Video with Q&A at https://youtu.be/B_3gH3uS0l0
For FULL clips of speech, Q&A, post-in-camera (closed session) debate and vote, and post-vote remarks, please see https://youtu.be/0x8_g7UTTXc (30 minute video)
Thank you mayor and councillors for listening to me tonight. I'm Saleh Waziruddin, chair of the City's Anti-Racism Advisory Committee.
We've seen right here the brazenness with which the hate crime vandalism of the Harriet Tubman Public School and nearby places happened without any hint of shame.
You councillors and other elected officials in Niagara have experienced this brazenness directly, no fear of getting caught.
We've seen the open brazenness with the recorded video of Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland being harassed.
They get this daring from the normalization of hate, from making a mockery and the butt of jokes of racialized people, women and 2slgbtqiia+ people. You don't just have to take my word for it though.
When StatCan recently came out with their report saying police-reported hate crimes have gone up 72% just over the last 2 years, and this is a very narrow definition of hate crimes and only the ones where people knew to call the police, the ED of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation said:
“It is a firehose of hate that is growing, honestly, like a wildfire, and unmitigated it will grow even further to a point where we will normalize being in a wildfire. That is because we have left this environment unchecked.”
There's no surprise about what's coming to town. Jeff Dunham's agent has already publicized that characters already condemned by industry associations and civil rights groups like the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation as racist will be in the act, like Achmed the Dead Terrorist or “Jose Jalepeno”.
But don't just take my word for it, Jeff Dunham himself said he doesn't want to be that offensive but he feels he has to because that's what got him to where he is, that's what he's made his living off of.
But even more famous comedians like Jay Leno have apologized for a long history of racist jokes and said if comedians won't change they shouldn't be telling jokes, and when complaints came in before he had dismissed them as not being able to take a joke but he knew then in his heart that he was wrong, and even he is admitting it now.
You heard earlier tonight about how sports are adapting, so is comedy as it should and we should expect no less.
Remember please that this not just some private event that Council is being asked to intervene in, it is an event on City property paid for and maintained by our public money. The Meridian Centre doesn't get teleported to another galaxy because there is a ticketed, commercial event happening there, City policies still apply and as our elected officials you still have a say.
The City already has a policy making clear there is zero tolerance for racism and this kind of performance. The Rzone policy was initially designed to respond to hate and racism at sports events but it's clear that it is for all events and specifically mentioned the Meridian Centre.
Cancelling this performance would not be that unusual. It's been happening rapidly in the last few years, especially since re-openings began since the pandemic.
Just a few months ago almost right across the border at SUNY Plattsburgh they cancelled a transphobic comedian. Several cities in the UK cancelled a comedian just for a racist tweet last year, and his agent even dropped him. The residents of St. Catharines deserve no less.
Because you can't have it both ways. When there's a hate crime we can't say we're a compassionate city, racism won't be tolerated here, but when a brazenly openly racist, misogynist, homophobic act comes to down we say oh well we have no choice but to lie down and do nothing.
This is why it's vital to make an amendment to the motion tonight to direct staff to enter into negotiations with the relevant parties to pursue cancellation of this event. That's how it's been done elsewhere, that's how we can do it here to start reversing what's been called an escalating wildfire of hate around us.
St. Catharines is just one of the Ontario stops of Jeff Dunham's tour. We pride ourselves in our association with the history of Harriet Tubman, who did what was right without worrying about the barriers to justice and equality. St. Catharines has an opportunity here to lead the way, to bring the other cities in on this and to stop this harmful performance from not just coming to St. Catharines but also beyond.
From my experience, unfortunately there are some who are more concerned about not offending the racists or those who think racism is funny, than they are about the damage racism, misogyny, and homophobia causes to our communities. If Jay Leno can recognize comedy needs to change, if SUNY Plattsburgh can cancel a major comedian for transphobia, then we in St. Catharines can do the same.
Thank you.
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