HomeMy WebLinkAboutDecember 6, 2007
Page 1 Minutes PICKERING ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON RACE RELATIONS & EQUITY December 6, 2007 7:00 pm Main Committee Room Attendees: Councillor David Pickles, Chair Marisa Carpino, City of
Pickering, Vice-Chair Kirk Mark, Community Appointee Cathy Grant, Pickering Public Library Siobhan Saravanamutto, Dunbarton High School Sharon Singh, Pine Ridge Secondary School Linda
Roberts (Recording Secretary) Absent: Sethu Madhavan, Community Appointee Tanya Malika Foster, Community Appointee Philip Howard, Durham District School Board Fred Gibson, Pickering
Carib Canadian Cultural Association Mariyah Gonzales, Dunbarton High School Margaret Lazarus, Valley Farm Public School Adrian Rampersad, Dunbarton High School Joanne Guindon, Durham
Catholic District School Board Ansar Siddiqui, Pine Ridge Secondary School Item /Ref # Details & Discussion & Conclusion (summary of discussion) Action Items /Status (include deadline
as appropriate) 1.0 Welcome Marisa welcomed everyone to the meeting. 2.0 Review & Approval of Agenda All Marisa reviewed the action items from the previous meeting. She informed the
Committee the Pickering Town Centre would not know about the availability of the mall for our Heritage Day event until mid-December. She also indicated that we would not have the resources
to judge a large number of French entries. Due to this, we will include only the one school showing an interest, which was the Frenchman’s Bay Public School. The agenda was approved.
3.0 Approval of Minutes All
Page 2 Minutes of the November 1st, 2007 meeting of Race Relations were approved. Siobhan reported that Adiran Rampersad will no longer be attending our meetings, as he will be attending
University. Ansar Siddiqui will also no longer be available to attend our meetings due to his work schedule. 4.0 March Break Diversity Program for Kids Siobhan provided an update on
the March Break Diversity Program. She indicated their subcommittee have held two meetings to date. She informed everyone the name of their committee is [YOU]nity and they have met twice
already in the Library. They have already generated interest among other students. She provided an outline of what has been accomplished to date with respect to the March Break program:
· To spend two full days on registration · Provide lunch/snacks · To look into sponsorship/fundraising · Hope to divide committee into groups of 2 or 3 · Pair younger with older · Decide
on topics · Want topics important to diversity · To be a two day event held from 9 – 3 · To be held in auditorium at Library · Hands on activities – want it to be fun · To do a press
release (it was suggested this should come from students) · Cathy confirmed Library can do registrations Discussion ensued with respect to promotions and deadlines. Marisa informed she
could publish through the Community Page advertising and the Family Calendar, which goes out to the schools. Timeframe would be to finish up the structure for promotion and include a
description by January for inclusion in the February Siobhan to forward information to Marisa
Page 3 calendars. Information could also be put on the Library’s website. Marisa indicated we have a template for press releases, and she could prepare this. Discussion ensued on having
a guest speaker. Kirk Mark indicated he could supply some names and numbers for guest speakers. It was noted the age groups would be grades 6 – 8. It was decided [YOU]nity could report
back to the committee on a monthly basis, or more frequently as required. Marisa suggested something be put together for a budget. She also suggested staff could be available to attend
the [YOU]nity meetings. It was suggested a one page plan of action be put together prior to the next meeting. They will need to provide a summary as well as registration particulars
to Marisa. Marisa to action Siobhan to email Marisa in early January 5.0 Youth Page on Race Relations Website Siobhan provided a hand out of information the students had prepared for
the youth website. She indicated this was not specific to any school. Marisa noted it should include information on how [YOU]nity was formed in order to tie it into the Race Relations
Committee. It was suggested we have a box on our website for emails which would go to Marisa and she in turn would forward to Siobhan and Mariyah. It was suggested that after the March
Break, [YOU]nity would only need to meet once a month. Another hand out was provided on Dunbarton High School. It was suggested we get write-ups from other schools and to add Youth Page
Updates to our Race Relations agendas each Siobhan to let Marisa know meeting schedule and Cathy as well for room booking purposes Sharon to email Pine Ridge school’s summary
Page 4 month. A short update could be provided at each meeting. We could replace the articles once a month on the Race Relations page. It was noted that the articles should be signed
by the author, i.e. name, committee member, name of school. Kirk suggested looking into the website www.March21.gc.ca to see what is happening nationally. This could be a good resource
for ideas. Marisa indicated our interest in having other members of [YOU]nity come to our meetings. Siobhan indicated one student is interested in attending our next meeting. . 6.0 Other
Business Marisa Carpino Marisa provided updates on the following: 6.1) Writing Contest · December 3rd deadline has passed · Received 115 entries – 17 from grades 2 – 5 range · 97 entries
from grades 6 – 8 · 1 high school entry · Preparing packages for judges in January 6.2) Authors Circle Marisa indicated she had attended this event. She provided a copy of the program,
as well as a thank you note received and an article from the newspaper. She noted it was a great event. 6.3) Race Relations Forum This is to be held on March 19th. Discussion ensued
on guest speakers for the event. The Committee was requested to give some thought to this.
Page 5 6.4 Annual Report A copy of the power point presentation Marisa has drafted up was handed out. She requested that the Committee come back with comments at our next meeting. It
was suggested we download the stats contained on the website www.Census.2006.ca which provides some good background data. We could include this in our demographics. Councillor Pickles
explained the process of delegations at Council meetings. He noted it would be good to have two people do the presentation. Discussion ensued on how best to present the annual report.
Kirk volunteered to help present. Siobhan offered to speak with Kirk on this. Marisa will do up speaking points for the report presentation. Any notes can be emailed or dropped off for
her. Linda to email copies of handouts to members Marisa to action. 8.0 Adjournment All 8:45 pm Next Meeting: Thursday, January 3, 2008 at 7:00 pm in the Main Committee Room Copy: City
Clerk