Look at successful efforts by other municipalities as a starting point for anti-racism and anti-discrimination activities for your municipality. This section covers five key areas:
Examples of activities, based on the experiences of various municipalities across Canada, are included. Case studies describe specific initiatives in more detail. There are tips how to make the most of these types of activities.
Municipalities, in their roles as employers and service providers, should collect and analyze data on issues of racism and discrimination in the community. Gather this information through surveys, interviews, document reviews and so on. Collect information that identifies issues or gaps in services, clarifies issues and suggests possible solutions or initiatives to deal with problems. In addition, gather information to monitor the effectiveness of the municipality’s anti-racism and anti-discrimination initiatives.
Located on the shores of Lake Superior, the City of Thunder Bay is the largest municipality in Northwestern Ontario. Thunder Bay’s population of 109,140 is the sixth most culturally diverse in North America. Deeply rooted in European and Aboriginal cultures, Thunder Bay values its diversity and continues to pursue ways of addressing racism and discrimination in its community.
(see www.thunderbay.ca/Living/About_Thunder_Bay/city_profile.htm)
In 2005, the Corporation of the City of Thunder Bay introduced its Voluntary Workforce Profile Survey, which asked municipal employees to identify if they were a member of a historically disadvantaged group. The survey collected data to compare the diversity of the workforce with the diversity of the city. Employees declared if they were members of one or more of the following groups: women, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities, and visible minorities. Participation was voluntary.
The survey clearly set out the reasons for collecting the data to address any concerns that employees might have on how the information would be used. The percentage of employees that identified themselves in each of the categories was compared with the city’s demographic information from the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) of Thunder Bay. (see www.diversitythunderbay.ca/TBCARD-final-report.pdf )
In 2008, a second Voluntary Workforce Profile Survey was conducted and the Corporation compared their workforce data with the demographic data of Thunder Bay from the 2006 Statistics Canada Census. The Corporation found that 3.8% of its employees identified as members of a visible minority group, compared to 2.71% of the population; 6.5% of its employees identified as Aboriginal, compared to 8.31% of Thunder Bay’s population.
By collecting data on its workforce, the Corporation could determine whether its workforce was as diverse as the community. The analysis did not indicate that there were significant differences between the diversity of Thunder Bay’s municipal employees and the city’s population. However, Aboriginals were underrepresented in municipal employment and they were the fastest growing segment of the designated groups in the study.
Based on these findings, the Corporation of Thunder Bay developed human rights policies and procedures that require equitable recruitment practices, hiring and employment. The Corporation reviewed its workforce policies and programs for systemic biases. The Corporation continued tracking its workforce diversity to ensure that municipal employees are representative of the community and its increasing diversity.
Tips
Municipalities should:
Holding community dialogues, raising awareness about residents’ rights and responsibilities toward racism, and communicating the consequences of discrimination on the community and its members is an effective way for municipalities to educate the public. When municipalities raise awareness about racism and discrimination, they support their residents to better know what racism and discrimination can look like and help to prevent it.
The City of Greater Sudbury is the largest city in Northern Ontario with a population of 158,000. Cultural diversity is considered to be an important part of the present and future of Greater Sudbury because the city’s population is aging and the only population growth is within the Aboriginal and multicultural communities. With its increasing diversity, the City has been addressing the barriers to racialized groups to access services and make them feel welcome in Greater Sudbury. As part of its plan, the City of Greater Sudbury submitted a funding proposal to the Department of Canadian Heritage in the fall of 2003 and obtained funding in 2004 for the City’s multiculturalism project, Diversity Thrives Here!
Diversity Thrives Here! involved three stages of organized activities aimed to create cultural awareness. In the first stage of the project, the City engaged with service providers and residents to discuss and identify issues of inclusion and diversity and ways to ensure inclusivity. The City held “Conversation Cafés” and a Capacity-Building Forum to initiate dialogues on inclusion, and created an inventory mapping of municipal services and areas where racialized groups were underserved.
In the second stage of the plan, the City trained community members and youth leaders on ways to raise cultural awareness, to achieve common goals and to build coalitions for cross-cultural understanding. Activities included a three-hour dialogue, “Building Bridges to the Native Community,” on building bridges of understanding and communication with the Aboriginal community. It included ways to respectfully resolve issues. An urban Aboriginal Dialogue involved Aboriginal residents in implementing the City’s diversity plan.
The activities are designed to engage community members in developing a broader plan for anti-racism and anti-discrimination in the city. At a final ”Diversity Summit,” community champions, leaders and members created a diversity plan and governance structure that included tips to make Greater Sudbury more socially and economically inclusive. At the end of the process, City Council passed a resolution to establish the Diversity Advisory Panel and the Community Diversity Plan.
(see www.sudburydiversity.ca/feedstream/content/diversityfinaljune30.pdf)
Tips
Municipalities can:
Municipalities show leadership by encouraging and supporting community initiatives to address racism and discrimination. They can help residents, organizations, unions, schools and businesses to begin or continue to actively address racism and discrimination. Municipalities can do this by facilitating community initiatives and providing incentives and different types of resources, including information, funding and labour. Encouraging and supporting others is a powerful way to deal with resource limits and expand the effort.
The Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI) was formed by joining two initiatives, Strengthening of Hamilton’s Community Initiative (SHCI) and the Civic and Resource Center Initiative (C&RC). SHCI was a city initiative following September 11, 2001. The City was an active member in SHCI and provided project management staff for the initiative through a secondment from the Community Services Department.
In the same year, the City of Hamilton’s Mayor’s office played an important role in coordinating community dialogues after the burning of a local Hindu temple generated concerns among Hamilton citizens. As SHCI evolved into the HCCI, the City continued to provide funding for HCCI. More notably, the HCCI maintains a connection to the Mayor’s Office and Council with the Mayor and a Councillor as members of its Governing Council.
The HCCI acts as a hub to give all Hamilton citizens access to the knowledge and resources needed to build a strong, racially diverse and welcoming city. It has built programming and tools for public education and community engagement. As well, HCCI has initiated a broad strategy to promote equity, access and participation in the key sectors of employment, education, health and housing in the Hamilton community.
HCCI programs include: youth initiatives such as poster and video competitions; Café Conversations in several Hamilton neighbourhoods that bring together politicians and non-elected community leaders to find solution-oriented activities that will help build an inclusive and welcoming community; and the Community Mobilization Team (CMT), a six-month training program for community activists and advocates, teachers and social workers. CMT graduates have been appointed to various City of Hamilton Volunteer Advisory Committees. The HCCI has also developed toolkits and facilitators’ manuals on Organizational Change and Ending Racism.
The HCCI’s work has established a base that is anchored in community engagement, institutional networks and partnerships.
Tips
Municipalities can:
Municipalities should review old and new by-laws to make sure they conform to human rights principles and the Ontario Human Rights Code. Establishing by-laws is among the most powerful tools available to municipalities. Actively ensuring that these conform to human rights principles and legislation is not only a legal requirement but also a clear signal to the community that anti-racism and anti-discrimination are real commitments. Similarly, municipalities can also develop, implement and enforce specific anti-racism and anti-discrimination policies and review existing policies to eliminate implicit discriminatory barriers.
Toronto is a multi-ethnic city and a primary destination for immigrants and refugees who arrive in Canada. It has gained an international reputation for its anti-racism and anti-discrimination initiatives with its inclusive vision to build on the strength of its diversity.
In 1893, Toronto City Council first adopted a Fair Wage Policy that established the rights of workers and required suppliers of goods and services to pay a “fair wage” based on a scheduled established by the City. In 1984, Toronto City Council expanded the Fair Wage Policy to further require the adoption of an anti-discrimination policy which requires suppliers “to uphold policies which prohibit discrimination and which protect the right to be free of hate activity based on race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, disability, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, family status, receipt of public assistance, political affiliation, religious affiliation, record of offences, level of literacy or any other personal characteristics by or within the organization.”
The policy covers all employees that are hired by contractors, sub-contractors, suppliers and tenants of city property operating businesses, as well as five construction sectors (ICI-industrial, construction, institutional; heavy construction; utilities construction/other non construction; roads; sewers and water main construction). However, the policy does not apply to small businesses (e.g. owner/operators, partnerships, principals of companies).
The policy requires that all organizations doing business with the City have an anti-discriminatory policy or adopt the City’s policy. This requirement is included as a clause within all City contracts and applies to every community organization that receives a grant from the City. The City’s Fair Wage Office monitors the implementation of the policy, and is authorized to investigate complaints against businesses to ensure that companies are acting on the provisions of the agreement. As part of its effort to enforce the policy requirement, the office may enter places of work without prior notice to investigate and review records pertinent to City contracts.
Through this policy, the City of Toronto has been able promote equality and anti-discrimination policies and practices, to monitor businesses to uphold equality and eliminate discrimination. Since then, other municipalities, such as Sudbury, have implemented a fair wage policy.
Tips
Municipalities can:
Municipalities can promote the values of anti-racism and anti-discrimination in their communities by promptly and actively responding to incidents. They should do this by collaborating with community organizations and law enforcement bodies to establish and support ways to identify, monitor and respond to acts of racism, such as hate crimes. Document incidents of racism and discrimination, and describe the actions taken in response to the issue.
Municipalities can also encourage the reporting of incidents by community members who have experienced racism and discrimination. Connect with local news media such as local radio programs. Accessible reporting systems and support services can help community members deal with the effects of racism and discrimination and prevent future occurrences.
The Town of Sioux Lookout is located in Northwestern Ontario and has a population of approximately 5,000. The community acts as an important centre for health care, education, government and social services to many of the remote First Nations communities to the north. Aboriginal people have relocated from theses communities to make Sioux Lookout their home, and many others come as short-term visitors, either on business or to get services. The change from a predominately Euro-Canadian population to over 50% Aboriginal population presented the community with many challenges as diverse groups struggled to deal with cultural differences. The Sioux Lookout Anti-Racism Committee (SLARC), inspired by a motion of the Municipality to address racial tensions in the community was established in 1988 and is composed of municipal residents. The purpose of SLARC is to help the people of Sioux Lookout learn to work and live together, respecting and celebrating their differences.
The Sioux Lookout Anti-Racism Committee created several systems designed to meet the unique needs of their residents and to provide supports and responses to incidents of racism and discrimination. Responses to racially-motivated incidents involve community members and promote inclusion for all municipal residents and visitors. Its activities are focused on two main sectors: youth and community groups.
SLARC has developed a number of proactive initiatives and committees to respond to incidents of racism and discrimination in the community.
The REsolve Program is a confidential community mediation service. When residents and visitors to the municipality have conflicts around such issues as race and diversity, dispute resolution services are available in Ojibway or English. SLARC found that mediation resolved disputes in approximately 85% of their cases. Mediation services are free of charge or on a sliding scale basis by trained community members. Although REsolve was created for Sioux Lookout, the model was designed so that it could be applied in other communities with similar issues.
Tips
Municipalities can: