Niagara Falls city council opposes staff recommendation to merge anti-racism, diversity and inclusion committees
/https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/content/dam/niagaradailies/uploads/Spiteri_Ray.JPG)
:format(webp)/https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/content/dam/niagaradailies/news/council/2022/12/14/you-have-a-responsibility-to-this-community-and-not-just-the-ones-that-look-like-you/justice_4_black_lives_demonstration_niagara_falls.jpg)
‘You have a responsibility to this community and not just the ones that look like you’
Niagara Falls city council opposes staff recommendation to merge anti-racism, diversity and inclusion committees
Niagara Falls city council unanimously opposed staff’s recommendation to merge the municipality’s anti-racism and diversity and inclusion committees after hearing from members of the public who said combining the two would set anti-racism efforts back in the community.
“Can’t tell you that I’m really happy about this because once again I’m standing in a room full of white people asking them to do the right thing,” said Sherri Darlene, chairperson of the city’s anti-racism committee.
“This merger is not a good idea. While we’re not opposed within the committee to collaborating with the diversity and inclusion (committee) … these committees need to stay separate. You have a very serious racism problem here and it’s gone unchecked and untouched for a very long time.”
Darlene said the committee is still new and continues to work on various projects.
“I think it’s time for you guys to do the right thing. You are council members. You have a responsibility to this community and not just the ones that look like you.”
Local politicians discussed a staff report during Tuesday’s meeting recommending the merger.
“While it is important to note there are differences between (both committee) initiatives … there is also a lot of overlap and synergy between them, which could be leveraged more effectively if they were merged,” said the report.
“Further, integrating the two committees would also minimize any redundancies in work being done by the committees and or staff.”
The report said merging two committees into one will “in no way eliminate the work and or focus of either committee.”
“In fact, it will only strengthen the committee’s capacity as they would be a larger working group.”
Staff said members of both committees have discussed a potential merger in the past.
“In discussion with the anti-racism committee at meetings, they do feel that separate is a better approach to reach their desired objectives. Staff believe that the concerns of the anti-racism committee can be addressed with a sub-working group of the merged committee to focus on these specific issues if required.”
In 2020, council supported the creation of two committees to deal with anti-racism, as well as diversity and inclusion, initiatives in the community. In the 19 months since both committees were established, staff said each committee developed its action plans, along with specific goals and objectives.
“Both committees have been very active in the work they have accomplished since April 2021,” reads the report.
“However, after careful review and consideration, staff feels the two committees can be even more strategic and effective if they merge and work cohesively on various diverse, equitable and inclusive community initiatives.”
The municipality currently does not have a dedicated staff member to address diverse, equitable and inclusive matters, said the report.
Saleh Waziruddin, of the Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association, said having one committee instead of two would mean “less time spent” on anti-racism issues.
“You can’t do more for anti-racism by giving it less time. Even a subcommittee won’t have that time that a full committee would,” he said.
Waziruddin said the visible minority population in Niagara Falls, which by the government’s definition doesn’t include Indigenous people, has gone up by one third since the last census.
He said it was 12.7 per cent in 2016. Data for 2021 showed 16.5 per cent of Niagara Falls’ population are visible minorities.
“The portion of the Black population increased by over a third, from 2.9 to 4.1 per cent. The South Asian portion has nearly doubled to 2.5 per cent alone,” said Waziruddin, noting Niagara Falls voters recently elected Mona Patel to city council.
Patel, an immigrant from Southeast Asia, is one of very few Black, Indigenous and People of Colour representatives to have been elected in Niagara Falls in decades.
Coun. Lori Lococo, who is council’s representative on the anti-racism committee, said she’s there to support the group but understands “this is not my (lived) experience.”
“I try not to talk unless it’s about procedural (issues),” she said.
“I think putting anti-racism as a sub-committee is really removing the importance of anti-racism in Niagara Falls.”
Lococo said she understands the city does not have enough staff and is willing to “donate my time, whether to take notes - I’ve been a court reporter - open up rooms, or whatever to help staff.”
“When I walked into this meeting tonight, my suggestion was going to be that the anti-racism committee and diversity and inclusion (committee) have a joint meeting in January to discuss the how’s and why’s — what does the agenda look like, how much time are we spending? I’ve changed my mind on that. I’m going to put a motion forward to oppose the report on the floor and that we not merge the committees.”
No comments:
Post a Comment