The province needs to show urgency in filling multiple vacancies on a legislated provincial advisory committee representing African Nova Scotian students or do away with the group altogether, says Tory MLA Brad Johns.
“You have a committee legislated to protect the rights of African Nova Scotian students so fund it and put the proper people on it, or re-evaluate the council and explain why you’re going to eliminate it,” said Johns, the Tory’s African Nova Scotian Affairs critic.
As of October, there are 13 vacancies on what’s supposed to be a 17-seat Council on African Canadian Education (CACE). The committee is mandated under the province’s Education Act to promote “the rights and interests of African-Nova Scotians by providing recommendations to the minister on programs and services in public schools.”
It’s also the minister’s responsibility under the act to fill vacant seats. Two recent members of the committee whose appointments expired this month said the group only had four to five members over the past two years.
Education Minister Zach Churchill said last Thursday that new people, enough to meet quorum, would be appointed to the group in the near future. He couldn’t say what quorum for the group is. Churchill also said it's his goal to eventually fill each of the 17 seats.
The Chronicle Herald followed up with the Department of Education on Monday for clarification on exactly how many people would be appointed to the group and when, but did not get answers to those questions and others by end of day.
In August the MLA for Sackville-Beaver Bank raised the issue of CACE and the seat vacancies at an all-party legislative committee.
Johns put forward a motion at the human resources committee to write a letter to Minister Churchill requesting that a list of candidates to fill each of the vacant seats be provided to the group for the next monthly meeting. Though the motion was supported by the NDP members, Johns’ proposal was voted down by the Liberals who hold a majority on the committee.
The ongoing lack of representation raises questions about the sincerity of the Nova Scotia government's commitment last week to address inequities facing African Nova Scotians, said Johns. Premier Stephen McNeil made a public apology to African Nova Scotians for a history of abuse stemming from a provincial justice system plagued by institutional racism and announced a restorative justice group aimed at addressing systemic inequities facing black Nova Scotians.
"How many committees, how many reports have been done?" asked Johns. "Those reports sit on shelves and those recommendations are never followed."
Churchill has blamed the pandemic for the lag in appointing new members to CACE, saying the department got caught up in responding to the pandemic last year and more recently has been focused on the back-to-school plan.
Recently former CACE member Jocelyn Dorrington accused the province of prioritizing the Provincial Advisory Council on Education (PACE) over CACE. Dorrington, who up until this month sat on both groups, pointed out that both legislated advisory councils have equal authority under the Education Act but that vacancies on PACE are always quickly filled by the minister, unlike the advisory group representing black students in Nova Scotia.
But Churchill said timing can explain the difference.
"The PACE appointments were completed before COVID and once we hit COVID everything else really got pushed to the back-burner," said Churchill.