THE REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY OF PEEL

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND ANTI-RACISM COMMITTEE

MINUTES

DEAR-2/2020

Thursday, June 18, 2020

9:30 A.m. - 11:00 A.m.

Council Chamber, 5th Floor

Regional Administrative Headquarters

10 Peel Centre Drive, Suite A

Brampton, Ontario

Members Present:

• T. Awuni
• D. Damerla
• R. Deo
• G.S. Dhillon
• J. Downey
• N. Iannicca
• J. Kovac
• S. McFadden
• R. Rokerya
• R. Santos

Staff Present

• N. Polsinelli, Interim Chief Administrative Officer
• S. Baird, Commissioner of Digital and Information Services
• K. Lockyer, Regional Clerk and Interim Commissioner of Corporate Services
• S. VanOfwegen, Commissioner of Finance and Chief Financial Officer
• P. O'Connor, Regional Solicitor
• A. Smith, Acting Chief Planner
• A. Farr, Acting Commissioner of Public Works
• J. Sheehy, Commissioner of Human Services
• C. Granger, Acting Commissioner of Health Services
• L. Loh, Interim Medical Officer of Health
• A. Macintyre, Deputy Clerk and Manager of Legislative Services
• J. Jones, Committee Clerk
• S. MacGregor, Legislative Assistant

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1.

CALL TO ORDER

The Region of Peel Diversity, Equity and Anti-Racism Committee met on June 18, 2020 at 9:30 a.m., in the Regional Council Chamber, 5th Floor, Regional Administrative Headquarters, 10 Peel Centre Drive, Suite A, Brampton, ON. The Committee Chair attended in-person. Members of the Committee and staff participated electronically.

2.

DECLARATIONS OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Nil

3.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

• RECOMMENDATION DEAR-4-2020:

  That the agenda for the June 18, 2020 Diversity, Equity and Anti-Racism Committee include a letter from the Black Community Action Network (BCAN) of Peel, listed as Item 6.1;

  And further, that the agenda for the June 18, 2020 Diversity, Equity and Anti-Racism Committee meeting be approved, as amended.

4.

DELEGATIONS

4.1

Seema Taneja, Taneja Consulting Inc. and Sharon Douglas, S.M.D. Consulting Inc.

Regarding Equity and Equity Based Approaches to Further Understand and Create Impact for Equity Seeking Groups Across Peel
(Related to 5.1)

• Received
• RECOMMENDATION DEAR-5-2020:

  That the Committee endorses the delegation’s calls to action as presented and outlined below:

  
  Whereas to gain the benefits of diversity, equity and inclusion, serious investment in organizational transformation is required and a commitment to an intentional and deliberate focus on equity is mandatory for change to happen;

  Therefore be it resolved, that Regional policies, procedures and practices be reviewed through an integrated Anti-Racism lens, including a component on Anti-Black racism;

  And further, that those tasked with the responsibility of leading this work be given the support and authority to make change happen;

  And further, that milestone markers be built in for accountability, transparency and consequences;

  And further, that the system be re-built on the principles of social justice, equity and equitable outcomes.

  And further, that equity-based data, with respect to the characteristics of program users, be collected and made available to community organizations working to address equity matters and to support the creation of targeted interventions and preventative programs that can safeguard communities from crisis driven programming.

Sharon Douglas, S.M.D. Consulting Inc., stated that equity is a legal responsibility articulated, supported and mandated by the Canadian Human Rights Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Federal Employment Equity Act and the Ontario Human Rights Commission; and, that advancing matters of equity is also a moral responsibility. She noted that the Region of Peel is responsible for a large, diverse community and an equity lens will provide access and inclusion for all groups, creating a sense of belonging and participation in the community.

Seema Taneja, Taneja Consulting Inc., stated that community organizations working to address equity matters require equity-based data to better understand and serve their clients and to better respond to recommendations being developed through Peel’s Community Safety and Well-being Plan. She noted that collection of data, with respect to the characteristics of program users, is a vital tool in designing equitable and effective services that will meet the unique needs of clients. She further stated that data may also indicate members of the community who are not accessing services, which will allow for the examination of inequities that exist in services, practices, policies and outreach strategies. She highlighted that while the existence of robust population level survey data has helped to identify many forms of inequities in sectors such as health, housing, and employment education, there is a lack of standardized and routinely collected social, demographic data at the program level.

Seema Taneja noted that the collection and dissemination of desegregated data could support the creation of targeted interventions and preventative programs that would safeguard our communities from crisis driven programming; this is aligned with the Community Safety and Well-being provincial document that speaks to the need for more focus on upstream programs and approaches that can lessen the burden on costly downstream interventions.

Councillor Santos requested that the delegation’s calls for action be endorsed by Regional Council. She further requested that consideration be given to increasing the frequency of Diversity, Equity and Anti-Racism Committee meetings to deal with the Anti-Black Racism crisis. Staff undertook to report back to the Committee on potential meeting dates.

In response to a statement from Member Deo regarding institutionalized racism affecting hospital funding in Peel, Cathy Granger, Acting Commissioner of Health agreed that the gap in healthcare funding is an urgent issue and Council is advocating strongly for equitable funding in the Region of Peel.

5.

REPORTS

5.1

Equity Related Issues Impacting Racialized and Vulnerable Communities

(For information) (Related to 4.1)

• Received

5.2

Update on the Region of Peel’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategy

(For information)

• Received

5.3

Update on Community Safety and Well-being Plan

(For information)

• .

  Received

5.4

Multicultural Media Strategy

(For information) (Related to 5.5)

• Received

In response to a request from Councillor Santos, Lisa Duarte, Director, Marketing and Communications, confirmed that staff will translate Regional public messages into the top five languages within Peel before providing the information to ethnic media outlets; to facilitate the ease and timeliness of media distribution.

5.5

Improved Access to Translated Material

(For information) (Related to 5.4)

• Received

6.

COMMUNICATIONS

Nil

6.1

Sophia Brown Ramsay, Black Community Action Network of Peel (BCAN)

Letter dated June 18, 2020, Providing Recommendations for the Effective Implementation of Calls to Action to Combat Racial Injustice (Referral to Corporate Services recommended)

• Received
• RECOMMENDATION DEAR-6-2020:

  Whereas, the Council of the Region of Peel passed a motion on June 11 affirming its commitment to address systemic discrimination by supporting policies and programs that address the inequities that the Black community and other marginalized groups continue to experience within Peel;

  Now therefore be it resolved, that implementation of the four calls to action (as approved by Regional Council on June 11, 2020, and outlined in the letter from BCAN, dated June 18, 2020) be based on foundational core values and principles including race equity, sustainability, continuous learning and accountability, co-design and shared responsibility, community capacity-building, and innovation;

  And further, that the Region of Peel conduct an inventory of internal organizational activities related to anti-Black racism in order to ensure future implementation efforts maximize the potential for efficiencies and synergies and avoid duplication with current scope of work;

  And further, that the calls to action (first, second and third) be implemented in a comprehensive and integrated way, through the development of a multi-sectoral, community-based initiative to address the social determinants of anti-Black racial health inequities;

  And further, that the model for such an initiative should incorporate principles of co-design, involving shared responsibility for service planning and resource allocation (similar to the Human Trafficking Service Provider Table);

  And further, that the initiative prioritizes equitable funding and sustainable capacity-building of Black-focused organizations, and builds on synergies with existing initiatives in the Region, including but not limited to the United Way of Peel Region's Black Youth School Success Initiative and BCAN's System Leaders Roundtable;

  And further, that implementation of the fourth call to action involve extensive consultation and co-design with stakeholders of the Black community in order to ensure public education efforts accurately and sensitively reflect the issues of anti-Black racism;

  And further, that public education strategies use a range of innovative social marketing approaches (for example web-based campaigns, documentaries, arts, special events, community town halls, 21^st century community talk shows) and involve various stakeholders, including the private sector and allies.

The four calls to action referenced in the BCAN letter and included in the motion approved by Council on June 11, 2020, are listed below:

• engaging Black communities to address racial inequities related to COVID 19
• providing funding to mental health/housing/harm reduction programming to support marginalized groups including the Black community through Peel funded programs
• ensuring Black led/Black serving social agencies in Peel are funded equitably through the Regional funding mechanisms
• requesting that the local municipalities collaborate with the Region to carry out anti-racism public education

Councillor Santos requested that the recommendations for effective implementation of Regional Council’s motion approved on June 11, 2020, as outlined in the BCAN letter dated June 18, 2020, be endorsed by Regional Council.

Councillor Santo also noted that the Region of Peel should take a lead role in solidarity with the Black community.

7.

OTHER BUSINESS

Nil

8.

IN CAMERA MATTERS

Nil

9.

NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the Diversity, Equity and Anti-Racism Committee is scheduled for Thursday, October 15, 2020 at 11:00 a.m., Regional Administrative Headquarters, Council Chamber, 5th floor, 10 Peel Centre Drive, Suite A, Brampton, ON.

Please forward regrets to Jill Jones, Committee Clerk at [email protected].

10.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 10:34 a.m.