Former MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes demands change; Parliamentary Protective Services must be held accountable

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

It was 8:35 am on June 12^th, 2022, when former MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes walked with Natasha Chawdhry (a young woman in the Institute of Future Legislators program at Toronto Metropolitan University) to the front entrance of the Senate of Canada. As she walked to the doors, she told the first security member that she was a part of the Institute’s group. He let them in, and they went to the first desk. Her pin – a pin that distinguished MP’s from other guests – was clearly visible. She gave her name and was checked off the first list. The second desk (before the formal security) looked at her license and provided her with a printed name tag. Again, her pin was fully present.

As she entered the screening area, she took off her coat, making her pin even more visible. She was told to put her bags and coat in the baskets for screening. The security there kept looking at the pin, but even with the quizzical looks on their faces, they told her to walk through the full body screening device. When she started to gather her belongings, one of the guards asked, “What was that?” and pointed to the direction of my pin on her chest. MP Chavannes told him it was an MP pin. He said, “Oh! You do not need to go through security.” The woman beside him shrugged her shoulders. She said, “Well, it looks like some MP’s do not need to go through and others do.” Keep in mind that at least half a dozen securities had seen the pin at this point.

She did not say anything further because she had a young, Muslim woman with her, and did not want her to feel further uncomfortable. She walked with her downstairs, and they chatted about the incident for a minute, but MP Chavannes did not want to let the situation go without challenging it. She then asked the pages John and Nonso if the parliamentary pin had changed. They said, “No!”

She then walked back upstairs, and asked one of the guards if the MP pins had changed, as I pointed to my own? He indicated that they had not, and then asked her, “Where did you get the pin from?” She told him that she earned it. He walked away and then came back to apologize and tell her that he would work with security to ensure that she could get in and out of the building for the rest of the day.

She waited on the upper level until former MP Peggy Nash (White woman who left politics long before me) came to the door. Like MP Chavannes, she had her pin on, and got her name checked off at the first table. When she went to the second table to go through security they said, “No Ms. Nash, you can go right through,” and motioned for her to not go through the formal security, but through the automatic doors just ahead of the first and second table.

When this happened, MP Chavannes approached the automatic doors to ask the security why she had to go through the security, if they allowed Peggy to just walk through. Some words were exchanged, none of which she remembers. Visibly upset she walked away.

I saw MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes tweet when I opened Twitter on June 13^th, 2022, and instantly reached out to her. This was one of those stories that needed to be documented in order for us to see that as much as we think we have progressed, there is still work to be done here in Canada when it comes to systemic racism.

I reached out to former MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes, and she openly shared her thoughts with me.

“We think because we see these people moving forward in a progressive way, that racism no longer exists, but racism has not gone anywhere,” she began.

“We think that by hiring a Chief Diversity Officer it is enough, but again, this is not enough. We have to ask, are we seeing any progress that has any actual movement?

Are we seeing any changes when it comes to issues like Black members in the public service being given promotions? I personally know members of the Black community who have worked for public service, and have not had a promotion in the last 20 years.

Are we serious about Anti-Blackness, and if we are, how are we holding these organizations accountable?”

“I am not expecting anyone to recognize me,” MP Chavannes continues. “The universal sign and symbol that I am an MP is the pin, so why was I asked where I got it?  How does this translate? What is that?”

She compared it to how Black youth must feel when they go into a store and are followed around by the storekeeper.

“They looked at me for 7-10 minutes, and then asked me what the pin was. Some of us think that just because a couple people of colour have gotten high positions, that this trickles down to what happens on the ground floor.”

Naturally, she reported Parliamentary Protective Services, and had to spend the rest of the day having them look at her sideways.

The interesting thing about this story is that MP Chavannes actually flew back home to get her pin and still had to deal with the disrespect.

“I didn’t wear the pin for four years. It is the job of Parliamentary Protective Services to recognize all faces of MPs. Their job was to remember who I was. I shouldn’t have to wear a pin or anything else.”

What is disturbing about this story is the fact that even though former MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes is a public figure, a woman who is well known for the work that she does in the community, she still had to deal with being seen as a second class citizen. So the question is, if this is happening to someone like her, what is happening with members of our community who do not have status or celebrity?

There is clearly more work to be done here in Canada; racism is still a very real issue.