A former MP who says she was recently racially abused by Parliament security is calling on the agency to tackle racism in its ranks. Celina Caesar-Chavannes said she was questioned by members of the parliamentary protection service in June when she tried to gain access to the precinct wearing her parliamentary pin. The pin, worn by current and former MPs, is intended to give the wearer access to any building on parliamentary grounds without bags and the person being searched, he said. But she said security asked her where she got the pin and tried to investigate anyway. Caesar-Chavannes was elected as a Liberal MP in 2015 for the riding of Whitby, Ont., but left the Commons in March 2019 and sat as an Independent until the election that fall. After her questioning, Caesar-Chavannes said former NDP MP Peggy Nash was able to get through security without incident. “Peggy left politics long before I did,” Kaiser-Savan said. “No one expects us to be recognized, but the pin is universal. Security knows what it is.” Nash was the Member of Parliament for Parkdale-High Park in Toronto from 2006 to 2008 and regained her seat from 2011 to 2015. Although she didn’t see the first part of the meeting, Nash said she arrived at the entrance of the Senate building wearing her pin and was waved by security. Nash recalled that Chavannes-Caesar said at the time that when security asked her where she bought her pin, “It was like they didn’t think she could legally own a congressional pin.” This isn’t the first time law enforcement has been called out for profiling people of color on the Hill. In 2019, the agency apologized after an incident during a lobbying event called Black Voices on the Hill, where several young attendees said they referred to themselves as “black people” and were asked to leave the Parliament cafeteria by a security guard . In her 2021 farewell speech, Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, who was the NDP MP for Nunavut, said she did not feel safe on the Hill. He described being chased in the corridors and racially profiled by members of the Parliamentary Protection Service. “Every time I walk the grounds of the House of Commons, I speak in these chambers, I’m reminded at every turn that I don’t belong here,” Qaqqaq said. Responding to a tweet posted by Caesar-Chavannes on the day of the incident, former NDP MP Laurin Liu said: “This daily racial and gender presentation when I was in Parliament ten years ago made me afraid to show up to work. .” NDP MP Matthew Green, who is a member of the Parliamentary Black Caucus, said the group has heard other reports. “We need to work with senior leadership to make sure there’s adequate training of all staff,” Green said, noting he’s in discussions with caucus members to make sure these types of situations don’t happen again. Caesar-Chavannes said Larry Brookson, deputy director of the Parliamentary Protection Service, quickly responded to the incident and apologized. But he believes more needs to be done and said an apology without action means nothing. Nash recalled Caesar-Chavannes asking Brookson what steps the agency would take. “It didn’t sound like it was completely thought out, but there was a commitment to work with her to move forward and make sure the staff was properly trained,” Nash said. Caesar-Chavannes said Brookson invited her to meet with their diversity, equity and inclusion specialist, but there was about a five-week delay in scheduling the meeting. During this meeting, he called for accountability and clear steps to prevent similar situations in the future. The conversation has since died down, he said. “In a position of power and authority — you have the opportunity to make decisions about what happens next for people in that space,” she said, adding that she is advocating on behalf of those who are subject to the same kind of treatment and are less privileged to speak out. . “I think they would be wise to take it seriously, because it’s 2022 and this kind of egregious abuse shouldn’t be here,” Nash said. “As long as stereotypes persist, and as long as people dismiss complaints about someone’s bruised feelings, truly representative parliaments will not be able to fully take their place, and that is fundamentally undemocratic.” When asked about the incident, the Parliamentary Protection Services said in a statement that it was undergoing an “assessment and capacity building process”. “We remain committed to continuous improvement, fostering authentic exchanges and receiving constructive feedback,” the agency said Thursday, adding that its highest priority is the safety and well-being of Hill employees and visitors. “We have to do better,” Caesar-Chavannes said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 1, 2022. — This story was produced with financial assistance from Meta and the Canadian Press News Fellowship.
