FIRST MEETING OF THE
RACE RELATIONS COMMITTEE FOR 2009
TOWN OF MARKHAM
Ontario Room, Markham Civic Centre
Monday, January 5, 2009
7:15 PM – 9:00 PM
MINUTES
|
ATTENDANCE: Committee Councillor L. Kanapathi Jobson Easow, Chair Rochelle Bowmile, Vice Chair Aisha Manji Winnie Wales Kevin Koo Staff Laura Gold, Committee Clerk |
Regrets Heather Christian-Simmonds Sharon Laing, Director of Human Resource |
The ninth meeting of Markham Race Relations Committee convened at 7:25 PM with Mr. Jobson Easow presiding as Chair.
1.
CHAIRS
OPENING REMARKS
Mr. Jobson Easow, Chair, wished the Committee Members a happy New Year and welcomed them to the first meeting of the Markham Race Relations Committee of 2009.
2.
MINUTES OF
THE NOVEMBER 3, 2008 MARKHAM RACE RELATIONS COMMITTEE
The minutes were corrected to reflect Councillor Logan Kanapathi as present at the November 3, 2008 Markham Race Relations Committee meeting.
MOVED BY: JAVAID KHAN
SECONDED BY: RACHELLE
BOWMAN
That the minutes of the November 3, 2008
3. BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
The Committee Clerk advised that she had unsuccessfully tried to contact Ms. Chritian-Simmonds by telephone with respect to her interest in remaining a Committee Member of the Markham Race Relations Committee. The Committee requested that a letter be sent to Ms. Christian-Simmonds by registered mail inquiring if she is still interested in being a Committee Member of the Markham Race Relations Committee, noting that the letter should include a specified reply date.
4. DIVERSITY UPDATE
The Committee was advised that Staff have yet to report back to Council with respect to the Town joining the UNESCO’s Coalition Against Racism and Discrimination. There was no Diversity Update provided at this meeting.
5. SUB-COMMITTEE UPDATE
5. A. Events Sub-Committee
Mr. Easow advised the Committee that the Event Sub-Committee is still trying to secure a keynote speaker for the Many Faces of Markham Event. The Committee agreed that at this point in time it should focus locally in its search for a keynote speaker, given the tight time constraints. After some discussion the Committee requested that the Committee Clerk send a letter inviting Armand P. La Barge, Chief of Police, York Region Police Services, to be the Keynote speaker at the Many Faces of Markham event.
Mr. Javid Khan inquired about inviting the media to cover the event. Ms. Rochelle Bowmile, Vice Chair, advised that a media realise was sent to the local media last year. The Committee discussed how they could improve the media coverage at the 2009 Many Faces of Markham event. The Committee agreed that it should follow-up with the media after sending out the media realise. The Committee Clerk was requested to ask Corporate Communication if it had any suggestions with respect to improving the media coverage of the Many Faces of Markham event. Councillor Kanapathi requested that the Committee invite diverse media’s in Markham to event. The Committee requested that a link to information about the event be created on the Town’s website. Aisha Manji, Committee Member, suggested that the information be linked to the Town’s event calendar. Mr. Easow advised that he would look into what the Event-Sub Committee did last year with respect to inviting the media to the Many Face of Markham event.
Ms. Bowmile advised that the packages to the schools will be sent out this week. Ms. Winnie Wales reported that she had received 5 responses from the advertisement placed in the Markham Economic & Sun, reporting that from these responses 1 had registered (2 young drummers), and 4 had requested more information. Mr. Easow was requested to check with Vilvan Gunasingham to see if knew of any cultural performance groups that may be interested in performing at the Many Faces of Markham event. Councillor Kanapthi suggested inviting some of the groups from the Canada Day Committee, and the Miliken Mills Children Festival to addition to perform at the Many Face of Markham event. Mr. Easow noted that the Flamingo Dancing Group that auditioned last year should be invited to audition, or they should be accepted without an audition. He noted this was based on a recommendation from last years Event Sub-Committee. The Committee was advised that there will be 2 school performances and 4 cultural performances, noting each performance is allotted 4- 6 minutes to perform. It was also reported that keynote speaker will speak for approximetly15 minutes.
5. B. POLICY SUB-COMMITTEE
There was no report on this item.
6. NEW BUSINESS
The Committee Clerk provided the Committee Members with their appointment terms, as requested at the last meeting. Ms. Aisha Manji, Committee Member, was asked to complete an advisory committee application in order to renew her term with the Committee. The Committee Clerk was asked to check the Committee’s terms of reference to see if the Committee is operating at its capacity.
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The Committee discussed sending a letter to the Ward Councillors requesting that they provide the Committee with issues from their ward with respect to race relations.
The Committee was advised that an invitation was sent out to Sergeant Ricky Veerappan, York Region Police, to speak at a future Race Relations Committee meeting. Mr. Khan thought it would be interesting to invite a patrolling police officer to come speak at a future Markham Race Relations meeting to discuss race relation issues they experience while patrolling.
7. NEXT MEETING DATE
The next meeting of the Markham Race Relations Committee will be held on February 2, 2009 at 7:15 PM in the Ontario Room.
The first meeting of the Markham Race Relations Committee adjourned at 8:30 PM.