Photo: Shaun Penner / EverythingGP

By Shaun Penner

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

City committee endorses recommendations to further inclusion, eliminate racism

Oct 14, 2020 | 1:43 PM

A City of Grande Prairie standing committee has endorsed a number of recommendations to further and renew the City’s commitment to inclusion and the elimination of racism.

Five recommendations were presented to the Protective and Social Services Committee on Tuesday morning by Community and Social Development Manager Angela Sutherland, after that same committee had directed administration on September 15 to come back to them with suggestions of opportunities for the City of Grande Prairie to renew its commitment to inclusion and eliminating racism.

“The City of Grande Prairie, as a municipality, plays an important role in actively combatting racism, discrimination and fostering the equality and respect for all of our residents,” said Sutherland.

The recommendations are meant to build on the City’s existing work on addressing discrimination and inclusion. Back in 2006, the City of Grande Prairie signed on to the declaration of the Canadian Coalition of Municipalities Against Racism and Discrimination (renamed the Canadian Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities in 2019).

The City was also awarded a grant from the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association last year, aimed at supporting municipal governments in evaluating their inclusiveness.

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However, Sutherland knows there is more room for improvement, and the recommendations are meant to show the City is actively committed to inclusion and diversity.

“And how we, as a municipality can continually improve through the equity, diversity and inclusive lens.”

One of the recommendations was the creation of an inclusion and diversity report card to be presented to Council and residents on an annual basis as a way of measuring where the City is doing well, and which areas need improvement.

“It’s something that we can share, with Council and the community, to show that ‘you know what? The City of Grande Prairie is accountable and transparent’,” said Sutherland. “We wanted to also provide a mechanism to really communicate the success stories that are happening in our community, but also be realistic and find ways to address ‘yes, there is opportunities for us to learn and grow’.”

A recommendation to also conduct a review on the City’s policies and practices through an equity, diversity and inclusion lens was also made. Both of those recommendations were moved to formally go before City Council during its next meeting for a vote of approval.

Meantime, there were three other recommendations that were endorsed with unanimous committee approval. Those include:

• The implementation of relevant training for Council and staff to better understand the obligations and importance of equality, diversity and inclusion work.
• To engage and consult with the community to identify systemic barriers to accessing City programs and services.
• To continue to leverage opportunities to collaborate with community organizations on actions to address systemic racism and discrimination.

Sutherland adds that amid the current state of anti-racism discussions, both globally and locally, it is a reminder that racism and other forms of discrimination do still exist.