Like Canadians generally, British Columbians are going through economic hardship. Throughout our election campaign in October, the cost of living was top of mind for voters and candidates. One in three B.C. residents, and half of those aged 18-34, are seriously considering leaving the province because of the price of housing. In many communities, people are living in RVs because they can’t afford anything else. According to United Way, over one million people in the province – including children – struggle to afford the food they need.
One might think this would be a time to judiciously limit frivolous expenditures of taxpayer money, and direct public funding towards alleviating suffering and poverty. Not so fast! Even in hard times – even when housing prices are through the roof and 28% of British Columbians do not have regular access to a family doctor – our wise rulers must still open up the public coffers to promote diversity. For the year 2023/2024, no fewer than 31 pages of multiculturalism grants were doled out.
I delved through and selected some highlights:
1. $5000 – “Melanin Magic”: Teaching Middle Schoolers About Systemic Racism
“This project aims to engage middle schoolers in conversations about race, to increase their understanding of the impact of systemic racism, and avoid student forming hurtful and harmful racist stereotypes. Middle school is a developmental period when racial identity development becomes a central developmental task, students already have awareness of racism, ideas about interpersonal relationships are formative, and bullying behavior is at its peak.”
- Project name: Melanin Magic: An Afterschool Program
- Organization: Coastal Research, Education, and Advocacy Network (CREAN)
2. $5000 – Promoting DEI on the Sunshine Coast
“We want to conduct dialogue sessions with various groups on the Coast to promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) ways of interacting with people who experience racism on the Sunshine Coast.”
- Project name: Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk
- Organization: Restorative Justice Program of the Sunshine Coast
3. $5000 – Teaching refugees and immigrants in the Okanagan about “settler-colonization”
“Individuals with refugee and immigrant backgrounds residing in the North Okanagan will be encouraged to delve into the concepts of “home” and belonging through the lens of Indigenous worldviews. This exploration aims to broaden their understanding of settler-colonization within the context of Canada. Renowned syilx artist Mariel Belanger will lead workshops designed to involve participants in traditional crafting practices, personal reflection, and land-based education. Throughout these sessions, the central inquiry will be: How do we relate to the land we come to and how do we relate to the land we come from?”
- Project name: Guest Protocols for a New World
- Organization: Vernon Public Art Gallery
4. $5000 – Theatre for “Filipinx-Canadian, racialized and 2SLGBTQQAI+ service workers”
“Unscripted is a unique theatre event for Filipinx-Canadian, racialized and 2SLGBTQQAI+ service workers using a musical in development, Deep Fried: A Pinoy Musical! as a springboard to facilitate conversation. Seeing their complex realities reflected and having supported space for critical feedback will build resilience, support advocacy for current worker actions, and continue anti-racism work in an intercultural space”
- Project name: Unscripted: Deep Fried
- Organization: PTC Playwrights Theatre Centre
5. $5000 – African Canadian history and dub poetry for prisoners
“Dr. Afua Cooper will be speaking on African Canadian history & performing her dub poetry to Correctional staff prisoners & community members at Mission Medium Institution in Mission BC. Throughout May to August 2024, a book club made up of staff and prisoners will be reading Dr. Cooper’s book The Hanging of Angelique, meeting with her to discuss the book”
- Project name: African Canadian History With Dr. Afua Cooper
- Organization: L.I.N.C. (Long-term Inmates Now in the Community)
6. $5000 – Reconciliation-themed Canada Day live theatre
“This summer, Reconciliation Theatre Society embarks on its third annual “Reconcile Your Canada Day” live theatre project, bringing indigenous and settler performers and audiences together to share stories on traditional S’nuneymuxw territory, and beyond. R.T.S. is an indigenous-led theatre company that produces live theatre through a reconciliation lens out of the OV Art Center in Nanaimo…”
- Project name: Reconcile your Canada Day Live Theatre tour
- Organization: Reconciliation Theatre Society
7. $5000 – A BIPOC and queer led film festival in Surrey
“Screenings and Panel Discussions of Films at a BIPOC and Queer led film festival called the Sundar Prize Film Festival. The festival will be held at Surrey City Hally in June 2024.”
- Project name: Screenings and Panel Discussions of Films at a BIPOC and Queer led Film Festival
- Organization: Sher Vancouver LGBTQ Friends Society
8. $5000 – Using contemporary dance to disrupt racism
“AIP is an interactive performance program using contemporary dance to disrupt racism, discrimination, intolerance, & hate as a method for creating awareness about: – BC’s cultural diversity – Issues affecting vulnerable populations from fully participating in society.”
- Project name: Active Inclusion Program (AIP): Home & Land Theme
- Organization: SQx Danza
How I got this information
The list of multiculturalism grants is publicly available online. What wasn’t clear was the exact amount of money doled out to each project. I thought finding this out would be a fairly simple matter of contacting one of the email addresses that the B.C. government provides to the public for inquiries. Fourteen emails (to eight different addresses) later, and I was no closer than where I started:
I was usually simply ignored. For some variation, sometimes a government employee would direct me to another government employee, who would then proceed to ignore me. I decided to put an end to this bureaucratic nightmare by filing a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, and I was quite promptly sent the documents I wanted.
Should citizens have to file FOI requests just to ask the government for basic information about what public funds are being spent on? And do you think these eight $5000 project grants were a valuable use of a combined $40,000 of taxpayer money?
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A complete waste of our tax dollars – these people and their agendas which are contrary to the views of the majority of B.C. residents should not be subsidized by us. Also we should be able to get financial information regarding how our tax dollars are spent without a major runaround from beaurocrats. Way too many beaurocrats.
Thanks for exposing this. The tragic spending spree by the NDP shows no signs of slowing down. There appears to be little oversight on the grants recklessly distributed and without a doubt, fraud is a factor in many of the grant applications by special interest groups. The grant culture has gone insane. Government has discovered how to buy loyalty with grants, a calculated strategy with results similar to Stockholm Syndrome.
And, these are not just small insignificant grants. In our small community, half a million dollars were granted to a group of outsiders to build structures (against the wishes of the community) in a flood plain, without permits, plans or even a business case. The buildings are un-occupiable because they are illegal. The grant applications were clearly fraudulent as evidenced in the FOI searches, but the bureaucrats are trying to brush the whole debacle under the carpet rather than taking the appropriate actions to address the corruption and hold the villains accountable. The whole thing is stinky, reeking of patronage and political favours. The grant selection committees are rigged, and government often uses unaccountable third parties to distribute the funds, effectively a system of money laundering.
The grant practices are unquestionably corrupt, or at the very least, they are recklessly mis-managed. But, this is only one layer of bleeding of taxpayers money. I look at the deliberate vandalism of our backcountry roads in the government’s zest to deactivate them. What a hideous waste of money and resources. And, if the gross waste isn’t enough, consider that it is being funded with borrowed money. These examples are only the tip of the iceberg. The legacy of our bloated NDP government will be a severely damaged province that will take many years to fix, if it is even possible. Why is the electorate so blind?
Thank you for exposing this. What I see from the above projects are essentially publicly funded political projects aimed at elevating a certain narrative. It’s obvious that the aim here is to push a cultural shift within Canada, where voted upon or not….but I think we all see it is backfiring tremendously. So let’s hope this all comes to an end soon with our next votes!