​The British Columbia government is asking for public input in crafting legislation to tackle systemic racism in provincial programs and services.

That input will come from an online questionnaire that asks respondents to answer questions about their experiences with racism, what priorities they would like to see for anti-racism services, and their opinions on healing and restorative justice.

In addition to the questionnaire, the province is also providing $5,000 grants for Indigenous governments, racialized, intersectional, 2SLGBTQIA+ and faith-based community organizations to hold engagement sessions on the legislation.

This bill is set to be introduced in 2024 and is being co-developed with input from Indigenous Peoples. It will be written to hold the government accountable for addressing systemic racism and provide supports for those who have been negatively impacted. This legislation builds on 2022's Anti-Racism Data Act. That bill allows the province to ask the public to provide demographic information in order to find areas of system racism in accessing public services.

The questionnaire is open until September 30, 2023 while the deadline for grant applications is June 23, 2023.

More information on the public engagement, including links to the questionnaire and grants, can be found at: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/antiracism/.