Black Lives Matter March in Smalltown New Brunswick

Across the globe and right here in Southwest New Brunswick, Black Lives Matter rallies and marches have amplified public concern about systemic racism and police brutality towards people with colour. On Friday afternoon, close to 250 people participated in a Black Lives Matter march in St. Stephen that began at the Charlotte County Mall. Participants marched down King Street to Milltown Boulevard where they took a knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the now infamous amount of time a Minneapolis police officer knelt on the neck of George Floyd before he died despite repeatedly telling the officers at the scene, "I can't breathe."

The St. Stephen Black Lives Matter march was organized by 17-year-old high school students Hillary Russell and Megan Haley who felt it was important to stand in solidarity with activists around the world in acknowledging that all lives can't matter until black lives do.

"Our community might not have a lot of diversity, but we have support," said Haley. What has been remarkable about the international Black Lives Matter movement of 2020 is that people of different backgrounds from around the world, from Germany, Israel, Jamaica, and Japan to smalltown New Brunswick, have been compelled to unite across borders to use their voices against racism.

Premier Higgs acknowledged the existence of systemic racism in New Brunswick at a press conference on Monday. "We certainly have to recognize the challenge we're having here in our province, the systematic racism that seems to be part of our society, that has been for generations," said Higgs. Higgs' acknowledgement of systemic racism in the province came in the wake of the death of Rodney Levi, an indigenous man who was shot and killed by New Brunswick RCMP on Friday night, just 8 days after Chantel Moore was shot and killed by Edmundston police during a wellness check.

"Friday night changed things for a lot of people, including myself," said Higgs. Levi's death prompted Higgs to withdraw Bill 49, an emergency bill that would have given the cabinet the power to override provincial or municipal legislation during a state of emergency. The bill would have also given police the authority to stop anyone in the province to ask them for documentation to ensure they're complying with the emergency order. As part of his commitment to constructive dialogue surrounding systemic racism in New Brunswick, Higgs will join four of his ministers at a previously scheduled meeting with Indigenous chiefs this week. "This must be a time for us to listen... to make lasting changes," said Higgs.