That concludes the delegations it brings us down item 8 Covid -9 related matters
CEO polsinelli perhaps you might give us an introductory comment before we deal
with 8 1 2 & 3 Nancy thank you cherry Anika and good morning to you cherry
make and members of council the region is continuing to move forward with
recovery planning and will update Council at its June 25th meeting however
the public environment in which the region does its work has undergone
another important shift and I feel it important it's important that I share
some of the information around that the two weeks since council last met have
been emotional and thought-provoking for the region staff for our friends and
family partners in the community and councillors I've spoken with the brutal
unnecessary tragedy of George Floyd's violent death thickens and saddens us
those 8 minutes and 46 seconds of video challenge any sense of complacency
regarding anti black racism we may be thousands of miles away in another
country but we ask ourselves and we have been asking ourselves what can we do
here in our community in our organization in this way the protests
represent a tectonic shift and community life across North America and the world
we have of course also seeing images of police acting with compassion and with
professionalism we've read and heard eloquent and prefer powerful statements
the issues are not new to us they are being seen in than in a new light so
it's like us this topic today the region's work regarding anti black
racism and discrimination must
let me share a perspective with you each year in February during Black History
Month staff gather in Council Chambers for a presentation about anti black
racism and history and heritage of the black community it's a full house our
executive leadership team attends and the session is open to people from all
backgrounds all races all colors but staff who identify as black our black
community make up a large part if not all of that audience in the discussion
we hear from colleagues people we work with about how they are monitored by
security when they go shopping we hear real worries about parents regarding
their to regard from parents regarding their children interacting with police
the speaker's we invite are asked about advice to give their sons our sons so
they can be safer and not judged when just walking home from school with their
friends they share hurtful and ignorant words that they have been that have been
directed at them through their life so the issues we are hearing about on
television in these past few weeks have been talked about within the walls of
our buildings for a long time and we must do better for our colleagues and
all those we serve and peel as a start we must acknowledge the pervasive
existence of systemic disgrace ISM those stories of anti black racism will be
sure shared and heard more widely we need to be better ourselves as
individuals and public institutions and recognize where biases exists and see
the harm it causes to begin this work commissioners are establishing town
halls to be held over the summer months these will create a safe space where
everyone can ask talk make mistakes and build understanding having those open
real and for some those uncomfortable conversation is an important step to
learning to growing and to changing mindsets this will help inform
additional education pieces we'll be sharing with all staff to increased
knowledge of anti black racism and experiences of other
Eli's groups the region is also collecting and reporting demographic
data through a workforce census to understand how representative our
workforce is of the community we serve we know we must do better in this regard
this type of data provides a baseline that help that helps us see potential
systemic barriers faced by employees and segments of the population of course as
we examine these issues as a society crisis response continues so addressing
systemic racism must be part of that response to Coba 19 this means measuring
how Cova 19 has impacted vulnerable people the black community and other
racialized groups together with partners in peel and across Ontario we need to
understand how persistent issues of racism and inequality contribute to
differences in health and well-being with this knowledge we can strengthen
long term recovery by supporting the good health and well-being among our
black communities and other disadvantaged groups the Region of Peel
Public Health is a leader in the province when it comes to collecting
data based on race we are gathering such data for koba 19 we will continue to
address data gaps that impair our ability to paint a complete picture of
the health of our population this is a time for listening and understanding but
we know action is needed we will need new vehicles to address for addressing
anti black racism and racial discrimination in Peel we have existing
partnerships and collaborations that we will and are building on the community
safety and well-being well-being committee is co-chaired by myself and
the chief of police and has representation from Brampton Caledon and
Mississauga Council members council has a diversity equity and anti racism
committee focusing on external community issues which meets next week
we have the community response table which has was developed during Kovac
crisis response it has self organized into task groups including one to adjust
address systemic discrimination including anti black racism these
partnerships are growing stock stronger as response evolves and they will take
we they will take the work here to further improve our recovery phase at
councils direction we are ready and we are working to address these issues of
systemic discrimination and anti racism with a human centered made in peel
approach the work of recovery and the need for addressing anti black racism
are linked the crisis has taught us this to prevent community transmission we had
to support everyone in the community the pandemic exposed how our well-being is
connected as a provider of Health and Social Services the region's human
centered approach also mitigates the potential of other crisis to develop in
mental health for instance or in the management of chronic health conditions
so let me remind counsel of some of those examples homeless clients needed
self isolation and they are being supported in a holistic way they have
access to a physician nurse practitioner and 24/7 nursing they are connected to
primary care for after isolation and housing staff are working with them to
find long-term stable housing appeal living we've mobilized volunteers to
extend wellness checks and supports to seniors we've kept moving forward on the
region's anti human sex trafficking strategy as you heard this morning
although many staff from Pama have redeployed it is providing and continues
to provide interactive programming for youth for parents seniors which supports
connection and social cohesion and I'm sure most of you saw the recent Toronto
Star article following the region Region of Peel registered practical nurse
Darryl Haddon our long-term care staff have risen to
the challenge of kovat while continuing to deliver care and services
compassionately back compassion for frail seniors the wellness support for
the homeless connection for the isolated were integral to crisis response in
saving lives lessons from these programs will be part of the region's recovery an
important lesson is that recovery like response will achieve better results if
we engage everyone in its success so real charge real change regarding anti
black racism and systemic discrimination both morally necessary and socially and
economically valuable we'll need everyone pulling in the same
direction treating with respect and fairness and feeling hopeful about
access to opportunity so we will listen and learn from the voices of our black
colleagues across the organization and those in our community we will
prioritize action over words in our recovery planning and we will build a
successful recovery for a true community for life that is fair equitable and
supporting the well-being of all thank you thank you
let me just add very briefly um as the regional chair we have much to do I
think the key is acknowledging that I've heard it said you can't fix the problem
until you acknowledge you have a problem and I think it starts with that
recognizing that we can do much better the final thought I have because we'll
all have lots more to say on this going forward is something our own Juliette
Jackson shared with me months ago and I think it rings true now more than ever
we really do need to have some uncomfortable conversations if we want
to make the system better and it's a pun but upon us that we do