Mississauga releases report on making city more equitable for Black communities

BY PAUL JUNOR

It was on June 24^th, 2020, that the City of Mississauga’s Council unanimously passed Resolution 207 to establish a Black Caucus that would examine issues of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism. The caucus, which was made up of community members was tasked with serving as an advisory body.

According to the city’s website: www.mississauga.ca, through a series of consultations with the Black communities it was intended to generate greater insights into their lived experiences, challenges and opportunities to create a more inclusive and accessible city.

An article by Isacc Collan on March 30^th, 2021, in The Pointer, raised questions about the makeup of the Black Caucus. Prominent social justice advocate, Kola Illuyomade, the founder of Advocacy Peel told The Pointer, “The mayor doesn’t want to disrupt. There are people who are not residents of Mississauga on it, which tells you that’s rubbish.”

Furthermore, the article asserts that Mississauga’s Mayor Bonnie Crombie, Ms.Sara  Almardanie, senior advisor, and stakeholders hand-picked the members of the Black Caucus. In addition, the role of the Black Caucus is ambiguous, because although it is not officially a committee and is not a function of council, the mayor’s office has ultimate authority over who can sit around the table.

The article notes that there was no release of the minutes publicly, and residents were not able to access its meetings. A city of Mississauga spokesperson told The Pointer, “Conversations are confidential in order to freely discuss items. Outcomes and recommendations will be presented to Council as part of the report back process on Motion 207.”

On Thursday, April 14^th, 2022, the report was released during a virtual press conference with Mayor Crombie. The 62-page report was the culmination of six community consultations from May 6^th, 2021, to June 29^th, 2021, and feedback from 900 community members, experts, and city staff.

Mayor Crombie states, “Mississauga, I truly believe we are now in the position to make meaningful and lasting change when it comes to addressing anti-Black racism and ensuring equity and inclusion are at the heart of everything we do.” She continues, “These consultations were the first time the city had dedicated time and resources to have a meaningful dialogue on the steps we needed to take to ensure Black community members have more of a say in the decision-making process here at City Hall, and I admit, it was long overdue.”

Linden King, Chair of the Black Caucus writes, “Decades of systemic discrimination and practices, our policing, justice, health care, and child care systems are now at the forefront. Moreover, the struggle for equality within institutions remains a constant struggle.”

Claudia McKoy, Principal of UpSugence, served as a consultant and analysed the feedback from community members, experts, and city staff to come up with the recommendations. They are categorized in these two areas:

• Political engagement and inclusion
• Health and well

Some of the specific recommendations are listed below:

• Working with the Black Caucus to establish a Black Community Alliance as an independent organization
• Reviewing the recommendations as they relate to each division and beginning to take actions where possible
• Reporting back to Council with updates on the implementation of the recommendations

With respect to policing some of the recommendations include:

• Black representation on the Peel Regional Police Service Board
• More transparency regarding AI and new technologies in policing
• Amendments to the provincial legislation to allow additional first responders to respond to a mental health crisis.

Anyone can access and read the full report at:https://www.mayorcrombie.ca/bce-report