After delay, City of Vancouver expected to join antiracism coalition
A motion that called on Vancouver to join the Canadian Coalition of Municipalities Against Racism and Discrimination was blocked by Vision councillors earlier this month but will likely be approved after all.
Vision councillor Kerry Jang is seconding the motion on notice included on the agenda for the March 23 council meeting.
It was Jang who put forward on March 4 a strike-and-replace motion in response to the original motion proposed by COPE councillor Ellen Woodsworth. In the council meeting on that day, several speakers appeared before council and all expressed strong support for the motion.
However, Jang and other Vision councillors voted to refer the measure to the city’s multicultural advisory committee, causing much disappointment among those who addressed council.
One of the speakers at the March 4 meeting was Langara College sociology instructor Indira Prahst, who’s vice-chair of the multicultural advisory committee. Jang is council’s liaison to this committee.
During the debate on this subject, COPE councillor David Cadman noted, if council wasn’t prepared on that day to endorse Vancouver’s membership in CMARD, that would be a “profound statement”.
The multicultural advisory committee met a few days later, and to no one’s surprise, members supported the essence of Woodsworth’s proposal.
Jang is glad that the issue will be resolved finally.
In a March 15 interview with the Straight, Jang said that the matter will have an “absolutely happy ending”.
“For me the issue was making sure that the committee wasn’t disenfranchised,” Jang said, reiterating the reason why Vision councillors didn’t approve Woodsworth’s motion on March 4. “Since it went back to the committee and they endorsed it, I’m all happy.
“When you strike a committee made up of many different voices, of many different experiences and...if you bypass them and not listen to them and you feel that you know best, then that’s disrespectful,” Jang added.
Comments
4 Comments
Birdy
Mar 19, 2010 at 2:04pm
Has anyone at city hall explained what this coalition actually does? Are there really any municipalities in Canada that officially support racism?
What's next, the Canadian Coalition of People Who Think Murder is Bad?
To Birdy:
Mar 19, 2010 at 10:06pm
Pretty much.
There are a ridiculous number of groups living off of government funding, a bunch more that want to be, and what they share in common is they get practically nothing done while begging for taxpayer dollars.
Bhabinder
Mar 20, 2010 at 8:17am
I am disappointed that Ellen Woodsworth did not take the time to go through the committee that she and council set-up.
Why does Ellen think she knows better than the Multicultural Advisory Committee? Simply asking them for their opinion and them making a recommendation to Council would have been respectful to them and a good process.
Ellen, your job as a City Councillor is to work with people, and in the end as a white woman you chose your opinion first over asking your committee.
And it is sad because this is important and now their is an lasting negative feeling that you think you can blame others for "dragging their feet" and not take responsibility for your lack of process.
Dave Hayward
Mar 25, 2010 at 9:31am
It sounds like this committee is on the right track. More of the same is needed to eliminate racism in this country.
Perhaps one day, we will see and hear the following words acted out and spoken in many of our languages now found in BC. Locally and individually, we can all do our bit to make this a reality... simply copy, paste and print this pledge and tape it to your locker door, your bulletin board, and perhaps your fridge door, and/or forward it to people in you circle of influence.
In so doing, you may be surprised to find others who have similar views, and are prepared to engage you in discussing these issues in a constructive manner.
And don't be discouraged if a few choose to criticize or knock you for doing so... they are the ones whose needs are the greatest.
__________________________________________________________
We, The Descendants...
We, the descendants of Canada’s Aboriginal, French and English speaking founders, and of all others who later arrived to help build this nation, stand in unity as witness to this pledge.
Remembering that Canada’s provinces and territories have been settled by peoples whose mother tongues, heritage and values differed, we pledge to one another:
To recognize, to respect, and to celebrate Canada’s diversity, lest a loss of identity suffers unto our descendants;
To embrace tolerance, equality, sharing and compassion as the moral cornerstones of our great nation;
To bond together as one in the pursuit of dignity, health, prosperity and happiness for all Canadians;
To forever preserve and promote this mission that we so proudly share.
__________________________________________________________
Reference 1: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/pub/discover.pdf
(please see page 10)
Reference 2: http://twenty-twenty.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?t=89