Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-05-27Clarftwn Clarington Diversity Advisory Committee Thursday, May 27, 2021, 7:00 PM — 9:00 PM Via Microsoft Teams If this information is required in an alternate format, please contact the Accessibility Coordinator at 905-623-3379 ext 2131 Present: Sajida Kadri Meera McDonald Lyndsay Riddoch Rajeshwari Saharan Laila Shafi Rachel Traore Dione Valentine Councillor Ron Hooper (joined at 7:45 p.m.) Also Present: Erica Mittag — Community Development Coordinator Jeff Haskins, Inspector East Division Durham Regional Police Services George Acorn, Director Community Services Candace Hodgson, Customer Service Coordinator Andrew Payne, Planner I Alison Jeschke, Communications Coordinator Regrets: Yasmin Shafi The meeting called to order at 7:03 p.m. Land Acknowledgement Statement Meera McDonald read the Land Acknowledgement Statement. 2. Declaration of Interest • Erica spoke to the requirement to disclose any personal interest, if members are receiving a benefit by the matter being addressed, they need to declare. • May not be required to physically remove from meetings, other than closed sessions or voting. • Meera asked the committee members if any of the agenda items are of personal interest or concern. No concerns raised. • This will remain a standing agenda item. Page 11 3. Review and Approval of Agenda Moved by Dione Valentine, seconded by Laila Shafi. That the agenda of the May 27, 2021 meeting be approved. Carried 4. Review and Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes Moved by Laila Shafi, seconded by Lyndsay Riddoch. That the minutes of the meeting of March 25, 2021 be approved. Carried 5. Welcome and Introductions Meera welcomed everyone to the meeting. Diversity Advisory Committee Members, Staff and guest provided introductions. 6. Update from Director of Community Services: George Acorn shared: • There have been many initiatives related to Diversity and Inclusion over the past year between the work of the Committee and staff. • Many items have been high profile items such as Indigenous Cultural Awareness training, LEAD initiative (with Abilities Centre). 7. Presentation — Durham Regional Police Services (DRPS) Community Safety Advisory Committee • DRPS East Division covers Clarington and some parts of east Oshawa. There are 120 members in the division; 90 members work in a uniform role, support related units including Investigative, Traffic Safety and School Liaison, Undercover and Financial Crimes. • Each division creates a Community Safety Plan, most dominant component is roadway safety plan which is local, movement of people which is a constant challenge and an issue; traditional crime reduction and crime prevention through crime analysis and problem oriented and intelligence gathering to address instances of crime in community. • Key objective of DRPS is to try to inspire and build trust and confidence in all communities. • Community Safety Council — formally establish this council to help deal with issues in the community and resident input to guide us on our plans and priorities, may intersect with Diversity and Advisory Committee — looking for representation of one member of the Committee on the Council. Page 12 • Members for this new Council will be selected through an application and panel process. DRPS would like to request that a member of the DAC (one who is not thinking of applying to be on the Council) participate as a member of this panel (would be approx. a one to two week time commitment in August or September). • The Committee will consider these requests at their June meeting and will share an update on that discussion with Jeff. Erica will share the terms of reference for the Council with the Committee for review. Symbols of Hate • In past years, hate crimes reported: 0 2019 — 41 in the Region; 7 in Clarington 0 2020 — 42 in the Region; 7 in Clarington 0 2021 (to date) — 8 in the Region; 0 in Clarington • Criminal code is a challenge to enforce hate crimes since consent of Attorney General is required for police to move forward on any hate crime investigation, can be discouraging to find level of resolution or comfort. Few people come forward because of the process involved. Support is needed to encourage reporting of those experiencing hate crime in our community to understand what is happening, ability to address those issues and feel excluded as subjects to hate crime. • Mental health issues are a medical call, not police call. Violence can be a component of the situation but it is a case by case situation on who needs to be engaged and there is a mental health team at DRPS to deal with those in crisis and to deal with in appropriate and respectful way that we can. • Dr. Barbara Perry has established the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University and is a great resource to the community. • Symbols of hate on personal/private property would be something for police to review and determine whether there is authority. • Peel Region Police Services has a Victim Service Response unit established that we could leverage or learn from. Human Trafficking • DRPS has offered to provide a presentation by a DRPS member who has this expertise to provide update to this community. • For example, possible suspect not charged identified as a visible minority posted on social media. This concern was raised at an Anti -Black Racism Subcommittee meeting. What are the ripple effects of this on the community? • Consider inviting a DRPS member to attend future meeting of the Subcommittee to discuss. 8. Gender Pronouns and Inclusive Language • Erica shared email memo from Clarington Diversity and Inclusion Staff Team with Committee in advance of meeting. Page 13 • They are looking for considerations of including gender pronouns in email signatures and corporate approach to inclusion. • Gender identity and expression may differ than the gender/sex identified at birth biologically, and this was added to grounds of discrimination in Human Rights Act. • A recommendation was presented to staff leadership team. Input is requested of the Committee to: o Support Clarington Diversity and Inclusion Staff Team's proposal of an optional gender pronoun initiative for Clarington staff and Council where gender pronouns are shared in a variety of ways, and is supported with training and education. o Support for the concept of an inclusive language resource for Clarington staff. o Advise should Clarington staff consider removing prefixes from communications where a person's gender identity is not confirmed (for example, mass mail outs). o Advise should Clarington's Diversity and Inclusion Staff Team continue to investigate the use of prefixes in various situations. • The Committee will review and consider these requests at their June meeting. 9. Council & Community Updates Update on Symbols of Hate report • This was approved by Council as written. Erica thanked the Committee and the Subcommittee for their input to the development of the recommendations. • Erica to share additional updates via email with Committee. Councillor Hooper updates: • Properties outside of Maplegrove Rd and — want to expand Greenbelt. • Municipality of Clarington — June 1 — 30 — Let's Move Clarington - Participaction challenge for residents to track activity and move minutes to support Municipal total, $100,000 prize available to be won! • Clarington Board of Trade — Rapid Testing Kits for small and medium size businesses, provides free rapid COVID tests. • Ontario Business Improvement Area Association has developed 8 recommendations addressing what they would like to see when re -opening starts to happen 10. Update on Anti -Black Racism Subcommittee At their last meeting, the Subcommittee had a discussion regarding collaboration with Allison Hector -Alexander, Director, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the Region of Durham. Subcommittee Chair — proposal to look for Co -Chair to be member of Subcommittee. Page 14 That the Terms of Reference for the Anti -Black Racism Subcommittee be changed from "The Chairperson of the subcommittee shall be a voting member of the Diversity Advisory Committee" to the new wording: "Shared leadership of the Subcommittee shall be two Co -Chairs, one of whom is a voting member of the Diversity Advisory Committee." Moved by Meera McDonald; seconded by Rachel Traore. Carried 11. Collaboration Initiative Update • Erica provided an update on the working group looking at collaboration with stakeholders. • The working group discussed what is our purpose for engaging with the various levels of government and groups. Goals for engagement were identified as: o Increase visibility of the Diversity Advisory Committee within the community o Build awareness about diversity in our community o Collaborate / cross promote initiatives • The working group discussed ways to advance these goals could be: o Design a virtual flyer about the Diversity Advisory Committee o Share social media posts from partners o Partner with groups for virtual events • The working group discussed compiling a list of possible partnerships / organizations to build on existing relationships and look to expand. The working group would like the Committee to review the list, consider other groups / stakeholders and identify a group each member could connect with to have conversations about: o Share information about work of Diversity Advisory Committee o Ask if there are any related initiatives, they are working on that we could collaborate, partner, support in some way o Consider inviting organization reps to upcoming meeting to share about their organization and their work • A working list of groups we have connected with in the past / could consider connecting with in the future: Regional Municipality of Durham am municipalities Clarin ton Public Libraryn ton Board of Trade t1a PFLAG Canada Durham Region l Service Clubs Rotary, Lions, etc Page 15 School Boards Durham Regional Police Services Clarington Tourism Dione identified that she would connect with Local School Boards. Review the proposed list of organizations or additions and it can be reviewed / updated at June meeting. Reference information to be consistent and is available on the Committee page on www.clarington.net. Meera will share what she has used for existing partnerships for consistency in messaging when engaging with our partners. Meera had an initial discussion with Joe Solway of the Bowmanville Rotary Club and provided an update: Rotary Club looking to move away from image to be more reflective of the diverse community. Bowmanville Rotary has undersubscribed scholarships available; they are looking for ways to share this opportunity with the community. To learn more about how to best support each other, there was an offer to partner/attend Rotary and Diversity Advisory Committee meetings. Meetings fall on same date as Diversity meetings which could be worked around. 12. Diverse Groups • The Committee had previously suggested a calendar of events to recognize various celebrations and observances. This is currently being implemented by the Municipality's Communications Team through the corporate social media channels. • It was suggested that the Committee consider initiatives to recognize and promote to be visible in all areas of diversity and ensure everyone in our community has a voice and feels included. • There will be future discussion around other areas of diversity such as gender identity and the other areas of discrimination as it relates to diversity. • Through these continued discussions, the Committee will work to identify various forms of interaction with the community to engage through virtual, social media, and in person events. 13.Annual Diversity Update Report Erica reviewed highlights of the work of the Committee over the past year regarding their initiatives and accomplishments which will be included in an update report with Council at their June 21, 2021 General Government Committee meeting. Committee was able to pivot to support community, staff, and council despite challenges with COVID. Report includes recognition of the Anti -Black Subcommittee and the development of strategy and policy, training, virtual event, Indigenous, Page 16 symbols of hate, workplan through training and awareness strategy and funding. Erica reviewed with the Committee and inquired if there were any initiatives or work that was not captured. It appeared to cover off all areas. Rachel indicated that there is value at end of year in reviewing accomplishments and what has been delivered. Erica and Meera to discuss any additional content for the report and how it will be presented at the June 21, 2021 meeting. 14.Other Business The Board at Lakeridge Health has created an IDEA Committee (Inclusion Diversity Equity and Accessibility) and are looking to host focus a group with various community members to collect thoughts and feedback to make Lakeridge Health more respectful, inclusive space. There will be a note taker present to record thoughts and discussion themes but privacy to be maintained and no individual / identifiable feedback would be shared. Participation would be voluntary, and you can leave at any time. The focus group would take place virtually for a group of 6 to 8 people for approximately 40 to 60 minutes. IDEA Committee is looking for representation from this committee to participate in the focus group of 6-8 people. Erica will confirm timing of the focus group (June or July 2021?) and will share with Members. • Members to share their interest with Erica by June 3, 2021. That the Diversity Advisory Committee appoint 2 members to participate in Lakeridge Health's IDEA Focus Groups. Moved by Dione Valentine; seconded by Rajeshwari Saharan. Carried • Lakeridge Health is inviting the public to complete an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Community Survey to better understand the barriers, gaps and areas of opportunity within the Lakeridge Health system. The survey is open until June 19, 2021 and takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. • Dione shared a personal reflection statement on what happened a year ago with George Floyd, how we are individuals are doing to help alleviate and what we are doing to make a difference. She shared a related article that Erica will include with the minutes of this meeting. That the meeting be adjourned at 9:52 p.m. Moved by Meera McDonald, seconded by Lyndsay Riddoch. Carried Page 17 Next meeting: Thursday, June 24, 7:00 PM Virtually — via Microsoft Teams