NINTH MEETING OF THE
RACE RELATIONS COMMITTEE FOR 2008
TOWN OF MARKHAM
Ontario Room, Markham Civic Centre
Monday, November 3, 2008 – 7:15 p.m.
MINUTES
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ATTENDANCE: Committee Regional Councillor T.
Wong Jobson Easow, Chair Rochelle Bowmile, Vice Chair Vilvan Gunasingham Aisha Manji Winnie Wales Staff Laura Gold, Committee Clerk Sharon Laing, Director of Human Resource |
Regrets Heather Christian-Simmonds
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The ninth meeting of Markham Race Relations Committee convened at 7:30 PM with Mr. Jobson Easow presiding as Chair.
1. CHAIRS OPENING
REMARKS
Mr. J. Easow, Chair, welcomed the Committee to ninth meeting of the Markham Race Relations Committee. He advised that the Race Relations Christmas Party would be at 7:00 PM at The Host Fine Indian Cuisine. He requested that Committee Members advise the Committee Clerk by November 25, 2008 if they will be attending the event.
2. MINUTES
OF THE OCTOBER 6 2008 RACE RELATION COMMITTEE
A slight change was made to section 7.A of the minutes regarding cultural holidays.
Moved by: Vilvan Gunasingham
Seconded by: Aisha
Manji
That the minutes of the October 6, 2008 Race Relations Committee be
adopted as amended.
3. HUMAN RESOURCES UPDATE
DIVERSITY AND
VISION UPDATE
Ms. S. Laing, Director of Human Resources, advised the Committee that all external data with respect to the Diversity initiative will be collected by the end of November.
She advised that the Town has partnered with York Region Fire and Emergency Services, reporting they had a booth at Markville Mall that provided mall patrons with the opportunity to discuss a career in Fire and Emergency Services with representatives working in the feild. Ms. Laing reported that the 2008/2009 recruitment campaign was broader and longer in length then in previous years.
Ms. Laing reported that the Town has partnered with the Mayor’s Youth Task Force for the 2008 Take Your Kids to Work day and designed a course similar to the amazing race. The course was designed to teach youth about municipal government in an interesting way.
Ms. Laing believed that she would be able to provide an update with respect to the Town joining the UNESCO Coalition Against Racism & Discrimination by the end of the year.
Mr. V. Gunasingham, Committee Member, still was not clear what the guiding principles were outlining the Town’s vision statement. He questioned what type of municipality the Town would like to be and how it plans to get to this point.
Ms. Laing thought that the UNESCO Coalition Against Racism and Discrimination is a broad framework, explaining that it was designed this way so that it could be applied by a number of different organizations. She believed that the framework fit within the Town’s Diversity Plan, which is currently being created by Town staff. Ms. Laing thought Council would favour the Town joining the Coalition.
4. SUB-COMMITTEE UPDATE
4. A. EVENT SUB COMMITTEE UPDATE
The Committee was advised that the Many Faces of Markham event would be held on Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 2:30 PM at Markham Theatre. Mr. Easow asked if any of the Committee Members would be interested in joining the Event –Sub Committee.
The possibility of using some of the same performers from the Canada Day Ceremonies was discussed. The Committee agreed that a school should not be invited 2 consecutive years to perform at the Many Faces of Markham event. It was agreed that the performances should be approximately 4- 6 minutes per performance. The performances should also be related to the 2009 Many Faces of Markham theme “Beauty of Diversity”. A list of potential Keynote speakers was discussed.
1. Pinball Clemens
2. Craig Kielburger, Free the Children
3. Stephen Lewis, Stephen Lewis Foundation
4. David Olney, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
The Committee was advised that the keynote speaker will address the audience for approximately 15 minutes.
4. B. POLICY SUB-COMMITTEE
There was no policy sub-committee update.
5. POLICY ON ABSENTEEISM
The Committee briefly discussed the Town’s policy on absenteeism. It was noted that a Member that misses 5 meetings in one year has missed more than half of the meetings. Regional Councillor Wong explained that Committee Members are advised when appointed that they are expected to attend meetings, and possibly sub-committee meeting. The Committee agreed there is a difference between a Committee Member that has made an effort to attend meetings, but for reasons beyond their control have been unable to attend. The Committee Clerk was requested to contact by telephone Members that have missed 3 consecutive meetings to inquire if the Members are still interested in being a Member of the Committee. The Committee Clerk was also asked to provide the Committee Members with their terms at the next meeting.
This item was deferred to the next meeting.
6. REFERENCE LETTER
The Committee was requested to write a letter of reference for a student that volunteered at a previous Many Faces of Markham event. Regional Councillor Wong advised that he would write a letter of reference recognizing the student’s contributions to the Many Faces of Markham event.
The ninth meeting of the Race Relations Committee adjourned at 8:15 PM.