Behind the furnace, that's where it was
covered under three inches of dust.
[Reporter] It's been eight years since Ali Chahbar
knocked on doors in London, Ontario --
[Chahbar] Say no to increased taxes and yes to tax relief.
[Reporter] -- asking for voters to lend him their support.
Now he's speaking out about the darker side of running for political office.
What were some of the things you heard?
Sometimes it was explicit
sometimes it was implicit
sometimes it was 'Muslims don't belong in this race
let alone this country.'
Very direct comment.
Some of my election signs were defaced with
somebody spray painted terrorist on one of them.
[Reporter] Ali ran for the Ontario Progressive Conservatives
in 2011 and 2013.
He says he never told the party
or even his family about some of the vitriol he faced.
He feared it would become a distraction from the issues
he wanted to focus on.
It means that you run the risk of being defined
as that candidate and you may have incredible ideas
when it comes to policy on education or health care or fiscal policy
or whatever it is
but nobody ever listens to that.
[Reporter] After a deadly act of violence
against a Muslim family in his hometown
Ali decided it was finally time to talk about
what he'd experienced.
While he says he expected some political opposition at the door
he didn't expect the racism to be so blatant.
I do know definitively that people said to me directly
from their lips to my ears that
they would not be voting for any Muslim candidate
myself included.
[Reporter] Ali didn't win and he says he'd consider running again
but questions of safety come to mind.
Candidates of colour can become targets.
The front window of my
office was smashed in.
There was one occasion where my tire was slashed
and that's a bit frightening.
[Reporter] Jenny Kwan has been in politics for nearly 30 years --
I'm so proud to be the first Chinese-Canadian woman
ever elected to the B.C. legislature.
[Reporter] -- holding office at all three levels of government.
But she's suffered personal insults for who she is along the way.
My natural heritage is being marked,
She says racist attacks and hateful comments
are getting more brazen.
[Kwan] They are finding their voice more and more now.
I've had to call the police in one occasion
where someone came into the office, was absolutely belligerent
and was racist, was sexist, misogynistic.
[Reporter] Jenny's office is now equipped with panic buttons
and staff are directed never to be alone.
Was there ever a point where it deterred you
and you thought I don't know if I want to
have to deal with this?
[Kwan] It's just a bit of a shock to your system
always, every time and then I thought you know what?
I am going to fight for this
every step of the way and people will not
get to silence me
because if they make me go away, they win.
[Reporter] But getting in is no easy task
for many candidates of colour.
Jenny credits her former colleagues
for helping her get a foot in the door.
My mentor the late Jim Green
chose not to run for the nomination in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant
back in 1996
because he said 'Kiddo, I want you to run
because sometimes we have to make space
for people that don't look like me.'
2021 election here we come!
[Reporter] It's those kinds of moves more parties need to be willing to make
says Karen Bird
a Political Science professor at McMaster
who studies representation in the electoral system.
It's not just about chasing the ethnic vote
let's actually think about fairness and justice.
[Reporter] Karen says Canada's political parties
favour minority groups that are geographically concentrated.
That's allowed South Asian candidates to succeed
in certain suburbs
but doesn't necessarily apply to other more dispersed communities.
This doesn't function this way for say Black Canadians
who are -- we don't find these kinds of mass concentrations.
I don't think that there's a riding in Canada
that has more than 25 per cent Black population
and so the parties are less inclined to nominate a Black candidate.
And there's only been in Canada's history
since confederation
we've only had three Black federal cabinet ministers.
If you think about that, right?
So there's not a lot of representation.
[Reporter] Velma Morgan runs Operation Black Vote Canada.
For almost 20 years
she's been trying to get more Black Canadians into politics.
Challenges with fundraising and networking she says
can hold many possible candidates back.
Diversity is a nice, pretty picture
but inclusion means that I'm sitting at the decision-making table
and my voice is just as valuable and powerful
as a person sitting beside me.
[Speaker] The honorable member for Nunavut.
[Qaqqaq] Mr. Speaker
I have never felt safe or protected in my position
especially within the House of Commons.
[Reporter] Racialized politicians have recently revealed
the realities of life inside parliament.
Let me be honest
brutally honest.
Nice words with no action hurt
when they are uttered by those with power.
[Reporter] In June
Inuk MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq announced she was leaving politics
expressing frustration at the government's inaction
on issues concerning her community.
She's not the only woman of colour to leave federal politics disillusioned.
Former Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes says
she felt tokenized and silenced
and a now Independent Jody Wilson-Raybould
says she won't be running for re-election
saying in a letter that parliament has regressed
become more toxic and marginalizes certain communities.
In the end, party discipline prevails in Canada.
Party discipline is incredibly powerful
[Reporter] And that's a problem says Karen
if the country is to move from symbolic representation
to substantive representation.
Representation means more than what she looks like
what she identifies as.
Do you feel like there is a lot of tokenism in politics?
From time to time, yes.
[Reporter] Bibi Hakim works for a Liberal candidate in Ontario.
She hopes all political parties can move beyond diversity just for optics.
I am half Muslim, half Hindu
so right off the bat I check off that diversity bucket
but I don't just have that identity.
I come from Etobicoke North
which my community experiences different things
from mental health to housing
to issues with education or access to health care.
So tell me a little bit about your background.
[Reporter] The child of Guyanese immigrants
Bibi dreams of one day running and eventually becoming
The first elected woman Prime Minister of Canada of colour.
[Reporter] But for young candidates of colour to reach Canada's top office
Bibi says they need more support.
I think they need mentorship.
I'm considering myself very lucky
but looking at other young individuals
and young people of colour
they don't have the same opportunity that I have come across.
[Reporter] Despite having gone through her own experiences of racism
she believes that fighting to have voices like hers in office is vital.
I think what motivates me is if I don't, who will?
And I know for me, representation matters.
[Reporter] And she hopes the future House of Commons
will better reflect the country.
Ginella Massa, CBC News, Toronto.