City council’s refusal to stop a performance by comedian Jeff Dunham was the last straw for two members of the St Catharines anti-racism committee.
Committee members Vicki-Lynn Smith and Erica Williams publicly released a letter sent to Mayor Walter Sendzik and city council Tuesday, resigning from the committee citing a “consistent lack of support displayed by council.”
“Whether the issue was the need for police to wear body cameras or the need for council to take a stand against racist ‘entertainers’ being allowed to use city facilities to propagate their messages, council has demonstrated the lip-service lens through which they view this committee,” they wrote.
The volunteers and “experts on the aspects of living with racism,” the city councillors have “displayed an unwillingness to respect our positions and our knowledge.”
“To continue under these conditions can only lend legitimacy to your pretense and therefore we resign,” the letter says.
In an interview, Smith said council’s Aug. 29 decision voting 10-2 against a recommendation to consider cancelling the Nov. 20 show at the city-owned Meridian Centre — it features an American comedian known for using puppet characters based on racist stereotypes — was the breaking point for her and Williams.
“It just felt like everything we brought forward. They haven’t really listened to,” she said.
Committee chair Saleh Waziruddin said he too considered resigning, feeling the same disappointment with the response of councillors to issues committee members felt should be considered a priority in the city.
Despite his disappointment, Waziruddin said he still believes “there is still potential for positive change through the committee and that’s why I’m not resigning.”
Although Waziruddin said it wasn’t surprising that the city refused to stop the Dunham show, he said “the way that arguments were made against cancelling was unexpected.”
During that meeting, for instance, Sendzik said “we’re not the ‘Thought Police.’ We are not the ones that ban books.”
“It’s not our decision, even though it’s our facilities,” he said. “But if we can have a policy, those who are making the choices for selection, they’ll be able to look at it and say, ‘Here’s what’s best for our community moving forward.’”
Smith said that’s when she chose to leave the committee.
“I’m done. I can’t do this anymore,” she said.
For the most part, Waziruddin said committee recommendations — often initiatives that are being done in other communities — are typically referred to city staff for a report.
“They are postponed from quarter to quarter on the outstanding reports list,” he said.
Another issue Smith and Williams raised in their letter was a recommendation regarding police reforms, including a need for police to wear body cameras.
During that discussion on Aug. 10, 2020, Waziruddin said city council sided with police chief Bryan MacCulloch over their own committee.
“They didn’t want to take our word for it. Not only our word, but other people spoke to council who have lived experience,” Smith said.
Despite the frustration committee members feel, Waziruddin said they have had one success.
“I think the only thing we’ve done that actually went through was when we asked that Haldimand County and the police board to back off of calling the land defenders terrorists,” he said, referring to a Six Nations-led group that set up street barricades at a Caledonia construction site in December 2020.
“The Haldimand police board issued a written apology for doing that,” he said. “Even in that case, one of the city councillors didn’t believe us.”
But for the most part, he said the “experience has been that we feel we are not being listened too.”
The term of the anti-racism committee coincides with the current term of council, and members are expected to be reappointed after the new city council is sworn in in November. And Smith said she isn’t ruling out putting her name forward to return to the committee at that time, depending on what happens in the Oct. 24 municipal election.
“I hope there’s some change,” she said.
In the meantime, she plans to remain involved at the community level.
“I’m off the committee but it doesn’t mean I’m finished fighting. I can’t stay out of it.”
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