black history education and having a space to house permanent displays showcasing the province’s Black community.

“I think the discussion went well but more importantly for me is us defining next steps and then having subsequent meetings, that we don’t just have one and call it quits, it’s to have one that builds on the next one,” said Higgs.

“It’s one of those things that takes time,” added Martin. “As much as we’d love to snap our fingers and change happen, it’s not necessarily like that.”

With files from Ben Burnett.