There is a record number of 53 MPs from minority backgrounds in the Commons, representing 15.7 per cent of the total number of seats. That percentage is still below the 26.3 percentage of visible minorities in the general population. But the increase in the last election was outstanding.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on May 11, 2026.

OTTAWA —May is Asian Heritage Month in Canada. And in a speech last Tuesday to a diverse audience at the National Gallery of Canada, Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Marc Miller revealed a surprising number.

He celebrated the reality that one in five Canadians is of Asian background. The country is aware of a large Asian presence in the metropolitan areas of Toronto and Vancouver.

But our diversity has spread across the country.

What was exciting at the gallery celebration was the presence of more than two dozen MPs and Senators who hail from Asian background.

They join dozens of other MPs who are defined as visible minorities.

In the current Parliament, there is a record number of 53 MPs from minority backgrounds, representing 15.7 per cent of the total number of seats.

That percentage is still below the 26.3 percentage of visible minorities in the general population.

But the increase in the last election was outstanding.

Almost 10 per cent of the House of Commons is comprised of South Asian members who occupy 31 seats.

The number of visible minorities has increased in every one of the last four elections, so equivalency should be happening soon.

Compare that figure to the number of Asian Americans serving in their Congress. At this time, only 24 Congresspeople self-identify as Asian, representing 4.4 per cent of the House of Representatives. The Asian presence in the United States figures in at only 6.7 per cent.

The first Canadian breakthrough in diverse parliamentarian elections occurred in 1993 when 13 minority MPs were elected.

According to a paper published by retired McGill professor Jerome H. Black, “this was the first time that more than a handful of such individuals had found their way into Parliament and thus, constitutes significant early development in the racial diversification of the legislature.”

That breakthrough did not happen by accident. The Liberal Party won a majority government that year, and part of its pre-election strategy for recruiting candidates was to establish a 25-per-cent minimum nomination of women and minorities.

That strategy continued while the Liberals in government.

The establishment of Asian Heritage Month was carried out by an official declaration of the government. At the time, then-Senator Vivienne Poy and I worked together on the subject. She introduced a private member’s bill into the Senate in the fall of 2001, and I issued an official government declaration the following February, setting the stage for the first celebration of May 2002.

We used the same strategy to introduce Black History Month in 1995. Parliament’s first Black woman, Jean Augustine, introduced the resolution in the House that was subsequently adopted as official government policy under the leadership of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

The decision to adopt an inclusive nomination process was also reflected in other government policies.

In 1999, as minister, I issued a directive to the CRTC demanding a rewrite of television and radio licensing renewal guidelines to require applicants to hire women, minorities, and Indigenous Peoples.

Funding guidelines were also modified for all 15 Crown corporations under the authority of the minister of Canadian Heritage. This group included the CBC and Parks Canada.

The directive ensured that every organization develop a plan to increase the hiring of women and minorities. In the case of Parks Canada, their action plan resulted in an immediate 17-per-cent hike in the hiring of Indigenous employees.

The government also announced the first-ever National Aboriginal Day under the leadership of Ron Irwin, then-minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. We also established National Multicultural Day.

Both days of recognition were included in the celebrations of Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day and Canada Day.

The first Asian Heritage month celebration involved coffee and cookies in one of the parliamentary reception rooms with a few dozen representatives.

Last week, it was standing-room only, and the theatre at the National Gallery was filled with hundreds of participants.

Most important were the numbers of parliamentarians who joined the minister in the presentations. The face of the country is changing, and the face of government is—thankfully—changing along with it.

From Liberal MPs Chi Nguyen to Jean Yip, from Rechie Valdez, to Fares Al Soud, the presenters were dynamic, bright and bilingual. Each had their own story, sharing their family struggles of immigrating to a new country.

Each also has experienced unique struggles in securing nominations or electoral success.

They are the new faces of Canada.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

Bell Media says it lost $140-million in advertising revenues last year while its new division suffered more than $40-million in operating costs. 

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on February 12, 2024.

OTTAWA—BCE Inc. is selling off almost half its radio stations and eliminating 4,800 jobs as so-called heritage media continues to lose advertising revenue to social media outlets.

According to The Canadian Press, it was the second round of cuts in less than a year as the company closed nine radio stations and laid off six per cent of their employees last spring.

In an open letter, chief executive Mirko Bibic said employee departures would be met by natural attrition and unfilled vacancies as much as possible.

The company raised its quarterly dividend as profits plummeted.

Internally, the move was characterized as a “significant divestiture.”

According to Bell’s chief legal and regulatory officer Robert Malcolmson, “it’s just not a viable business any more. We will continue to operate ones that are viable, but this is a business that is going in the wrong direction.”

Malcolmson saved his severest criticism for the federal government, claiming the slow pace of promised financial aid to news outlets was a factor in the decision.

An overview of the 45 radio stations being sold indicates not a single station is in a major provincial or federal centre.

The seven buyers for the stations, Vista Radio, Whiteoaks, Zoomer Media, Arsenal Media, Maritime Broadcasting, Durham Radio, and My Broadcasting Corporation are spread from Atlantic Canada, through Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia.

Some, like Zoomer, are open about targeting a certain age demographic, while others are moving rapidly into technology. Vista advertises itself as the first broadcaster in Canada to embrace cloud-based music distribution.

Meanwhile, Bell Media says it, too, is investing in digital transformation, but whether that can be made profitable remains to be seen.

It also says that it lost $140-million in advertising revenues last year while its new division suffered more than $40-million in operating costs.

One can expect that the vast majority of layoffs will be in news.

The company’s decision to blame the government for its woes is confusing.

If there is no viable business case for running radio stations, why would the government step in to fill the gap?

And, as the 45 radio stations have been sold to other radio conglomerates, somebody must think there there is money to be made somewhere.

Malcolmson says the company cannot wait another year for the financial help promised by the introduction of Bill C-11, federal legislation designed to charge social media broadcasters a fee for repeating news gathered by traditional media outlets.

He also criticized the amount of prospective payments saying it simply would not be enough to stem the losses.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission hopes to be ready to make payments by the end of this year.

Complicating that picture is the promise by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to trash the proposed financial help. Consistent with his general hate-on for the media, Poilievre has promised: “We will repeal this anti-speech censorship law and restore freedom of expression on the internet.”

Maybe Bell needs to do a little more housekeeping at the top of its food chain by ushering in some innovation to an organization that appears sadly stuck in the last century.

Women are still smarting over the 2022 decision to dump national anchor Lisa LaFlamme as one senior manager attacked her for her choice to go naturally grey.

In the notice of current layoffs, there doesn’t appear to be a single woman involved in the announcement.

One of the things that the pandemic taught us is that the new workforce is nimble.

Millennials can be very creative, and heaven knows Bell is in need of some creativity, but younger workers are also seeking workforce flexibility. Companies need to be able to react to that.

The regulatory affairs office at Bell doesn’t see it that way.

In the thick of the pandemic, when many employers were allowing housebound workers to do their jobs from warmer climes for a few freezing winter weeks, Bell’s legal department said ‘no’.

Maybe the company has simply grown too big to be able to innovate in the areas where it needs innovation.

If the company isn’t sure it can make money from digitization, it needs to take a look around it at the outside world.

From online shopping, to music selection and media streaming, digitization is where the profits lie. Being able to reach customers virtually is a huge advantage.

If the regulatory team at Bell is leading its innovation charge, no wonder the place is in fire-sale mode.

It is not the government’s fault.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.