TORONTO – The Ontario government has announced a series of public meetings on fighting systemic racism.
The community meetings come as the government sets up an anti-racism directorate, headed up by Liberal cabinet minister Michael Coteau.
A statement says officials at the meetings will be looking for input on the directorate’s mandate and priority areas to apply an anti-racism perspective to government policies, programs and services.
The first meeting is set for July 14 in Toronto, and dates of Sept. 13 in east-end Toronto and Sept. 27 in Mississauga have also been announced.
More dates will be scheduled for Ottawa, Sudbury, London, Windsor, Thunder Bay, and another in the Greater Toronto Area.
The government’s announcement also comes a day after members of Black Lives Matter Toronto held a sit-in during the city’s Pride Parade, with demands including banning police floats in future parades and increasing funding for spaces for racialized communities.