Calgary Decision: Advocates Say Work Against Racism Must Continue With New City Hall – Calgary | The Canadian News

As Calgar residents prepare to go to the polls to elect a new mayor and city councilor, advocates and outgoing councilors believe that the future of anti-racist work in the city must be considered at the polls.

Anti-racism work became a key focus for the city council in the wake of George Floyd’s assassination by Minneapolis police officers in May 2020, sparking demonstrations around the world, including in Calgary.

He prompted the council to pass a motion pledging to address systemic racism in the city with six calls to action, including the establishment of an anti-racism committee that would be tasked with creating and developing an anti-racism strategy in the community. .

The Council also held three days of hearings to help guide work on anti-racism, as councilors heard from more than 100 Calgarians who shared their experiences with racism in the city and during interactions with the Calgary Police Service.

Adam Massiah, who is now a community relations consultant in the District 8 office at city hall, was one of those speakers. His words and experiences with police officers sparked a lengthy conversation with councilors about a way forward.

“For blacks, it was finally a time where it seemed like a time where people were listening,” Massiah told Global News.

“You were actually able to introduce yourself and tell your stories and experiences dealing with racism in Calgary without being told that you are being difficult or that you are just using the race card.”

CPS also made a commitment to address racism and reallocate funds from its operating budget to help create “an alternative model of crisis response.”

District 8 Councilman Evan Woolley filed a motion notice to develop a framework to address service gaps in the mental health and addiction response, as well as reallocate $ 20 million from the police budget over two years.

“Politics is the art of the possible,” Woolley told Global News. “I think we took a big step, but it is not enough. This choice, that conversation must happen. “

Ultimately, the council’s budget deliberations ended with $ 8 million from city reserves being invested in examining the alternative response to calls for mental health checks. Two million dollars from the police budget was also allocated to help with that work with community partners, with the door open for the police to invest an additional $ 8 million in the effort.

Funds from the police budget were also allocated to anti-racism work within CPS.

In June, CPS and city officials announced $ 11.4 million in funding from the CPS budget reallocation and the Community Security Investment Framework to be invested in 50 programs and initiatives, with $ 5.2 million of that money from CPS.

“If it weren’t for the funds reallocated through the police budget, we wouldn’t be able to do much of this work,” CPS Acting Superintendent Beverly Voros told Global News.

“It’s a difficult way to come to that conclusion, but I’m very grateful that we have that to apply to this job.”

According to CPS, that work includes a “transformational culture change” to address systemic racism, discrimination and marginalization, as well as promote equity, diversity and inclusion.

“It is not a sprint, it is a marathon. This is the first year in this work against racism, ”said Massiah, who is also on the CPS anti-racism action committee.

“A lot of people are trying to figure out how we can start to tackle this problem effectively and move forward in the right way.”

Meanwhile, the City of Calgary’s commitment includes a reassessment of internal policies and practices through an anti-racism lens, mandatory anti-racism training, as well as consideration of systemic racism issues in the public safety task force based on community.

According to Woolley, who is not running for re-election, the ongoing work will now go to the next mayor and council after the Oct. 18 election.

“The piece that will be important for the next city council is to ensure the implementation and execution of these plans, which will lead us to undo systemic racism in the city, that they are accountable to those (plans) and have resources appropriately”, Woolley said.

“We use significant amounts of one-time funding to carry out that work, which will need to be included in the next budget and included in the operating budget to ensure those resources are there to continue this incredibly important work.”

Massiah urges voters to inquire about candidate platforms and look for candidates who include anti-racism efforts as part of their campaigns in the municipal race.

“It is important to elect candidates who campaign against racism, that campaign to destroy systemic racism and the campaign for equality and fairness,” he said. “And that they are sitting there representing groups of people who generally have not had that representation within that room.”

More action on reconciliation

In response to the 94 calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report, the City of Calgary implemented White Goose Flying, its own strategy to implement calls to action at the local level.

The report is named after Jack White Goose Flying, a 17-year-old from the Piikani Nation who died at Calgary’s only residential school in 1899.

Various actions have emerged through the report, including reconciliation training for staff and symbolic actions such as more indigenous artwork on city facilities and land recognition.

According to Indigenous Advocate and District 7 Council Candidate Marilyn North-Peigan, further action should be taken with the guidance of the report.

“Canada was offering solutions through symbolism, not action, and that’s exactly where we came across White Goose Flying,” North-Peigan told Global News. “The change of the Bridge of Reconciliation, yes, those are symbols, so we must have real action.”

According to CPS, work is still in progress to implement reconciliation in your policing.

A sacred space has been built on the Westwinds Campus, and the flags of Treaty 7 and Métis will also fly outside the campus.

CPS said there is currently a 26-person committee working to implement changes within the service.

“It is a huge company. We are taking it step by step. We have our entire diversity unit working on this, ”Voros said.

“We are working with the 1,400 members in our front line, informing them of the reconciliation, telling them the meaning of the orange ribbon, telling them the meaning of the orange shirt, the meaning of (National Truth and Reconciliation Day) and what is important is . “

One example, according to Voros, is that CPS is examining its missing persons policy through a lens of reconciliation and anti-racism to help educate investigators in its efforts.

Meanwhile, the memorial to Indigenous Children, Victims and Survivors of Canada’s residential school system continues to grow outside of City Hall.

The city council has expressed support for the construction of a permanent monument, but the search for a site has not yet begun.