Subscribe to the print edition and enjoy The Republic in
your bathroom!
Plus, your subscription goes a very long way in helping to support The Republic and its writers and produces. It's like paying for the music you like.
Click here for details
|
Racism
Huge differences revealed in ethnic groups’ incomes
By Tanyss Knowles
Economic racism in Canada is the unacknowledged other side of the same coin
|
Carlito Pablo recently wrote a piece for the Georgia Straight about economic racism which expressed the need for Canadians to expand their conception of racism. Pablo quoted Henry Yu, a historian at UBC, who stated that when most people reflect on racism they simple ask “Do I call you a name or say something about the way you look or the colour of your skin? For as long as I don’t do that, I’m not racist.” Yu points out that there is more to racism than our often superficial qualifications of it, revealing that Canadians do need to expand and deepen their ideas of racism. Economic racism, a perfect example of a neglected racist issue, permeates our society creating wage disparities between different ethnic groups.
It is first important to understand what exactly this idea of economic racism connotes. Henry Yu describes it as the “insidious face of racism” which leads to exploitation. An exploration of the idea sheds light on the racial hierarchies of the labour market in Canada.
In the Canadian labour market today, there is not just a hierarchy of shades of skin colour. The divisions have become a lot more complex. As of 1996, according to Pendakur and Pendakur, Japanese-Canadian men and women make more than Canadians of English origin: 6% and 14% more respectively, whereas black men and women make 36% and 22% less than their white counter-parts. The study compared an array of different groups of people ranging from Scandinavian to Southern European to Asian, and found different variants of income from the standardized British Canadian income. The findings reveal that there are more hierarchies than one based on whites versus non-whites (although, on average, visible minorities make 14% less than whites according to another study called “Wage Opportunities for Visible Minorities in Canada).
Nevertheless, Chinese people make more than Portuguese people, Russians make more than Greeks, and people from Arab countries make more than people from the Indian subcontinent; all surprising results. This indicates that the Canadian economy is no longer only run by the children of the British settlers. Instead, we have moved into a new era of immigration and globalization where the Canadian labour market is more diverse in every echelon. Nevertheless, the new era does not benefit all ethnic minorities since those in power tend to hire their own race, making it hard for powerless groups to break into the upper strata of the labour market.
Unlike the last study which researched Canadian born minorities, when looking at immigrant workers who come to Canada there are other considerations to take into account. Hum and Simpson find that the immigrant’s years since immigration matter to their wage mostly if they are from a non-white immigrant group. This suggests that investigation is needed into why non-white immigrates are facing discrimination that white immigrants are not. What about women, do they face any different circumstances as immigrants working in Canada? It appears in a study by Beach and Worswick that immigrant women face no significant disadvantage compared to minority women born in Canada, and often they earn slightly more, except in the cases of women with professional or post-graduate degrees, often because foreign credentials are often not recognized in Canada.
The results that have been discussed thus far only pertain to visible minorities in Canada. Considering that most studies leave out First Nations people when discussing these issues, it seems as though they have become the invisible minority. According to a recent Vancouver Sun article, there are approximately 40,000 First Nations people in Vancouver, the third largest urban First Nations population in Canada. As well, it is a young population, with half of them under the age of 25. Jessica Ball from University of Victoria, states that “when we see this burgeoning population of young people, that’s a resource for our province.” Despite all the hope that the statement connotes, First Nation’s peoples are at the very bottom of this racial economic hierarchy. Aboriginal men and women make 52% and 37% less respectively compared to men and women of British origin. This disparity increases in cities with a higher population of First Nations people. In Edmonton, with Canada’s second largest urban population of First Nations people, they fare the worst, making on average 41% (for women) and 63% (for men) less than their white peers. Note that this is with education, age, marital status, and household size controlled for, which shows an extreme disadvantage for aboriginal people entering the labour market and suggests that there is more to discover about the racism that lurks below the surface of Canadian economics.
Unfortunately, according to the Canadian Labour Congress of 2003, one in four Canadians experiences racial discrimination in the workplace. This statistic is staggering and the government finds it worrisome, since visible minority populations in Vancouver and Toronto are expected to double by 2016 and the urban First Nation’s population is also growing rapidly. Canada’s economy can no longer afford to be racist. We need to acknowledge the issues beyond social multiculturalism and commit to economic multiculturalism, or else we will have a divisive society where exploitation, marginalization, and exclusion will forever be racial.
Yet on a more positive note, Krishna Pendakur, a professor studying wage discrimination at Simon Fraser University, says “I kind of think that Vancouver and Toronto are these crucibles in which we can potentially learn about what the future is going to look like. It seems to me that the indicators are kind of good. Among Canadian cities the disparity faced by visible minority workers is relatively small in Vancouver. . . . I think you’d be hard-pressed to find very many other places where it’s more integrated than Vancouver or even Canada as a whole.” There are two ways of interpreting this statement. The first is to throw up your hands and say “well, if Vancouver is the crucible then we might as well give up,” or you could be encouraged by Pendakur’s hopeful statement that Vancouver and Toronto will continue to bridge the gap between ethic groups leading the way for the rest of Canada. Either way, a narrowing gap or not, it is important that we all recognize the racial hierarchies in the labour market in Canada and attempt to understand the complex story they tell.
|
The Republic
print version is generously supported by the following regular advertisers:
Storm Brewing
604-255-9119
Dan's Homebrewing
692 E Hastings
Co-operative Auto Network
604-685-1393
Turk's Coffee
1276 Commercial Drive
Dutch Girl Chocolates
1002 Commercial Drive
Magpie Books and Magazines
1319 Commercial Drive
Artrageous Pictures & Framing
1256 Commercial Drive
Bouzyos Greek Taverna
1815 Commercial Drive
Magnet Hardware
1575 Commercial Drive
Uprising Breads
1697 Venables
Highlife World Music
1317 Commercial Drive
Mark's Pet Stop
1875 Commercial Drive
Abruzzo Cafe
1321 Commercial Drive
Our Community Bikes
3283 Main Street
Does Your Mother Know
Magazines Etc
2139 West 4th Ave
Kali
1000 Commercial Drive
Uncle Don
Freelance Curmudgen
on CFUR Radio, Prince George
Receptive Earth
Hemp & other Earthly delights
4168 Main Street
Geist
Magazine of Canadian ideas & culture
Momentum
Bike magazine
West Coast Seeds
Where to find the print version of The Republic:
Vancouver
Aboriginal Friendship
1607 E Hastings
Bean Around the World
10th & Trimble
Benny’s Bagels
Broadway & Larch
Big News Coffee Bar
2447 Granville
Black Dog Video
Cambie & 19th
Book Warehouse
550 Granville
632 W Broadway
2388 W 4th
Cambie Hostel
300 Cambie St
Capers Community Markets
2285 W 4th
1675 Robson
Carnegie Comm. Centre
Hastings & Main
City Square Mall
Cambie & 12th
Cuppa Joe 189-175
E Broadway
Dadabase
Broadway & Main
Danny’s Coffee
Denman & Pendrell
Denman Community Ctr
Denman & Nelson
Denman Mall
Denman & Nelson
Drive Organics
Commerical & Napier
Does Your Mother Know?
2139 W 4th
Duthie Books
2239 W 4th
East End Food Co-Op
1034 Commercial
Elysian Room
1778 W 5th
Food Stop
Commerical & Venables
Gemeral Store
312 Cambie St
Gold Coin Laundry
B-way & Waterloo
Granville Island
Public Market
Grind
4124 Main
Higher Ground
Broadway & Vine
Il Mercato
1641 Commercial
Joe's Café
1150 Commercial
Laughing Bean
Hastings & Penticton
Lugz
2525 Main Street
Magpie Magazines
1319 Commercial
Our Town Cafe
245 E Broadway
Pacific Central Station
Bus Depot
People's Co-op Books
1391 Commercial
Polonia Sausage
Nanaimo &Hastings
Rebound Health
Hastings & Kamloops
Receptive Earth
Main & King Edward
Rhizome Cafe
317 East Broadway
Simon Fraser
Downtown Foodfair
Soma
2528 Main Street
Sweet Tooth Cafe
Nanaimo & Hastings
Turk's Coffee
1276 Commercial
UBC
Student Union Building
Union Food Market
810 Union
Uprising Breads Bakery
1697 Venables
Vancouver Community College
250 W Pender
Vancouver Public Library
350 W Georgia
1661 Napier
2425 MacDonald
370 E Broadway
West Vancouver
Capers
2496 Marine Dr
West Vancouver Library
1950 Marine
Duncan
Community Farm Store
330 Duncan St
Victoria
Bean Around the World
533 Fisgard
Munro’s Books
1108 Government
University of Victoria
Graduate L0unge
Victoria Public Library
735 Broughton
Powell River
River City Coffee
4801 Joyce
Local Loco’s Music & Arts Cafe
Flying Yellow Breadbowl
4698 Ewing
Powell River Library
4411 Michigan
Kaslo
Blue Belle Bistro
302 Fourth
SunnySide Naturals
404 Front
Nanaimo
Nanaimo Public Library
Harbourfront Br
Port Place Shopping Ctr
650 S Terminal
The Green Store
Port Place
Mermaid’s Mug
357 Wesley St
Nelson
Mountain Pass Imports
402 Baker
Toronto
Moonbean Cafe
30 St. Andrew St
Future Bakery
483 Bloor St West
Oakville Peace &Ecology Centre
148 Kerr
|
The Republic of East Vancouver masthead
The Republic of East Vancouver supports no party, advocates
for no cause, represents no group, serves no master, and considers
problems with no preconceived notions. We hope to afflict the comfortable,
both materially and intellectually, and comfort the afflicted—of
both kinds as well, and we are trying to do both things at the same
time.
Publisher, Editor
Kevin Potvin
Advertising
Kevin
Potvin
Support
Dan Crawford, John Daigle,
Jack Etkin, Janis Harper, Carl Johnson, Hilary Jones, Chris King,
James Mecham, Albrecht Meyers, Peter Miller, James Pope
Contributors in this and recent issues
Bruce Alexander, Dan Adleman, Toby Alford, Kevin Annett, Santo Barbieri, Bob Broughton, Mike Bryan, Stephen Buckley, Matthew Burrows, Maria Calleja, Ron Carton, Chad Christie, Joshua Corber, Dan Crawford, Gail Davidson, Eric Doherty, Joe Donaldson, Lorena Jara Patty Ducharme, Shadia Drury, Taivo Evard, Reed Eurchuk, Farnaz Fassihi, Thomas Feakins, Anthony Fenton, Reza Fiyouyzat, Andrew Gordon Fleming, Ryan Fugger, Sasha Gagic, Matt Goody, Guy Hawkins, Spencer Herbert, John Irwin, Nick Istvaniffy, Junius, William Kay, Mike Keep, Kate Kennedy, Donald Kropp, Chris LaVigne, James Lindfield, Brian Lindgreen, Karen Litzke, Keith MacKenzie, Michael McLaughlin, Sonya McRae, Rafe Mair, Sonia Marino, Jennifer Matsui, Michael Millard, Isaebel Minty, Michael Nenonen, Wendy Nylund, Derrick O’Keefe, Stephen Osborne, Sean Orr, Evan Augustine Pederson III, Stephen Peplow, Kim Peterson, Kevin Potvin, Mary Rawson, Andrea Reimer, Erin Riley, Phil Rockstroh, Becky Scott, Jason Scott, Chris Shaw, Jeff Steudel, Alex Tegart, Scott Turner, Elbio Grosso Trentini, Patrick Vert, Chris Walker, Sean Wilkinson, Brad Zembic
For comments or suggestions, please contact the
Republic Webmaster
|
