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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-04-11Clarington Clarington Diversity Advisory Committee (CDAC) Minutes April 1111, 2024, at 7 pm Location - Hybrid: Teams and Room MAC 1A Present: Tenzin Shomar, Chair Pranay Gunti, Vice Chair Councillor Anderson Ron Hooper Lauren Reyes -Grange (joined at 7:17 pm) Aaliyah Ruddock (present till 8 pm) Joe Solway Dione Valentine (present till 8 pm) Vincent Wong Bev Neblett Rochelle Thomas Also Present: Pinder DaSilva, Municipality of Clarington 1. Call to Order Meeting called to order by T. Shomar at 7:03 pm 2. Land Acknowledgement The Land Acknowledgment was read by T. Shomar The Municipality of Clarington is situated within the traditional and treaty territory of the Mississaugas and Chippewas of the Anishinabeg, known today as the Williams Treaties First Nations. Our work on these lands acknowledges their that resilience and their Longstanding contributions to the area now known as the Municipality of Clarington. 3. Welcome and Introductions of new members The three new members (R. Thomas, V. Wong and B. Neblett) were welcomed and all members completed introductions. 4. Annual selection of Vice Chair as per current Terms of Reference T. Shomar shared with new members that the process of selecting a Vice Chair has been delayed a few times for different reasons and that this agenda will need to be finalized today. T. Shomar explained the election rules and process and opened the floor for nomination for position of Vice -Chair. Clarftwig Nominations: • J. Solway nominated D. Valentine who declined the nomination due to time constraints • R. Thomas nominated L. Reyes -Grange who accepted the nomination • L. Reyes -Grange nominated R. Thomas who accepted the nomination • P. Gunti nominated himself First round of votes: • T. Shomar asked "All those in favour of L. Reyes -Grange, please raise their hands" _ 4 votes received • T. Shomar asked "All those in favour of P. Gunti, please raise their hands" = 2 votes received • T. Shomar asked "All those in favour of R. Thomas, please raise their hands" = 3 votes received Second round of votes: • P. Gunti nomination removed as received lowest number of votes in first round • T. Shomar asked "All those in favour of L. Reyes -Grange, please raise their hands" _ 5 votes received • T. Shomar asked "All those in favour of R. Thomas, please raise their hands" = 5 votes received Third round — due to equal number of votes received for each nominee, both names were put into a hat and T. Shomar drew R. Thomas' name for Vice -Chair of CDAC. R. Thomas was voted in as Vice -Chair for the Diversity Advisory Committee. 5. Declaration of Interest No declared of interest by any members. 6. Review and Approval of Agenda Moved by J. Solway; seconded by P. Gunti That the agenda for April 11, 2024, be approved with the following editions: • Removal of agenda item 7 as per request from P. DaSilva. • City of Pickering racism incident added to "Other business" Carried 7. Review and Approval of previous meeting minutes Moved by R. Hooper; seconded by B. Neblett That the meeting minutes from March 14, 2024, be approved with the following change: Clarftwig • Change spelling from Counsellor to Councillor in a few spots. Carried 8. Anti -Black Racism Task Force (ABRTF) a. ABRTFTerms of Reference Moved by R. Thomas; seconded by A. Ruddock That the changes to the ABRTF's Terms of Reference be accepted by the Diversity Advisory Committee. Carried b. Election and Appointment of two new CDAC representatives on the ABRTF The new Terms of Reference state that the ABRTF membership composition will include a maximum of 2 CDAC representatives. Currently there are four CDAC members on ABRTF. To move forward, will need to go through a nomination and election process to select 2 CDAC representatives to join ABRTF. Members asked about the change from 9 ABRTF members to 8 (5 community members, 1 youth member and 2 CDAC members) in the new Terms of Reference. P. DaSilva explained that under the new Terms of Reference there is an added section on staggering the terms of members so that half of the membership is appointed every two years, for a four-year term. Explained that staggering the terms of membership is simpler with an even number of members. Members asked why they are only permitted to have 2 CDAC members on the ABRTF. It was explained that some of the ABRTF members have already expressed their concern about being a sub -committee of CDAC and feeling like they are working `under' CDAC. Recognize that it's important to have CDAC reps on ABRTF but need to ensure that there are more community representatives on the Task Force. P. DaSilva reminded the members of the importance of maintaining lower numbers of CDAC reps, explaining if numbers exceed a certain threshold, then the ABRTF could become an unapproved CDAC meeting. Members felt that there are strong CDAC reps on the ABRTF currently whose contributions to ABRTF's work has been instrumental. Members discussed the option of increasing CDAC representation to 3 members. Task Force composition in the Terms of Reference would change to 3 CDAC reps, and 5 community members and no youth member for this year. Moved by R. Hooper; seconded by J. Solway Clarftwig That the number of CDAC representatives on the ABRTF be increased from 2 members to 3 members. Carried Floor opened for nominations for CDAC representatives for the ABRTF • L. Reyes -Grange nominated self to join ABRTF • R. Thomas nominated self to join the ABRTF • R. Thomas nominated D. Valentine to join the ABRTF (D. Valentine had to leave meeting prior to this nomination.) Moved by J. Solway; seconded by P. Gunti That L. Reyes -Grange, R. Thomas, and D. Valentine be appointed to the ABRTF in accordance with the appointment procedures for the following terms: • L. Reyes -Grange for a term ending Dec 31, 2024 • R. Thomas for a term ending Dec 31, 2024 • D. Valentine for a term ending Dec 31, 2026 Carried 9. Results of Demographic P. DaSilva thanked all the members for completing the demographic survey and provided an overview of the results and current gaps, including lack of representation from the LGBTQ and Indigenous communities. Also, shared that in the next round of recruitment it would be great to receive members that represent more diverse backgrounds and lived experiences. 10. Work Plan Review: T. Shomar shared he would like to finalize the workplan for 2024 today and asked individuals to select different working groups based on what was highlighted in the workplan. The following working groups were struck: • Community celebrations —J. Solway and P. Gunti • Civic Engagement— R. Thomas, L. Reyes -Grange, T. Shomar, V. Wong • Student Bursary— L. Reyes -Grange, T. Shomar, P. Gunti, J. Solway and B. Neblett P. DaSilva will contact those members who were not present during this discussion to confirm which working group they would like to be part of. P. DaSilva will connect the working groups via email and arrange meeting times for members to discuss next steps. 11. The following Council update was provided by Councillor Anderson: The IDEA Strategy was presented at the General Government Council (GCGC) meeting and will be ratified at the April 22nd Council meeting. Clarftwig Discussion with Community Development Council Durham (CDCD) — stated that there are many Black and other minority refugees who feel they are being left behind/isolated. Ajax currently has one of the highest numbers of Black refugees and newcomers who are facing homelessness. Councillor Anderson wanted to bring this issue to the attention of the committee and asked the committee how they could support this work. J. Solway shared there is an advocate in Clarington who is doing a lot of advocacy work in this field in Toronto and perhaps it may be worth reaching out to him. Stated he will find his contact information and forward it to Councillor Anderson. Shared the concerns that Council members have regarding changes to Parkland allocation as a result of the Province passing the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022. 12. Student Bursary Update T. Shomar thanked the working committee for finalizing everything efficiently and quickly. Shared that Communication dept is working on setting up the webpage and application link. P. DaSilva shared that the link to the application should be available by the week of April 22na for the working group to test it out. Application portal will be live from May 1 — June 7t" 13.The following updates were provided by P. DaSilva May 5t" is Red Dress Day in honour of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). The Municipality will be hanging red dresses at MAC and various recreation facilities along with poster explaining the significance of the Red Dress across Clarington. June is Pride Month and the Municipality will be participating in the Durham Youth Pride festivities happening on June 22nd at Regional HQ. P. DaSilva asked if any committee members would be interested in helping with staffing the Clarington booth. J. Solway stated he can help out. P. DaSilva discussed that at one of the CDAC meetings this year, members had discussed an Anti -Black racism community survey that was completed in 2019. She stated that she was able to locate the results of a community diversity survey that was completed in 2019 but it was not specific to anti -black racism. There is some similarity with the questions posed in the 2023 community anti -racism survey so she will be meeting with staff from the Continuous Improvement dept. to see if a comparative analysis could be done between the two surveys in order to establish baseline data. She will share results once the analysis is completed. 14.Other Business T. Shomar shared that Pickering Councillor Lisa Robinson has release another video with racist content. T. Shomar asked if the committee to take more formal action. Clarftwig Members asked if it's within the committee's mandate to make a public announcement to show support to the City of Pickering and denouncing Councillor Robinson's actions. Clarified that it is not withing the committee's mandate to make public announcements and they would need to make a motion to Council requesting Council to make a statement. Committee members decided it would be worthwhile to have a more fulsome discussion at the next meeting. Moved byV. Wong; seconded B. Neblett That the meeting be adjourned at 9:17 pm Carried Next Meeting: May 9t", 2024, at 7 pm (Virtual via Teams)