Anti-Racism Initiative

The Anti-Racism Advisory Working Group of the Waterloo Region invites all residents to a Virtual Community Town Hall on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Join the Anti-Racism Advisory Working group as they share their work and accomplishments of the past two years, with an opportunity for community input and insight.

Panelists include Amy Smoke, Fauzia Mazhar, Laura-Mae Lindo, & Run4Office, discussing political and community leadership.

Register your attendance today at Virtual Community Town Hall Tickets, Tue, 19 Jul 2022 at 5:00 PM | Eventbrite

The Anti-Racism Advisory Working Group has a significant role in helping eliminate systemic racism in our workplace and our services by providing recommendations, advice and information to the Regional Council through an Anti-Racism Plan.

The members were selected by a committee based on their: history of community engagement; personal lived experience and interest; and experience using an Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppressive lens in activities/projects.

Ciann L. Wilson

Ciann L. Wilson is an Associate Professor of Wilfrid Laurier University who is of Afro-, Indo- and Euro- Jamaican ancestry. She has over a decade of experience working within African, Caribbean and Black communities across Canada - first as a youth programmer and now as a health researcher. Her research interests build off her community-engaged work to include critical race theory, anti-/de-colonial theory, African diasporic and Indigenous community health, HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive wellbeing and community-based research. Her body of work aims to utilize research as an avenue for sharing the stories and realities of African diasporic, Indigenous and racialized peoples, and improving the health and wellbeing of these communities. Ciann is a Steering Committee member of the African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) Network of Waterloo Region and has worked with the Coalition of Muslim Woman.

Amy Smoke

Amy Smoke is Mohawk Nation, Turtle Clan from the Six Nations of the Grand River. Amy is a Two Spirit IndigiQueer parent, public speaker, and community organizer. They have graduated from Conestoga College General Arts & Science, University of Waterloo with a BA and BSW, as well as Wilfrid Laurier University with a Masters in Indigenous Social Work. Amy has won several awards for Social Justice and Leadership, and is the co-founder and co-organizer of O:se Kenhionhata:tie Land Back Camp.

Fauzia Mazhar

Fauzia is the Executive Director at the Coalition of Muslim Women of KW, a not-for-profit organization actively working in the Region of Waterloo to address Islamophobia, racism, and xenophobia at the interpersonal, systemic / institutional , and societal levels while providing opportunities for personal and professional growth, and leadership and skills development for Muslim women. She has over a decade of leadership experience working with culturally, socially and economically diverse communities in K-W. She holds a Masters of Social Work degree with specialization in Community, Policy, Planning, Organizations (CPPO), and a postgraduate certificate in Leadership and Management from Wilfrid Laurier University. Additionally, Fauzia was the only person of colour who ran for Regional Council in 2018.

Donna Dubie

Donna is Haudenosaunee of Six Nations Turtle Clan. She is the founder of The Healing of the Seven Generations. Donna has a long standing history of advocating for First Peoples community members in their struggles to oppose the racism and systematic-racism that they face on a daily basis within. She supports individuals within a multitude of governmental systems such as the Justice system, Family and Children's Services, educational systems, health care system and mainstream organizations that provide services to First Peoples without having the knowledge or knowhow to work with First Peoples.

Geraldine L. Stafford

Geraldine grew up in the Kitchener Waterloo area. She has experience working in government as a Special Policy Advisor for Diaspora Relations. Geraldine is also a committee member of Black Professionals Network at Bell (BPN), a group created to help make an inclusive, accessible and supportive work environment where everyone has the opportunity and support to achieve their full potential. Of late, BPN’s focus has been on maneuvering and addressing anti racism and systemic racism in the Bell workplace and the group’s mandate has pivoted to supporting Bell employees in conversations around recent events and providing materials to help learn about and confront racism.

Maedith Radlein

Maedith was formerly a teacher and principal with the Waterloo Region District School Board. As a teacher, she chaired the teacher union's Anti-Racism Committee and led workshops that introduced diverse learning materials to teachers. As an administrator, Maedith chaired the committee that developed and implemented the school board’s first equity policy. She was also a member of the Hiring Practice Advisory Group. Maedith founded and chaired the Coalition for the Success of African-Caribbean Youth, a community led initiative for at-risk students. Now retired, she spends much of her time volunteering in the community and was named Senior of the Year by Waterloo City Council in 2018 for her extensive community work. Maedith is currently on the school board’s Equity & Inclusion Advisory Committee.

Tammy Webster

Tammy is an expert and leader in anti-oppressive practices and Indigenous education for over 30 years. She brings vast knowledge and comprehensive experience to stakeholders and the Waterloo Region in order to build Indigenous and Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity practices into a system wide vision. Tammy provides insight into the educational system for Indigenous children, as she is the K-12 Indigenous Education Lead Consultant for the Waterloo Catholic District School Board. Tammy also has a Masters Degree in Education from York University.

Krishna Karur Badrinarayan

Krishna is a licensed Paralegal, Advocate, Notary Public and member of the Law Society of Ontario. He has provided legal services in Ontario since 2004 and his main area of practice has always been disability and human rights. His passion is to advance human rights in his community. Krishna has represented clients before the Ontario Human Rights Commission and subsequently thereafter, before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario as well as the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Krishna is currently a member of the Equity Advisory Group (EAG) at the Law Society of Ontario. The EAG’s mandate is to assist the Equity & Indigenous Affairs Committee in the development of policies and further assist in the promotion of equity and diversity in the legal profession.

Gebre Berihun

Gebre Berihun lives in Kitchener (since 1998). Before coming to Canada, he taught for five years at Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia) in the Department of Sociology and Social Administration. Gebre has been working with the Kitchener Downtown Community Health Centre, different communities and organizations, developing programs and services which address health and social issues. Part of Gebre’s work involves developing and coordinating programs and services, writing grant proposals, designing, and delivering educational workshops and forums focused on diversity, equity, social justice, human rights, organizational change, civic participation, cultural competency, and intercultural communication. Currently, he works with Woolwich Community Health Centre, as the Manager of Community Programs and Services. He also teaches part-time at Wilfrid Laurier University in the Faculty of Social Work (MSW Program). Besides his full time work, Gebre has been involved in many regional and provincial organizations. A few include: The Ontario Trillium Foundation, Lyle S. Hallman Foundation, United Way of Kitchener-Waterloo and Area, Community Coalition on Refugee and immigrant Concerns (Founder), and African-Canadian Association of Waterloo Region and Area (Founder).

Cheyanne Thorpe

Cheyanne is a community organizer, where recently she led efforts towards advocating for the removal of the Prime Minister's Path, beginning with the Sir John A Macdonald statue once located at Castle Kilbride in Baden, Ontario. These efforts were solely volunteer run and the labour that was shared by many was long lasting, strenuous, and emotionally tasking for everyone involved. In the end, Cheyanne, as well as other organizers and volunteers were successful in carrying a strong and direct message through peaceful protest and community enlightenment and engagement. Cheyanne and her family are recognized community members by the Lunaapeew People of the Delaware Nation at Moraviantown, while also recognizing their Haudenosaunee (Kanien'kehá:ka) descent. Having been born in Tkaronto, she spent a majority of her youth growing up in and outside of Ohsweken (Six Nations of the Grand River Territory). Cheyanne has 2 special needs children in which she practices regular advocacy on behalf of, as well as her Anti-Racism focused efforts.

Aalaa Rehman

Aalaa Rehman is a muslim youth activist, and owns a small non-profit company called Aalaa Conseil, which aims to help children in the community through various projects. She also creates video games to spread messages and deliver important topics in a smaller way, which can reach youth and young people. Along with her siblings, she is one of the Youngest Canadian Radio Show Hosts, with her radio show #CANYouthVoteMatter & #CANMinorityVoteMatter Awareness Campaign, which aimed to help youth and minorities realize that their vote is essential and to break down the barriers that stood in the way. Aalaa is the Youth Representative of the Anti Racism Advisory Working Group. To learn more about her, please go to www.aalaaconseil.ca

June is National Pride Month all across Canada.

Pride 2022 in Waterloo Region is especially exciting this year. After many months of practising social distancing, remaining indoors and being isolated away from our communities - 2SLGBTQQIA+ persons can finally gather to express the love that they have for one another.

Whilst celebrating pride this year, or simply residing within your communities, the Anti-Racism Advisory Working Group asks residents to reflect on the long standing relationship between anti-racism efforts and anti-trans/homophobic efforts.

To quote Edmund White in The Stonewall Reader - an anthology chronicling the fight for ‘LGBTQ’ rights in the 1960s, along with the activists who spearheaded the movement:

“Angry lesbians, angrier drag queens, excessive mourning, staggering heat, racial tensions, the example of civil disobedience set by the women’s movement, the antiwar protesters, the Black Panthers — all the elements were present and only a single flame was needed to ignore the bonfire.”

People of colour have long stood on the frontlines for the liberation of their right to love who they choose, whilst risking their lives doing so. These people were not only targeted for who and how they chose to express their love, but for the colour of their skin, or for the religions they worshipped.

As stated by author Emma Specter, in an article titled “Pride Cannot—And Must Not—Exist Without Anti-Racist Work”:

“If we wish to consider ourselves worthy of the legacy of (Marsha P.) Johnson, (Sylvia) Rivera, Maxine Perkins, Audre Lorde, and countless other people of color who fought for queer liberation, we must do the work: whether that’s donating to anti-racism causes, lobbying our elected officials to reallocate police funding to social services, showing up at protests to put our bodies between black and brown protestors and the police, or any number of other actions.”

This month, the group asks exactly that of Waterloo region residents. Please consider creating space to honour and remember the ancestors who paved the way in helping our Nation be a more inclusive and accepting place for 2SLGBTQQIA+ persons to exist within.

Prepared by the Region of Waterloo Anti-Racism Advisory Working Group.

National Indigenous History Month
June 2022

In 2009, the House of Commons declared that June would be National Indigenous History Month to be recognized all across Canada.

During the month of June, the Anti-Racism Advisory Working group encourages all Waterloo regional residents to reflect on not only the detrimental harm that Canada has done to Indigenous communities, but the powerful action that Indigenous communities are taking by protecting the lands, waters, wildlife and future generations.

Within National Indigenous History Month, we recognize both the inception of National Day of Truth and Reconciliation and National Indigenous Peoples Day.

National Day of Reconciliation was once recognized on June 11. On this date in 2008, the Canadian federal government publicly apologized to Indigenous communities for the creation and implementation of the Indian Residential School System which was responsible for separating over 150,000 Indigenous children from their families, communities and cultural connections. We now recognize National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on September 30th of every year.

Many of these children were abused, neglected, and later died, only to be discarded in shallow graves when these schools were unsuccessful in their attempts to “Kill the Indian in the child” - words shared by Canada’s very first prime minister, Sir John A MacDonald.

National Day of Truth and Reconciliation is considered a day of mourning within Indigenous communities, as remains are still being recovered, while many traumas are continuing through the means of systemic prejudice and colonial governance. We ask that you broach these topics with respect and adequate education when discussing the events of our Nation’s past.

National Indigenous Peoples Day is June 21. On this day, we celebrate Indigenous communities and the unique imprint that its people and its heritage has left on our lands and in the waters we drink. The Anti-Racism Advisory Working Group asks that Waterloo regional residents support their local Indigenous initiatives while uplifting the communities that surround them.

Prepared by the Region of Waterloo Anti-Racism Advisory Working Group

The Anti-Racism Advisory Working Group has been meeting regularly since January 2021, to discuss issues pertaining to the Black Indigenous People of Colour (BIPOC) community in the Region of Waterloo.

The ARAWG intends to be proactive and transformational. It has collaboratively created the following recommendations to Council based on the collective knowledge, experience, and research of its members.

The ARAWG is unanimous in its support of this report.

Anti-Racism Advisory Working Group Recommendations

Hiring Practices

Background:

Best practices and data support the fact that a diverse workforce is necessary to created an Anti-Racist working environment. Historically, the Region of Waterloo has lacked racialized leadership and staffing at all levels of employment. Staffing surveys will reveal evidence that the staffing complement requires more diversity.

Recommendations:

1. By the end of 2022, the Region of Waterloo’s Human Resources Department must implement policies to hold equivalent other methods of experience/education beyond the current practice of only accepting formalized education degrees and certificates. This includes:
   1. Acknowledging that within Indigenous communities life experiences, community connections and other ways of knowing are integral to the culture, and must be highly valued by the Region;
      
   2. Addressing the issue of equivalence for non-Canadian qualifications, and working to understand and value international accreditation;
      
   3. Creating a hiring policy that actively seeks out the lived experiences and community-based work of BIPOC communities as accepted qualifications.
      
2. Create targeted hiring practices to increase the amount of BIPOC staff at the Region of Waterloo.
   

1. The current system is not accessible to certain populations, and must be amended to improve accessibility to the process from start to finish
   
   
2. Set hiring targets so that
   1. The demographic makeup of Regional staff is directly and proportionally reflective of the ethnic population of the Region of Waterloo, updating this target on an ongoing basis as census information is gathered;
   2. Under-represented and intersectionality marginalized groups such as Indigenous and Black communities are given priority for specific roles. This is an immediate need as the status quo breeds violence against Indigenous and Black identities and thus excludes them from the workplace.
      
      
3. The Region of Waterloo must commit to completing a staff census every 2 years to determine growth, patterns and gaps/achievements

Mental Health and Emergency Response

Background:

In recent years, the racializing of individuals and especially those in mental health distress have disproportionately resulted in death or injury by a police officer. There are few opportunities to access appropriate services and police are often called to these situations. Waterloo Regional Police Services have publicly stated on occasion that they do not have capacity for mental health calls and are often ill equipped.

Recommendations:

1. The Region of Waterloo must create and implement non-police based responses to mental health crises. Should a police presence be required, officers on site should be unarmed and serve as support, not as the primary intervenor for de-escalation.
   
2. This would involve the formation of Crisis Intervention Teams with specially trained health and crisis response professionals including Mental Health Nurses. Such teams must be a collaboration between the Waterloo Regional Police Service, Public Health and local health-focused non-profits that have a proven track record of working positively in BIPOC communities. Response should include wraparound care such as:
   
   1. Training for emergency dispatch responders
   2. Training for all staff involved in Emergency Response
   3. Follow up care and mental health supports
      
3. Immediate training needs to be provided for relevant non-profit staff and all current first responders, including police, so that teams can be formed in a timely manner to prevent response with force, weapons or intimidation. Data must be reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure that there are enough teams available for response. Lives should not be risked by having untrained people responding at any time.

Regional Funding

Recommendations:

1. Regional funding for Indigenous initiatives must be offered only to Indigenous organizations. Funding should not be allocated to mainstream organizations which do not represent the Indigenous community at large. To bypass Indigenous organizations when seeking solutions to social issues is systemic racism.
   
2. The Region, in consultation with Indigenous organizations, must actively advocate for all federal funding available for Indigenous initiatives and ensure that it is provided to Indigenous service providers. There are existing organizations such as K-W Urban Native Wigwam, the Healing of the Seven Generations, Anishnabeg Outreach, LandBack and White Owl Native Ancestry Association which should be consulted at all stages of the process.

Space for Indigenous Groups

Recommendations:

1. By the end of 2021, the Region of Waterloo must be in consistent and ongoing consultation with Indigenous organizations about the availability of community space. There needs to be respectful dialogue in a process that is Indigenous led.

Director Reconciliation, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Recommendations:

1. The role of the Director of Reconciliation and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion should be two separate roles. Reconciliation is NOT the same as Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and must be given the attention and expertise it deserves. We recommend two equal positions;
   
   1. Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
   2. Director of Reconciliation
      
2. Both the Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Director of Reconciliation should report only to the Chief Administrator of the Region of Waterloo.
   
   1. It is important that both directors work with both the CAO and the Chief Communications and Strategy Officer. However, they must be answerable only to the CAO. Communications is tasked with ensuring that the Region has a positive public image. The Director of Reconciliation and the Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion will be tasked with systemic change and may need to communicate difficult non-complimentary messages.
      

This separation is necessary and vital to maintaining the integrity of these positions.

Prepared by the Region of Waterloo Anti Racism Advisory Working Group.

The Community Innovation Grants (CIG) Program has been established to harness this creative energy - to foster new collaborations and partnerships, to build on and strengthen existing ones, and to find and develop new sustainable approaches to addressing social, health, cultural, economic, environmental and other needs in Waterloo Region.

For the 2021 CIG Program the Regional Municipality of Waterloo will use Strategic Focus Area: Healthy, Safe and Inclusive Communities, with a specific focus on removing barriers to connectivity and learning for the Region’s Black and Indigenous and racialized youth population, created as a result of the pandemic.

The CIG program includes $50,000, where the Region of Waterloo can decide:

• To award the entire annual budget of $50,000 to support one eligible proposal
• To award lesser amounts to several eligible proposals up to the maximum budget of $50,000

Application Deadline: Monday September 20, 2021 at 4:00pm

To learn more and submit your application please visit the Region of Waterloo website.

On the weekend of May 30, 2021 news was released that the bodies of 215 children were found in unmarked graves at Kamloops Indian Residential School. While this may have been news to the settler population of Canada, this news was common knowledge within First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities. Amid an unearthing of the 215 bodies, our collective words seem weak and useless. Our grief cannot bring back those lives. We need to act. We need to do differently. First Nations, Metis and Inuit historic relations with a colonial and white supremacist government has been fraught with disposition and oppression, with a clear intent to assimilate. As a result, genocide was and continues to be committed towards First Nations, Metis, and Inuit within Canada. As you take a moment of silence to mourn the loss of 215 young lives at the hands of a colonial and white supremacist structure, we ask that you take the next moment to determine a course of action. While truths continue to be told and evidence begins to mount outside of the oral traditions of First Nations, Metis and Inuit, we invite you to engage in an individual and collective course of action. Individually, increase your knowledge base of legislation and the colonial systems that imposed oppression. Read the entire Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report, not just the Action Items. Collectively, review and revise your own systems of oppression to encourage more diversity and equity. Today, as the Anti Racism Advisory Working Group tasked by Regional Council, we call on the Region of Waterloo and Regional officials to take remedial action. Make it your mandate to establish an allocation of funds to address Indigenous realities in our Region that are grounded in oppression and inequity. Make it your mandate to seek a more intentional working relationship between regional services and Indigenous peoples and groups. Today, as the Anti-Racism Advisory Working Group of the Waterloo Region, we ask you, as individuals across our Region, to take account of the ways in which your actions or your inactions, your silence, or your words, have implicated you in injustice. Today we ask you to pause for a moment and listen to the voices of lives lost at the hands of a colonial and racist system and then do differently. We need both individual and collective action in order to realize meaningful change for all nations across Turtle Island (Canada).

ARAWG Co-Convenors

Kathy Hogarth

Donna Dubie

ARAWG Meeting 2021-1

On Tuesday, January 5th, 2021, the Anti Racism Advisory Working Group (ARAWG) convened for its first meeting of the year.

The Terms of Reference drafted by the ARAWG selection committee represent the guiding principles of the ARAWG. The meeting focused on the terms of reference , in order to ensure alignment with the stated mandate and responsibilities. Given the potentially broad scope of the engagement and directed opportunity for actual ARAWG Member feedback, the Working Group will finalize the Terms of Reference in the coming weeks, ensuring it is principled in an anti-oppressive and inclusive framework.

Concurrent to the review of the Terms of Reference is the review of the status of equity work in the Region and its respective agencies, the Municipalities and Townships.

As part of the pandemic response and recovery efforts, the Region of Waterloo has formed a COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force, which will draw on expertise of staff from several agencies. The Task Force will ensure that an efficient, equitable plan is in place for delivery of the immunization program. The Region has invited two members of ARAWG to join the community engagement working group to the Task Force. Maedith Radlein and Tammy Webster will represent the ARAWG. ARAWG involvement earmarks the importance of inclusion in Regional program delivery.

The ARAWG will conduct meetings every three weeks – virtual meetings, at this time.

Geraldine Stafford - Co-Convener

About the Anti Racism Advisory Working Group

The ARAWG will provide recommendations, advice and information to the Region of Waterloo Council related to the development and implementation of an Anti-Racism Plan to eliminate systemic racism within the workplace and the services delivered by the Region.

The selection committee chose applicants for a two-year term based on their history of community engagement; personal lived experience and interest; and experience using an anti-racism and anti-oppressive lens in activities/projects. ARAWG Members include Kathy Hogarth, Victoria Oywak, Tammy Webster, Amy Smoke, Ciann Wilson, Fauzia Mazhar, Donna Dubie, Geraldine Stafford, Cheyanne Thorpe, Krishna Karur Badrinarayan, and Maedith Radlein.

On Monday December 14th, 2020 the Anti-Racism Advisory Working Group (ARAWG) had their first meeting.

In attendance were:

• Kathy Hogarth, Tammy Webster, Amy Smoke, Ciann Wilson, Fauzia Mazhar, Donna Dubie, Geraldine L. Stafford, Cheyanne Thorpe, Krishna Karur Badrinarayan, and Maedith Radlein;
• Selection Committee Members: Omi Ra, Ismail Mohamed, Jean Becker, Grace Ibrahima and Lois MacDonald;
• Chair Karen Redman;
• Bruce Lauckner, Region of Waterloo Chief Administrative Officer and;
• Connie MacDonald, Region of Waterloo Chief Communications and Strategy Officer.

During this introductory meeting, members the ARAWG spent the time building rapport, a necessary foundation for the collaborative work that they will be doing together. The group is excited and looking forward to their shared work together.

The next meeting will be scheduled either late December 2020 or in January 2021.

A community-led selection committee comprised of Omi Ra, Ismail Mohamed, Jean Becker, Grace Ibrahima, and Lois MacDonald has selected 11 members for the Region’s ARAWG. Selection committee members chose applicants based on their: history of community engagement; personal lived experience and interest; and experience using an anti-racism and anti-oppressive lens in activities/projects.

Members of the ARAWG were publicly announced Friday November 13th, 2020. We would like to welcome the following members of the new ARAWG for a two-year term: Kathy Hogarth, Victoria Oywak, Tammy Webster, Amy Smoke, Ciann Wilson, Fauzia Mazhar, Donna Dubie, Geraldine L. Stafford, Cheyanne Thorpe, Krishna Karur Badrinarayan, and Maedith Radlein.

The ARAWG will provide recommendations, advice and information to the Region of Waterloo Council related to the development and implementation of an Anti-Racism Plan to eliminate systemic racism within the workplace and the services delivered by the Region. Additionally, the ARAWG will have its inaugural meeting in early December 2020. .

To view the full press release regarding the selection of ARAWG members please visit the following page.