HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch 5, 2009
City a¢~ Minutes
Pickering Advisory Committee
i i On Race Relations & Equity
5, 2009
PICKERIN March
7:00 0 PM
Main Committee Room
Attendees: Raymond George Facey, Community Appointee
Steve Holt, Community Appointee
Sethu Madhavan, Community Appointee
Devinder Kaur Panesar, Community Appointee
Tiera Dookhie, J. Clarke Richardson School
Becky George, Pickering Public Library
Emily Honsberger, Dunbarton High School
Fred Gibson, Pickering Carib Canadian Cultural Association
Marisa Carpino, City of Pickering
Linda Roberts, Recording Secretary
Absent: Councillor David Pickles, Chair
Margaret Lazarus, Valley Farm Public School
Kirk Mark, Community Appointee
Sylvie Morel-Foster, Durham Catholic District School Board
Philip.Howard, Durham District School Board
Item Details & Discussion & Conclusion Action Items /
/ (summary of discussion) Status
Ref (include
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a ro riate
1.0 Welcome All
M. Carpino welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made
around the table. She then introduced Keith Richards, Diversity Coordinator
with Durham Regional Police Service.
K. Richards provided background information on his association with the
Durham Regional Police Service, which he has been involved with for the
past 18 years. He explained how the position of Diversity Coordinator was
developed and provided an overview of their community outreach. He
explained the youth initiative mentoring program which has been highly
popular, and noted the following;
• Open to all youth between the ages of 14 and 18
• Opportunity to work with the officers over the summer months
• Learn a variety of skills, including CPR/first aid, public speaking,
fitness, K9 unit, traffic
• Pro active approach, recruitment is not the intent
• Youth can in turn mentor other young individuals
• Region wide program
• Still space available - email K. Richards if you know of anyone who
may be interested in participating
K. Richards advised that he would be available to attend our meetings
whenever possible, in order to be the Committee's contact for the Durham
Regional Police Service.
Marisa introduced Lucy King, Membership Director for the Hispanic
Canadian Alliance of Ontario.
L. King provided background information on the Hispanic Alliance
organization which was founded in 1996 by a group of volunteers in order to
assist newcomers with social needs and to provide support and similar
interests in culture and language, as well as providing resource information
for new residents. She noted they are trying to put together two fundraising
initiatives per year, as they do not receive any funding. They will be having a
dinner and dance on May 30th and would like to do something similar in
November to include children as well. They are trying to involve youth
between the ages of 4 and 12 years with sports activities throughout the
year. She noted this is open to everyone.
M. Carpino suggested they could form a youth sub-committee, such as our
own [YOU]nity in order to involve more youth. In this way, youth enjoy
working with others their own age and plan activities for their own age
group.
2.0 Review & Approval of Agenda & Minutes All
Marisa reviewed the action items from the February 5th meeting minutes
and provided an update. The agenda and minutes were approved by the
Committee.
3.0 Updates
3.1) jYOUlnity's Diversity Leadership Camp
E. Honsberger provided an update on the Diversity Leadership Camp to be
held on March 16th and 17th at the Pickering Library from 9am - 3 pm:
• Grades 6 - 8 to participate
• Budget is complete - was provided to M. Carpino
• Guest speaker has been confirmed
• [YOU]nity attended principal's meeting to explain camp and seek
support in choosing students
• 17 registrations to date
• Still time to register if you know anyone who would like to participate
- registration will be open until next week
• Emailed reminder to all principals
• Still following u on the sponsorship of the t-shirts
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Certificates - B. George to email names to M. Carpino as soon as
possible to move ahead with having the certificates printed Becky/Marisa
to action
3.2) Race Relations Forum
M. Carpino provided an update on the Race Relations Forum scheduled for
Wednesday, March 25 at 7:00 pm in the Council Chambers. She informed
the Committee that everything had been completed, with everyone being
confirmed. She noted the invitations had gone out to the members via email
and requested that everyone please RSVP. She noted that during the
ceremonies, the members will be recognized, so she encouraged everyone
to attend. K. Richards noted that he would be attending. M. Carpino noted
the display of winning entries will be up in the main lobby for the month of
March.
4.0 Review
4.1) 2009 Annual Work Plan & 2008 Annual Report
M. Carpino reviewed the details of the 2009 Annual Work Plan and the
following was noted:
• Proclamations - It was noted that June 21St is National Aboriginal Day
M. Carpino requested that should anyone be aware of other
proclamations, to please let her know
• Outreach - M. Carpino has contacted Louise Farr-Chambers who
works for UOIT, Durham College and Trent University in the hopes of
having students come out to the Race Relations meetings. Louise
will get back to Marisa with an update to her request
• Members were reminded and encouraged to attend any other events
being hosted by other cultural organizations
• S. Holt recommended using an online interactive community survey
on the website
S. Holt also inquired about a Town hall symposium - M. Carpino will Marisa to
follow up on this item with Councillor Pickles action
• The 2009 Annual Work Plan will be placed on April agenda for final
review
2008 Annual Report Marisa to
action
Community Survey - M. Carpino will send to members again - to be placed
on April agenda
Multi-faith calendar - it was suggested we add an explanation along with the
event to include the history and meaning of that particular celebration, which
could be a way to generate more interest. Marisa to
action
M. Car ino will make an changes to the 2009 Annual Work Plan and 2008
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Annual Report. She will discuss the possible date for presentation to
Council with Councillor Pickles. The Committee was in agreement to handle
the presentation in the same manner as last year, with one committee
appointee and one youth member participating in the presentation.
5.0 Other Business
5.1) Coffee House
E. Honsberger provided a brief overview of this event, stating this is art
oriented, with songs and poetry. She noted this was a relaxed talent show,
which is all youth oriented. S. Holt questioned whether the committee had
considered obtaining judges, possibly from the music industry, and indicated
he could provide contacts for them. Larger venues for this event were also
discussed.
5.2) Sikh Khalsa Day Parade
D. Panesar informed the committee of the Shikh parade which will be taking
place on April 26th starting at 12:00 pm at the Better Living Centre in Toronto Devinder to
and ending at Nathan Phillips Square. Events will begin at 9:00 am which action
will include food, information, martial arts demonstrations. This is a free
event. She noted she will bring flyers to the next meeting.
6.0 Next Meeting
Next Meeting: April 2, 2009 at 7 m in the Main Committee Room
Meeting Adjourned: 8:45 pm
Copy: City Clerk
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