Community groups say the City of Montreal has made strides in its fight against racism and systemic discrimination. However, there is still more work to be done, advocates say.
“Obviously there has been a lot of work done within the last 12 months by the office of the anti-racism commissioner,” Fo Niemi, head of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR), told Global News.
On Tuesday during a public meeting, city officials outlined their commitments for 2022, steps they believe will help push the city to be more inclusive.
“What we’re doing is that we’re making 12 commitments that we want to do,” explained Dominique Ollivier, president of the city’s executive committee.
They’re placed into the following categories:
- Having an administration free from racism and discrimination;
- Public security free from profiling, cultural equity;
- Economic and territorial equity; and
- Inclusive citizen participation.
For policing, Ollivier said the city plans to put better policies in place and improve training.
“One of the topics that we want to tackle is the de-escalation of violence, for example,” she said.
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Ollivier added that there’ll be a report at the end of the year on the city’s progress.
Despite the progress made by the city over the last year, though, officials from CRARR, as well as other community groups, say there are some blind spots that need to be addressed.
“The most pressing concern is the exclusion of English-speaking racialized groups,” Niemi stressed.
He pointed to the absence of some Anglophone groups from a three-day forum on youth violence, as well as the lack of equal access to funding and services.
Yet another issue: the selection of the police chief.
According to city officials, suggestions from the public are being taken into consideration.
“We’re also going to be hiring two resources at the city centre to make sure that those blind spots, if they exist, are filled,” said Alain Vaillancourt, executive committee member responsible for public security.
He couldn’t give a timeline for the new hires but community groups say they plan to keep pushing to make sure no one is left behind.
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