Have you ever wondered why the Ontario’s NDP, and other political parties, do not have more visible minority candidates? That can be answered in two words: institutionalized racism. The Ontario NDP apparently maintains a policy of “targeted ridings”.

“Targeted ridings” refers to ridings which have been identified as having high concentrations of a certain visible minority population. The Toronto head office of the Ontario NDP encourages prospective visible minority to identify themselves, apparently so that they can then keep non-white candidates from being considered as candidates in “white ridings”.

The latest example of the Ontario NDP’s apparent racism occurred in Carleton Mississippi Mills. A prospective candidates in this predominately “white riding” was encouraged to identity themselves as a “visible minority candidate” in the Ontario NDP’s “Personal Disclosure Questionnaire”. That prospective candidate’s qualification included an academic degree from the University of Toronto, and an author of diverse books. That prospective candidate was them subjected to a pattern of institutionalized racism. This led to the rejection of that prospective “visible minority” candidate. It appears that the practice of racism is alive and well in Andrea Howarth’s NDP.

The Ontario’s NDP apparent practices of institutionalized racism raises broader questions about the integrity of that party’s professed commitments on human rights and social justice. Indeed, when Bob Rae had been NDP premier, little was done to advance human rights and social justice for visible minorities and other Ontarians.