HomeMy WebLinkAboutJuly 15, 2021
Minutes/Meeting Summary
Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce
Thursday, July 15, 2021
7:00 pm
Electronic Meeting – Webex Platform
Attendees: D. Ryan, Mayor
C. Addo-Bekoe, Manager, People and Culture (Staff Liaison)
T. Ryce, Supervisor, Cultural Services (Staff Liaison)
J. San Antonio, Senior Advisor, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (Staff Liaison)
R. Perera, Committee Coordinator
G. Chang-Campbell, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member (Chair)
C. Mosca, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
Z. Adatia, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
S. Charles-Watson, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
A. Davis, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
R. Diaz-Matus, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
C. Farinha, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
M. Francis, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
D. Governor, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
O. Grignon, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
N. Holland, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
A. Laylor, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
K. Noronha, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member (arrived at 8:10 pm)
T. Olanbiwonnu, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
N. Sinclair, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
J. Smith, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
D. Poole, Clerk-Typist (Recording Secretary)
Absent: A. Graham, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
F. Heath, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
A. Vincent, Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce Member
Item/ Details & Discussion & Conclusion Action Items/Status
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1. Call to Order
G. Chang-Campbell welcomed everyone in attendance
and called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.
G. Chang-Campbell introduced Jaclyn San Antonio,
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Senior Advisor, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and
welcomed her as the incoming staff liaison.
2. Disclosure of Interest
No disclosure of interest was brought forward by any
of the taskforce members.
3. Adoption of Agenda and Previous Minutes
The taskforce reviewed the agenda and the minutes
from the meeting held on Thursday, June 17, 2021. It
was the consensus of the taskforce members to
approve the agenda and adopt the minutes as
received.
4. Delegations
There were no delegates registered for the meeting.
5. Email communications PABRT.ca
T. Ryce provided an overview of the guidelines in
relation to the new PABRT email address noting the
following information:
The PABRT has an email account separate
from the corporation, which can be accessed
through letstalk@pabrt.ca. The email account
will be monitored by the Taskforce executive,
which includes the Chair, Vice Chair,
Treasurers, and Secretaries as well as the
staff liaisons.
All emails received will be sent to the staff
liaisons for informational purposes. The
Taskforce executive team will forward the staff
liaisons a draft response prior to distribution.
No emails are sent out or received without
approval of the staff liaison(s). All responses
are sent from the Taskforce executive team
with the staff liaisons cc’d on each response.
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Item/ Details & Discussion & Conclusion Action Items/Status
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All emails are sent a response within two
business days in accordance with the
Corporate Communications Policy.
Any email that is requiring the attention or a
decision from the Taskforce will be presented
to the Taskforce at the next meeting however
a generalized response needs to be provided
within two business days.
Any email that requires a response from the
City, that are not routine in nature and are
unable to be answered by the staff liaison(s),
will be escalated to Corporate
Communications by one of the staff liaisons.
The City Corporate Communications team will cover the $120.00 fee to host the email address each year. The email account is protected by the City’s IT Department in regards to spam and phishing emails.
Internal Taskforce and Sub-committee communications do not need to be passed through the aforementioned system, and the Taskforce executive team will work with the staff liaisons to identify a platform under which they would like to exchange emails, so long as it works for the group, and is accessible to all members. The liaisons should be included in the group to allow for continuity, should a member of the taskforce depart. Ongoing day to day activities of committee and sub-committee business do not need to go through this email account. Executive to provide details regarding the Taskforce members are requested to keep the Microsoft team platforms chairs and staff liaisons apprised of work they to Liaisons, and ensure are undertaking by including them on equity of access to all communications. Official responses or taskforce members. partnership requests should be sent through
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the staff liaisons. i.e., Gmail and Google
Drives are free and available to all.
D. Governor inquired if the emails coming into the J. San Antonio to inquire
letstalk@pabrt.ca are subject to Freedom of if emails received by this
Information requests. account are subject to
FOI requests.
6. Vulnerable Children & Youth Initiative
This agenda item has been delayed until the grant
has been awarded.
7. Timeline for First Quarterly to Council
C. Mosca reviewed the timeline for the first quarterly
report to Council noting that it is due on Monday,
September 27, 2021.
8. Template for Declaration of Adherence to Code
of Conduct
C. Mosca reviewed the Code of Conduct document
and requested that all of the Taskforce members
provide a signed copy to C. Addo-Bekoe.
9. Sub-committee Updates
T. Olanbiwonnu advised that the Health and Wellness
Services Sub-committee are working on their action
plan and anticipate reaching out to community groups
to host a focus group in September.
Z. Adatia advised that the Community and Civic
Engagement Sub-committee is preparing to
participated in the upcoming piano event in
Esplanade park, which presents a great opportunity
to promote the PABRT.
A. Laylor advised that members of the Education
Sub-committee recently met with a member of the
DDSB to talk about the black compendium of student
success and how they can partner on a bang the
table event. The Sub-committee is looking to meet
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with representatives from the African Canadian
Christian Network to discuss the possibility of a train
the trainer event, which will assist in the facilitation of
workshops.
J. Smith advised that Employment Opportunities and
Financial Supports Sub-committee is working on
their action plan and the development of a series
called “Ask the Professional.”
D. Governor advised that the Inclusive Governance
and Leadership Sub-committee intends to meet next
week to discuss their action plan and budget.
A. Davis advised that the Policing and the Justice
System Sub-committee is working on their action
plan and that she recently received a request from
the DRPS Diversity Training Coordinator with
respect to developing a working relationship.
Consequently, they will be setting up a meeting in
August to discuss potential opportunities.
R. Diaz-Matus advised that the Youth Development
Sub-committee is working on their action plan.
Recently, communication was received from
T. Higgins, Accessibility Coordinator, pertaining to a
grant partnership opportunity with the PABRT for a
recreation program for at risk youth. T. Higgins
requested a letter of support from the PABRT to
support this grant opportunity.
Discussion ensued regarding the budget, and the
taskforce requested direction on how much they had
to work with. Staff explained this was part of the
action plan development, the group should identify
priorities and needed funds as part of their work, and
could ask liaisons for support or suggestions. When
the group is determining how to divide funds where
for each sub-committee they could prioritize projects,
assigning a set portion of the budget to priority items,
allowing for additional items to be completed should
funding be available. T. Ryce suggested that all of
the Sub-committees put in the money they think they
need, that each sub-committee could start with an
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equal portion of the available or each group can vie
for funding. The Taskforce has $25,000.00 in their
budget until the end of this fiscal year. City staff will
put into the budget another $25,000.00 for Council
approval next fiscal year. Monies must be spent by
December 15 this year; Invoices need to be sent by
this date and goods or services must be received by
then. Signed invoices must be provided to staff by
the end of the year. T. Ryce noted that the
Purchasing Policy has been provided to the
treasures for distribution.
10. Call for Sub-committee Members
O. Grignon advised that the call for Sub-committee
members opened on July 9 and will remain open for
a period of five weeks until August 13. Applications
will be reviewed the following week resulting in
subsequent group interviews.
O. Grignon requested that anyone interested in
attending the round table discussions notify her in
the next couple of weeks.
11. Website and Social Media
O. Grignon advised that the PABRT website is now
active under pabrt.ca and provided an overview of
the various tabs and features.
12. Goss Gilroy Update
G. Chang-Campbell advised that she was joined by
R. Diaz-Matus and members of the Library’s Anti-
Black Racism Working Group at a meeting with the
CAO, the Director of Human Resources and the
Manager of Supply & Services to discuss the
contents of the Goss Gilroy letter. G. Chang-
Campbell provided an overview of the discussion
that occurred noting that the conversation was
productive and staff listened to the concerns
presented while recognizing that there were some
missed opportunities.
.
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D. Governor inquired if the responses and the
scoring criteria in relation to the RFP can be
provided to the Taskforce to develop a better
understanding of the procurement process. D.
Governor inquired if the procurement process
passes a substantive portion where equity and
fairness is factored into the weighting.
D. Governor inquired if the Taskforce could have
access to the responses to the RFP for the EDI
consultancy work that was awarded to Goss Gilroy
along with the final proposal packages that were
submitted by the vendors along with a blank scoring
sheet.
G. Chang-Campbell noted that they were advised in
writing that bid submissions cannot be shared.
C. Addo-Bekoe advised that the responses from the
vendors can’t be shared however further discussion
can take place with Supply & Services staff that a
Diversity and Inclusion lens be included in the
Purchasing Policy.
13. Clarification on PABRT Spending
S. Charles-Watson indicated that a meeting will be
arranged with T. Ryce, or another staff liaison, to
discuss financial items that were not discussed
earlier during this meeting and require clarification.
14. Logo
F. Heath was absent from the meeting therefore no
update was provided.
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15.
Other Business
N. Holland discussed the possibility of pursuing
sponsorship opportunities and the need to have a
formalized letter template that can be utilized by all
of the Sub-committees.
T. Ryce advised that there is a Corporate Sponsorship
Policy that is managed by Mark Guinto, Manager,
Public Affairs & Corporate Communications. T. Ryce
recommended setting up a meeting between M. Guinto
and the Sub-committee chairs to discuss sponsorship
opportunities that the City may be able to support. T.
Ryce recommended that the sub-committees include a
note in their action plan for each item they would like to
seek sponsorship in preparation for their meeting with
M. Guinto.
Discussion ensued regarding promotional material
for the Taskforce. It was the consensus of the
taskforce members to explore sourcing opportunities.
M. Francis gave notice of her resignation from the
Taskforce effective immediately and advised that this
will be the last meeting that she will be attending.
She thanked staff for all their hard work in making
the Taskforce come to fruition and thanked the group
as a collective for their contributions.
G. Chang-Campbell, on behalf of the Taskforce,
expressed her appreciation and gratitude to
M. Francis for her contributions to the Taskforce.
C. Addo-Bekoe and T. Ryce praised M. Francis for
her exceptional work as a member of the preparatory
sub-committee as well as a member of the
Taskforce, noting that her contributions were truly
invaluable and greatly appreciated.
No other business was conducted resulting in the
adjournment of the meeting at 8:28 pm.
T. Ryce to provide N.
Holland with a copy of the
Corporate Sponsorship
Policy.
Meeting Adjourned: 8:28 pm
Copy: (Acting) Director, Community Services
City Clerk
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