OTTAWA — Members of Canada’s black communities are praising the Liberals for earmarking $10 million for mental health programs, but say the government has yet to address a pressing request around outstanding charges for pot possession.
Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor announced today a funding program to strengthen culturally-relevant mental health supports for black youth, their families and communities that will address underlying factors, including anti-black racism.
The government, though, is saying little about a request from black communities to provide amnesty for cannabis possession convictions with the looming legalization of marijuana.
Richard Sharpe, a representative of an Ottawa community organization examining issues facing black Canadians, says amnesty would be a “human rights gesture.”
Sharpe says young black Canadians, particularly men, are disproportionately engaged with law enforcement officers, adding it is an “unjust” and “petty” way of criminalizing people.
A spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says once cannabis is legalized, the federal government will examine “how to make things fairer for Canadians who have been previously convicted for minor possession offences.”