“I’m a plain language guy. Just plain language me please…”. “Members of the committee will be lost in the detail. For a document as high level as a bylaw, what we need are the white lines on the road”. This was a beautiful exchange between one of the wonderful speakers, Ufuorma Odebala-Fregene, and a keen Councillor Scott McKeen requesting more context from the expert, Ufuorma. “Let’s just replace everything that says women on the WAVE Document with racism,” Ufuorma added.
On September 4, 2019, the Community and Public Services Committee continued discussions carried on from the August 21, 2019, meeting on the implementation and operation of an Anti-Racism Advisory Committee Funding Strategy and Bylaw to Create an Anti-Racism Advisory Committee, that will be recommended to Edmonton City Council for the Fall Session.
It was an interesting discussion with presentations from speakers, followed by questions from Councillors to the speakers, and then to administration. After over two years of discussions on this racism framework, Councillors decided to move ahead with the work on the Anti-Racism Advisory Committee Funding Strategy and the Bylaw to Create an Anti-Racism Advisory Committee. City of Edmonton Administration says there is no best practice to follow for this work as this is the first of its kind for municipalities in Canada.
One of the speakers, A. Silverman called for action on antisemitism. Councillor Moe Banga called for new faces on council agencies, boards and commissions. Most of the speakers admitted that this was a good start and asked for more community engagements and some modifications. The Councillors however requested some minor changes to the draft Bylaw and moved to recommend the draft Bylaw to City Council coming up in the Fall, after expressing their satisfaction with the work done so far.
Here are some interesting dialogues and comments that I cannot resist not to share with you from the discussions.
Ufuorma: “Let’s just replace everything that says women on the WAVE Document with racism. Racism is very complex, multidimensional, multi-layered. WAVE does not take the issues of women of colour into consideration”.
Councilor Banga: “Did you express all that during the consultations?”
Ufuorma: “Yes yes yes until you see the final document and it doesn’t reflect the conversation”.
Councillor McKeen: “I’m a plain language guy. Just plain language me please.
Ufuorma: “Members of the committee will be lost in the detail. For a doc as high level as the bylaw, what we need are the white lines on the road. Post-secondary input missing”.
Councillor Walters: “Do you feel valued in this community?”
Glen Stewart: “After living long in the community here, A month ago I met one of my neighbours why they were lots of hostility when I first moved in as I had a lot of problems getting permission from the neighbours? One said it’s not racism but envy as most of the neighbours had older homes and were envious of you building a newer home. A more valuable home is disturbing to some members of the community”.
Glen: “Councillor should show empathy”.
Copied from the Anti-Racism Advisory Committee Funding Strategy:
In 2016, City Council directed Administration to develop a framework to guide, facilitate and coordinate efforts to support inclusion and eliminate racism in Edmonton. In March 2018, Administration presented the framework, including potential strategies, actions and next steps to Community and Public Services Committee. City Council directed Administration to bring forward recommendations to set up an anti-racism advisory board similar to the Women’s Advisory Group of Edmonton (WAVE), to address racism issues in the city of Edmonton. An Anti-racism Advisory Committee would provide City Council with advice and community perspectives on issues relating to racism. Administration engaged with impacted stakeholders to determine the financial requirements of an anti-racism committee. An estimated $300,000 per year is required to ensure the committee is able to successfully carry out its mandate. This estimate excludes administrative support for the committee which would be absorbed within existing operations.
The funding would be used to:
● support community-based projects and initiatives focusing on anti-racism through a funding or grant program;
● conduct community-based research and presenting reports on issues and concerns around racism in the community;
● provide meeting and participation support;
● conduct public engagement activities including social media, public relations, and awareness/education campaigns. Administration has explored other possibilities for funding support including: Government of Alberta – Taking Action Against Racism Strategy
● Established a provincial advisory council
● Established a $2 million community grant program focused on providing groups with matching funding up to $25,000 per year
● Municipalities are not eligible for funding Government of Canada – Anti-racism Strategy
● Several programs related to anti-racism and hate prevention have been announced and implemented.
For more information, please click on this link on The City of Edmonton Website http://sirepub.edmonton.ca/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=2282&doctype=MINUTES
If you got here, it means you like the work we do in telling the untold community stories across Alberta, using our numerous platforms. With only $10/month support from you, we can tell even more stories, and invite you to join our VIP Quarterly Strategic Leadership Meeting to get your input on our community coverage. Please click on this link to go to our Patron account, https://www.patreon.com/diversitymagazine
