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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEquity Anti-Racism Advisory Committee Minutes - 2023-04-26EQUITY & ANTI-RACISM ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES April 26, 2023 CITY OF KITCHENER The Equity & Anti-Racism Advisory Committee met electronically this date, commencing at 5:30 p.m. Present: Veronica Vasquez (Co-Chair), Ayesha Munir, Ann Marie Beals, Avni Adams, Fiorella Benini, Oluseun Olayinka, Paul Okoye, Saba Oji, Yexin Tan Absent: Danny Martin, Leo Campbell, Rida Rahman Guest: Maedith Radlein Staff: Rea Parchment, Committee Staff Liaison Amanda Drumond, Committee Administrator Sabiha Syed, Parks Engagement Liaison Sophia Stanberry, Director, Equity, Anti-Racism & Indigenous Initiatives 1. CHECK-IN AND APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES V. Vasquez convened the meeting. The minutes were approved as distributed. Question was raised regarding the number of participants registered for the RISE Fund Grant Writing Workshops; it was confirmed that there were 30 attendees at the first session. Final numbers for the second session, as well as a list of the organizations who attended, to be confirmed at a future meeting. 2. DISCLOSURE OF PECUNIARY INTEREST AND THE GENERAL NATURE THEREOF - NIL 3. STAFF PRESENTATION - PARKS ENGAGEMENT UPDATE S. Syed, Parks Engagement Liaison, joined the meeting and gave a high-level overview about the Places and Spaces project, which is an update to the existing 2010 Parks Strategic Plan. There are two (2) core focuses for this strategy: Spaces: explores the quantity of parks in current inventory, look at the definitions of park space, determine the amount of park space we need and where, and provide or update the tools in which we acquire those spaces. Places: focuses on the quality of our parks for placemaking and creating diverse and functional spaces. Places will explore a wide range of themes, including principles of design (equity, accessibility), environmental (habitat, stormwater and climate change), and specific infrastructure planning (playgrounds, sports fields, dog parks). The City wants to ensure that new parks will benefit the community they are serving, by focusing on creating neighbourhood parks that are reflective of community needs and wants. During community engagement, City staff took notes from 40 meetings they attended, connecting with 25 different community partners and citizen committees. Over 650 comments were identified. These comments were analyzed by a consulting firm who provided a summary report (previously shared with committee members) of themes that emerged from these conversations, organized by the five (5) Places and Spaces lenses: Inclusion and Belonging; Equity and Equality; Education & Information; Sustainability; and Safety. 1 EQUITY & ANTI-RACISM ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES April 26, 2023 CITY OF KITCHENER Committee members were asked to share feedback, specifically around any gaps in the data collected about park spaces in the City of Kitchener. In response to a question about how the engagement took place, it was advised that information was gathered for Places and Spaces by surveying residents through the Engage online platform, as well as having community partner conversations (1:1 and group). It was noted that there is also a separate strategy in progress for Indigenous Placemaking in parks. Comments and suggestions from the group: - Include demographic information to show who participated in the engagement - Make parks more winter friendly (e.g., rubberized surfacing, winter friendly equipment) - Make parks more accessible for different needs - Add a website that shows what features are available at different parks - Add signs with QR codes at parks that link to the website or different languages - Parks on wheels, accessible equipment that can be transported and rotated in different communities - Move from equality to equity e.g., adjust the equipment replacement timelines for parks that are used more - Age group of participants try to connect with schools to get engagement and input from youth - More variety of sports fields incorporate more cultural sports games e.g., soccer, cricket In response to a question about the Spaces strategy, it was advised that the first part of Places & Spaces was received by Committee and Council in June 2022, and subsequently approved in August 2022 (INS-2022-224). Although, in November 2022 the Province passed Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act. The changes proposed under Bill 23 could result in a reduction in the amount of new parkland across the City. Staff continue to work on a solution to mitigate this evolving issue. S. Syed advised on next steps, which includes continued engagement with community partners, and plans to present to Council at the end of 2023. Staff are proposing to return to the Equity Committee in the fall for further feedback. BREAK 6:19-6:25pm 4. DECISION.IO TRAINING A. Drumond, Committee Administrator, provided Decision.io training to the RISE Fund grant selection committee via a PowerPoint presentation. Topics covered were an overview of Decision.io; RISE Fund grant application timeline; step-by-step instructions for reviewing and rating applications; and conflict of interest. Suggestion was made to create a rubric to assist with assessing the applications for future grant selection review. 5. STAFF PRESENTATION EARII TEAM UPDATE S. Stanberry, Director, Equity, Anti-Racism & Indigenous Initiatives (EARII) joined the meeting to provide an update on EARII team staffing and regarding transparency with the community around hiring. It was noted that the City of Kitchener is experiencing vacancies in all departments across the organization, and that the EARII division is a newly formed team (less than 2 years old). 2 EQUITY & ANTI-RACISM ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES April 26, 2023 CITY OF KITCHENER As Director, S. Stanberry is currently performing a review of the EARII team structure and evaluation of the roles within the division to ensure that the EARII team has better opportunities related to EDI initiatives. During this time there will be a hiring freeze on the vacant positions. As part of this review, an environmental scan/benchmarking of 23 municipalities across Ontario is being performed to determine ED&I team composition and reporting structures. Once the review is complete, staff plan to bring a new proposed model to the Corporate Leadership Team for approval. The most recent job posting for the Senior Indigenous Advisor role was shared with the committee in advance for review and feedback or recommendations. Feedback on the Senior Indigenous Advisor role: - The person in this position should be Anishinaabeg or Haudenosaunee - Language in the job posting is very colonial - Focus on relationship building as one of the core competencies - Consult with people from the local Indigenous communities - Should be co-created/co-designed with the Indigenous population As this time, S. Stanberry gave an update on public new 2023-2026 strategic plan. Staff are currently working with a resident panel to develop actions proposed to address the five strategic goal areas as approved by Council. Once the resident panel has completed its work, a draft plan will be shared with Kitchener residents. At that time, staff will be performing additional targeted outreach with racialized and marginalized groups and will be coming back to the Equity Committee for input. S. Stanberry also advised that work is underway to create an engagement community of practice, a shared space to collectively gather and keep input from various public engagement projects. Maedith Radlein delegated with regards to public engagement and the need for a commitment from the City to act on what is heard from the community; suggestion was made for the Equity committee to bring forward strategic plan priorities as a delegation to Council. 6. CALL FOR AGENDA ITEMS, STAFF REPORTS & GENERAL DISCUSSION V. Vasquez made the call for agenda items, the following items were put forth: May meeting RISE Fund Grant evaluations June meeting Municipal Housing Pledge Local municipal EDI managers meeting request for City of Kitchener to raise item around education requirements for police training (WRPS) at the next meeting of local municipal EDI managers 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:44 pm. A. Drumond Committee Administrator 3