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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEquity Anti-Racism Advisory Committee Minutes - 2022-05-25EQUITY & ANTI-RACISM ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 25, 2022 CITY OF KITCHENER The Equity & Anti-Racism Advisory Committee to Council met electronically this date, commencing at 5:30 p.m. Present: Saba Oji (Co-Chair), Sharon Van Manen (Co-Chair), Aaliyah Whyte-Watson, Andrea Daley, Avni Adams, Ayesha Munir, Christine Furniss, Danny Martin, Shawn (Bangishimo) Johnston, Paul Okoye, and Yexin Tan. Absent: Keitty Roblero Staff: Rea Parchment, Senior Anti-Racism Advisor, Committee Staff Liaison Amanda Drumond, Committee Administrator Elin Moorlag Silk, Interim Director, Equity, Anti-Racism & Indigenous Initiatives 1. CHECK-IN AND REQUEST TO ADOPT AGENDA ITEMS Agenda items reviewed and approved. 2. SIGNIFICANCE PROTOCOL Elin Moorlag Silk, Interim Director, EARII Division, joined the meeting to provide an overview of the Days of Significance Protocol that has been developed by the City of Kitchener. As background, Elin shared that the protocol was de Task Force on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion to provide transparency and structure to how the City will acknowledge and commemorate significant days, both publicly and internally. It has been recommended that days of significance chosen for the protocol are selected from both an inclusive and equity lens, including Federal and Provincial holidays/celebrations, religious holidays (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism), and certain UN declared days, as well as days/months that bolster awareness for groups who have been traditionally excluded in our society. It was noted that the protocol as shared is meant to evolve over time depending on current events, shifting priorities, and staff capacity. Each of the days/months listed in the protocol has been categorized into one of three tiers to indicate the level of communication strategy that will be used. Feedback was sought from the committee members on any additional significant days that should be included or specific ways that certain days should be commemorated. Suggestions and comments from the group: 1 EQUITY & ANTI-RACISM ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 25, 2022 CITY OF KITCHENER o include more messages about celebrating diversity, not just surviving it, marking the days with a celebratory message o include Persian New Year in the list o compile a list of vetted organizations whose content the City could share or re-post on their own social media platforms o add facts to the posts such as the number of citizens who are celebrating certain holidays o request was made to promote more local community events o center on voices outside the City when communicating about these significant days o in response to a question about major incidents, it was noted that there is a separate protocol for responding to emergent issues, the significant days protocol would be used for standard days already recognized o in response to a question about who has access to the protocol and how does it get updated, it was advised that the protocol will be shared across the organization with all leadership, and there will be communications rollout internally, but no plans to post the list of days publicly o comment was made that it would be helpful to publicly post the list of significant days so the community can have some ownership and provide updates o would be helpful to t on the list every year, as well as some rotational items o suggestion to use the multicultural festival as an opportunity to ask the public for feedback of how they would like their cultural days of significance recognized by the City, e.g., engagement booth o suggestion of making connections to bigger systems that have created these days, bringing awareness to how these days came about Elin will circulate notes to the group for further feedback, and committee members can also send any further comments or suggestions directly to Elin by email. 3. DISCUSSION ABOUT CITY STAFF ENGAGING WITH THE EQUITY COMMITTEE At the previous meeting a discussion took place to reflect on ways that City staff could engage with the committee. As a follow-up to this discussion, Rea shared two proposed methods with the committee for consideration: 1) A monthly form to be completed by EARII Division staff to collect information on any items that have recently been presented to the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) or Council, as well as any work that has been ; 2) An introductory email about the advisory committee to be shared with broader City staff, inviting them to send any requests for input on relevant work to Rea to bring forward to the committee. Rea will then share information collected through these methods with the advisory committee members to be considered for upcoming agenda topics. 2 EQUITY & ANTI-RACISM ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 25, 2022 CITY OF KITCHENER Committee members were in favour of implementing the proposed methods as outlined to engage with City staff. Rea will circulate the form to the committee for approval, as well as the draft email message that will be shared with City staff. 4. SHARED FILE FOR EQUITY COMMITTEE DISCUSSION Consensus was received from the group that it would be beneficial to have a shared file for general committee use, such as developing the work plan. It was noted that the shared file is not meant to be used for any materials that are already publicly available, e.g., committee meeting agendas, minutes or presentations. BREAK 6:20-6:30pm 5. WORKPLAN DISCUSSION Saba led a discussion about the creation of a work plan to help prioritize the work of the committee. The purpose of the work plan will be to keep the committee members on-track, inform the City on what the committee intends to accomplish, and produce a blueprint for future committee members. It was noted that the work plan is meant to be a long-term plan (1-2 years) and is intended to set the groundwork for what the committee wants to accomplish, focusing on the mission, vision and responsibilities of the committee. The work plan would be carried forward by future committee members and could be modified accordingly as needed. Saba led the group through an exercise to help create the draft work plan by reviewing / prioritizing the if it is a part of the responsibility of this committee, if it can be done by the committee or requires collaboration with City staff, and if it is a short-term or long-term goal. The goal is to narrow down the focus of projects to be included in the work plan; Saba will then circulate a draft template of the work plan with the committee for further refinement. In the interest of time, a suggestion was made to have committee members answer the prioritizing questions through a survey, and that would give Saba the information needed to create a template of the work plan to finalize at the next meeting. Committee members were in favour of using a survey to answer the prioritizing questions; Saba will create a survey and share out with the group. 3 EQUITY & ANTI-RACISM ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 25, 2022 CITY OF KITCHENER On the topic of training for new committee members, a suggestion was made to hold orientation dayfor committee members in the future, that is more streamlined, condensed and time efficient. It was suggested that the work plan include a protocol for the committee members to advise City staff on emerging issues that arise within the community e.g., red paint on Queen Victoria statue. A recommendation was presented to committee members to perform an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) assessment within various departments at the Corporation of the City of Kitchener to identify key gaps and areas of focus, and if endorsed, retain a company such as Credence and Co. to complete the assessment. It was noted that due to the size of the organization, any EDI assessments should focus on specific staff teams that would benefit the most from such an assessment; budget implications would also need to be considered and would require approval through the appropriate channels. It was requested that Rea share departmental information/organizational structure with committee members to determine which teams/departments within the City of Kitchener may benefit from a potential EDI assessment. Committee members agreed that before making a recommendation to perform an EDI assessment at the City, it would be helpful to first review org charts as well as confirm which work areas may have already undergone an EDI assessment. In response to a question around ways in which the committee can bring forward recommendations to the City more quickly and avoid red tape, it was advised that this committee reports directly to Council, and there are opportunities to attend either a public council meeting or a strategic council session to present recommendations and/or work plan directly to City Council. 6. CALL FOR JUNE AGENDA ITEMS AND STAFF REPORTS o Continuation of Work Plan o Icebreaker Activity what attracted members to join this committee 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:34 pm. A. Drumond Committee Administrator 4