OTTAWA –
A former MP who says she was recently racially profiled by parliamentary security is calling on the service to tackle racism within its ranks.
Selina Cesar-Chavan said she was questioned by members of the parliamentary security service in June when she tried to enter the precinct wearing her parliamentary pin.
The pin, worn by current and former MPs, is intended to give the wearer access to any building in the parliamentary district without their bags and face being searched, she said. But she said security asked her where she got the pin and tried to search her anyway.
Caesar-Chavannes was elected as a Liberal MP in 2015 for the riding of Whitby, Ontario, but left the caucus in March 2019 and sat as an independent member until the election that fall.
After being questioned, Caesar-Chavan said former New Democrat MP Peggy Nash had made it through security without incident.
“Peggy left politics long before I did,” Cesar-Chavan said. “Nobody expects to be recognized, but the pin is universal. Security knows what it is.”
Nash was the Member of Parliament for the Parkdale-High Park riding in Toronto from 2006 to 2008 and regained his seat in 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 with her own pin and was waved through by security.
Nash recalled Chavan-César saying at the time that when security asked her where she got her pin, “it was like they didn’t believe she could legally own a parliamentary pin.”
This isn’t the first time law enforcement has been called out for profiling people of color on the Hill.
In 2019, the office apologized after an incident at a lobbying event called Black Voices on the Hill, where several young attendees said they were called “dark people” and asked to leave a parliamentary 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. She described being chased down corridors and racially profiled by members of the Parliamentary Protection Service.
“Every time I walk onto the grounds of the House of Commons, speak in these chambers, I’m reminded at every turn of how I don’t belong here,” Kakkak said.
In response to a tweet posted by Caesar-Chavannes on the day of the incident, former NDP MP Laurin Liu said: “This daily racial and gender profiling when I was on Parliament Hill 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 management to ensure that there is adequate training for all staff members,” Green said, noting that he is in discussions with group members to ensure that this type of situation does not happen again.
Caesar-Chavannes said Larry Brookson, acting director of the Parliamentary Protection Office, responded quickly to the incident and apologized. But she believes more needs to be done and said apologies without action mean nothing.
Nash recalls Cesar-Chavan asking Brookson what action the office would take.
“It didn’t sound like it was fully thought through, 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 a delay of about five weeks in scheduling the meeting. During this meeting, she asked for accountability and clear steps to prevent similar situations in the future.
The conversation has since died down, she 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 advocates on behalf of those who are subject to the same kind of treatment and have less privilege to speak.
“I think they would be wise to take this seriously because it’s 2022 and this kind of blatant abuse shouldn’t exist here,” Nash said.
“As long as there are persistent stereotypes and as long as people dismiss complaints about someone’s hurt feelings, truly representative parliaments will not be able to take their full place, and that is simply undemocratic.”
When asked about the incident, the Parliamentary Protection Service said in a statement that it was undergoing an “assessment and capacity-building process.”
“We remain committed to continuous improvement, encouraging authentic exchanges and receiving constructive feedback,” the service said Thursday, adding that its highest priority is the safety and well-being of Hill employees and visitors.
“We have to do better,” Cesar-Chavan said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 1, 2022.
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This story was produced with the financial assistance of Meta and the Canadian Press News Fellowship.
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