Human Resources committee  Thank you so much for having us. God bless you. We appreciate you.

Human Resources committee  Thank you.

Human Resources committee  If I can jump in, I think your response is in the question: Is there much flexibility? The answer is no. I think that's a word that we've been referring to in this place. It's like a new immigrant who has 20 years' experience in banking in Nigeria who comes here, and a Canadian who graduated from the University of Toronto two years ago.

Human Resources committee  I think Alica has done justice to the question, but if I have to add anything or amplify anything, it's that we need to understand that we can't compare apples to oranges, so to speak. With the injustices the Black communities and Black businesses have faced over time, we can't put the money on the table and say, “Why are they not going?

Human Resources committee  This is the reality.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely. Only six weeks ago, I was tutored by a young woman who came from India. You are trained for six weeks, and you are put in a call centre, because it's the lowest paying job in the bank. That was my first job, and I loved it. This woman had a face call. It happened to be a white Canadian who, the moment he heard her accent, picked on her and insulted her heritage.

Human Resources committee  Please go ahead.

Human Resources committee  What I understand.... Number one, is this program well known in the community? Number two, is it promoting equity or, rather, achieving the objective? Number one, we have a very large base. I can say it's not as big as it could be. There is so much of this going on. People forward emails, as Alica just mentioned, saying, “Did you know about this?

Human Resources committee  Number one is education. Restricting Black education to February is an injustice, as Martin Luther King would say, injustice anywhere. Number one is education. The fact that for far too long we're still keeping it to February, I think, frankly, we should be ashamed of. It's the same for indigenous people.

Human Resources committee  No, we have not applied, but we know people who.... I don't think they've applied, but they have discussed it and were thinking about applying. However, I can't confirm whether they did or not.

Human Resources committee  I find that it's the enabling environment, and I know many organizations, like the BBPA and others, are working on this. There is an area called Eglinton. Some of you may know it. I know a lot of business owners in that particular area, and I drive there every now and then, especially when I go to the Jamaican consulate there.

Human Resources committee  Thank you so much for inviting me to be part of this very critical conversation. I appreciate the opportunity, and want to give a shout out to Michael Coteau—I think he's there somewhere—for the work he is doing in the Black community to help with Black businesses and develop the community.