Irfan Sabir, NDP MLA for Calgary-McCall, made the following statement in response to the release of the recommendations of the Alberta Anti-Racism Advisory Council:

“While the release of this delayed report is a good step, much more work needs to be done to implement the recommendations of the report and begin addressing racism in Alberta. 

“It’s shameful that this report sat on the Minister's desk for months as racism and hate-motivated attacks continue to rise in Alberta. People of colour continue to live in fear, and that fear only grows as more of these attacks continue. We need to take immediate action against this violence. We can’t afford any more delays. 

“I’m calling on the UCP government to clarify if they have actually accepted the Council’s recommendations, which include specific government actions such as abandoning Tyler Shandro’s plan to layoff 11,000 frontline healthcare workers, who are disproportionately racialized Albertans.

“If the government has accepted these recommendations, the next step must be the formation of a bi-partisan committee to co-develop and oversee an implementation action plan.

“In addition, we’ve been listening to members of racialized and religious communities through anti-racism consultations to develop policy solutions to address racism in Alberta. Through these consultations, we’ve received clear feedback that the government needs to support victims of hate crimes, fund public education and race-based data collection, and increase funding to the Human Rights Commission, including the Alberta Hate Crimes Committee.”