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Home My WebLink About2025-11-13If this information is required in an alternate format, please contact the Accessibility Coordinator at 905-623-3379 ext. 2131 1 Diversity Advisory Committee (DAC) Meeting Minutes Thursday, November 13, 2025 Online via MS Teams Members Present: Councillor Anderson B. Neblett (Chair) S. DeGrace P. Gunti K. Kassirer S. Paguirian L. Reyes-Grange T. Shomar D. Watt V. Wong Absent: B. Gruber R. Hooper A. M. Tesluk Also Present: J. Whynot – Accessibility Coordinator M. Westover – Manager, Strategic Communications and Initiatives D. Smith – Clarington Library, Museums and Archives The Meeting was called to order at 7:01pm. 1. Land Acknowledgement B. Neblett shared a personalized land acknowledgement statement. 2. Declaration of Interest No declaration of interest by members. 3. Review and Approval of Agenda B. Neblett requested to add an update on the Together Against Hate Durham conference under “Other Business” 2 Moved by V. Wong; seconded by S. DeGrace That the agenda be approved as presented with one addition. Carried. 4. Review and Approval of October 9, 2025 Meeting Minutes Moved by T. Shomar; seconded by V. Wong. That the minutes from the October 9, 2025, DAC meeting, be approved as presented. Carried. 5. Election of Chair J. Whynot shared the Committee Chair election process and opened the floor for nominations. B. Neblett was nominated for the position of Chair by K. Kassirer. B. Neblett accepted the nomination. With no other nominations put forward, no formal vote was required and B. Neblett was acclaimed Committee Chair. J. Whynot advised that with B. Neblett moving from Vice-Chair to Chair, the Vice-Chair position is now vacant, and another election must take place to fill that role. No nominations were put forward for the position of Vice-Chair. Moved by T. Shomar; seconded by S. DeGrace That the election of Vice-Chair be deferred to the December meeting. Carried. 6. Council Update Councillor Anderson discussed three items with the Committee: 1. Recent media reports about a workplace investigation at Durham Regional Police Service. 2. A recent invitation members of Council received from the Bowmanville-Oshawa North Member of Parliament (MP) to attend an event. 3. The sale of Maple Grove United Church and the online hate towards the new property owners. 3 A discussion about concerning rise of hateful and divisive online activity took place and how this can be combated while keeping individuals safe. 4. Workplan and Priority Working Groups Discussion B. Neblett shared that members have identified five key areas for the remainder of their term. Continuing the Diversity Leadership Bursary, responding to hate incidents, collaboration with the Region, civic engagement and honouring Indigenous Veteran’s Day. B. Neblett will recirculate the workplan information to give everyone another opportunity to identify project(s) they would like to support and to discuss again at the next meeting. 5. Staff Update J. Whynot reminded members about two upcoming events. On December 3rd there will be a movie screening of Us and Them, a movie about homelessness, which will be followed by a panel discussion. On December 10th, in partnership with Bethesda House, the Municipality is hosting a community conversation on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). J. Whynot shared that Municipal staff are working through their Council recommendation from September, that called for the Municipality to ban symbols of hate in municipal facilities. Staff will report back to the Committee when more information is available. Lastly, a staff report on the Symbols of Pride in Clarington, recommending Pride pole wraps in lieu of Council’s request to add an additional rainbow crosswalk went to General Government Committee earlier this week and passed. If approved at the next Council meeting, the recommendations of that report will be implemented. 6. Other Business B. Neblett shared that the Together Against Hate Conference took place on November 7th and was attended by over 300 people. Key conference outcomes include policy recommendations and community capacity-building ideas were collected and will help inform future anti-hate work. B. Neblett will share conference resources and website links with members via email. 4 7. Adjournment Moved by K. Kassirer; seconded by L. Reyes-Grange. That the meeting be adjourned. Carried. Meeting adjourned at 8:29pm Next Meeting: Thursday, December 11, 2025, at 7:00pm (virtual)