Trudeau announces new loan program for Black entrepreneurs as Singh calls for action against systemic racism

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today announced a new multi-million dollar programto help Black Canadians get business loans with national banksandsaid his government is looking atmeasures to tackle systemic racism in Canada.

The $221-million programwill receiveabout $93 million from the federal governmentover the next four yearsand$128 million from eight financial institutions.

Ottawa is deployingclose to $33 million along with fundsfrom RBC,BMOFinancial Group, Scotiabank, CIBC, National Bank, TD, Vancity, and Alterna Savings to create a newBlack entrepreneurship loan program which willprovideBlack entrepreneurs with loansbetween $25,000 and $250,000.

Another $53 million from the federal governmentwill go towardhelping entrepreneurs access funding, capital, mentorship, financial planning services and business training, while $6.5 million will go support collecting data on the state of Black entrepreneurship in Canada.

"We've heard very clearly from the Black community that economic empowerment is an essential step toward breaking down those barriers and creating true success, not just for the Black community but for our country," Trudeau said when questioned by reporters about his government's anti-racism strategy.

"I recognize there's much more to do on the justice system, much more to do on public safety and working with police and we will have more things to talk about."

'A good start,' says business owner

Nadine Spencer, president of theBlack Business and Professional Association, called Wednesday's announcement a "game changer" for Black business owners whohave struggled foraccess to capital and loans.

"I always say that the biggest challenge Black business owners face is that the owners are Black," she told CBCNews in an interview.

"Systemic racism, that is is the biggest factor when we walk into a bank. There is something different for Black businesses than for mainstream businesses."

MerylAfrika, president of the Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professionals,said it's reassuring to see a promise come with aprice tag.

"It's better than what we've had in the past. So I think I think it's a good start and it's a good way to gauge whether or not it is going to be enough," she said.

"I think it all comes down to data. At the end of the day, we want to be able to look at this, you know, three years from now, five years from noweven if the government changesto know that there's actual measures being tracked and that we can then hold our government accountable if they're not being successful in deploying the funding to these businesses. That's great."

Support for Black-run businesses was one of the requests in a letter drafted by the Parliamentary Black Caucusback in June. The letter calledon governments across Canada to immediately address systemic racism.

"We're listening to that document. We're also engaging directly with the Black community and hearing the challenges, the issues, the impediments, the barriers that we need to tackle," said Trudeau while making the announcement atHXOUSE in Toronto,which describes itself as a "think centre."

"But there are many other elements,whether it's our justice system, whether it's around public security, whether it's around community supports, that we're going to continue to work on."

Trudeau criticized by Singh

In July, as "Black Lives Matter" protests swept North America, Trudeau announced his cabinet had created a summer work plan to draft policies to tackle systemic racism in Canada andto help eliminate barriers facing Indigenous andracialized people and those with disabilities.

At the time, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singhaccused the prime ministerof not acting to eliminatesystemic racism and criticized him for kneeling at an Ottawa protest following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolisinstead of making legislative changes.

Singhsaid today's announcement is helpfulbutaddedmarginalized communities are waiting for systemic changes to policing in Canada, including a ban on the police practice of "carding".

"There's a lack of priority to the real concrete changesthat are needed to tackle the problems Indigenous, Black and racialized people are facing," he said Wednesday in Brampton, Ont.

As part of the cabinet's plan, Justice Minister David Lametti has been asked to examine possible reforms to the legal system, Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough and Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino are looking at improvements to the temporary foreign worker program andPublic Safety Minister Bill Blair islooking into "modernizing policing structures and updating standards regarding the use of force."

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.