EIGHT MEETING OF THE

RACE RELATIONS COMMITTEE FOR 2010

TOWN OF MARKHAM

Ontario Room, Markham Civic Centre

Monday, October 4, 2010 - 7:15 p.m.

 

MINUTES

ATTENDANCE:

Committee
Theresa Coulter, Chair
Carla Crooks
Winnie Wales
Shila Desai

Darius Sookram

Michelle Ha - Observer

Mandy Ha - Observer

 

Staff

Cheryl McConney-Wilson, Diversity Specialist

Darshika Patel – Committee Clerk

 

Regrets

Councillor L. Kanapathi

Prashanth Scrichandramohan
Liliana Soengas
Vilvan Gunasingham

 

The eight meeting of the Race Relations Committee was convened at 7:30 p.m. with Ms. Theresa Coulter, presiding as Chair.

 

 

1.                  CHAIRS OPENING REMARKS

 

2.                  MINUTES OF THE MARKHAM RACE RELATIONS COMMITTEE MEETINGS HELD ON MAY 31 AND SEPTEMBER 13, 2010                                                  

 

Ms. Carla Crooks noted a correction to be made on the May 31st minutes that the title “Specialist” is removed from the name of committee member Liliana Soengas and the correct title is inserted beside Ms. Cheryl McConney-Wilson’s name as “Diversity Specialist”.

 

Moved by Theresa Coulter

Seconded by Winnie Wales

 

The Town of Markham Race Relations Committee recommends:

 

That the minutes of the Town of Markham Race Relations Committee meetings held on May 31, and September 13, 2010 be adopted as amended.

 

 

 

 

3.                  CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA

 

There were no changes or additions to the agenda.

 

4.         MARKHAM HUMAN RESOURCES UPDATE

 

            4. A.       Diversity Update

           

Cheryl McConney-Wilson spoke about diversity training for organizations and diversity competence training. Since the launch of the Diversity Plan in July, people have asked questions on diversity etiquette. The goal is to provide diversity training through 2011 to help make people comfortable and prevent the fear of being politically incorrect that prevents common sense behavior. For example, training will allow people to know that it is acceptable to write notes to a person that may not speak well. In accordance with internal committees, there were 68 recommendations that were made on how to go about implementing this training. Ideas include taking this opportunity to liaise with other committees such as accessibility. Thus, we can leverage committees that have diversity as an issue in order to work together to make this possible.

 

Questions remain on what is being done to ensure that the Diversity Plan is on track? In regards to the Canadian Municipalities Against Racism and Discrimination (CMARD) commitment, it will be necessary to create a subgroup. There are 10 commitments to this plan including tracking police information, the role of the municipal government on racism and in following the guidelines outlined in the CMARD. Moreover, how do we hear firsthand what is going on in the community? The long term mission is to have councillors go out and talk to community members and bring these issues back to the committee. This has not transpired and perhaps after the 2010 municipal elections, we will know whether this information will be provided to this committee. Furthermore, Cheryl notes that there are no existing databases that list out organizations to go to for specific assistance. Thus, there are many organizations that provide overlapping services.

 

The two achievements of this Committee are the Many Faces of Markham and playing a pivotal role in the Town joining CMARD. We must think about the advocacy role this committee can play in other ways.

 

 

5.         SUB-COMMITTEE UPDATES

 

            5. A.    Events

 

The Many Faces of Markham subcommittee meeting took place today with a core group of members committed to this task. The event is scheduled to take place on March 20, 2010 at Markham Theatre. The subcommittee meeting will take 45 minutes prior the Race Relations committee meeting.

           


 

6.         REVIEW FUNDING PROPOSAL

 

The committee has started the proposal for federal funding: Inter-action: Canada’s New Multiculturalism Grants and Contribution Program. The funding is intended for an event in 2012. This event is expected to grow in the future, thus, inquires on locations and cost must be obtained soon to insure this information is taken into account in this proposal.

 

7.         NEXT MEETING

 

The next meeting of the Race Relations Committee will be held on November 1, 2010 at 7:15 PM.

 

8.         ADJOURNMENT

 

The Race Relations Committee adjourned at 8:40 p.m.