The town of Smithers is looking for more clarity on a new group’s initiative to try to combat hate and racism in the community.
At a council meeting earlier this month, there was a request for the mayor to sign a Response to Racism and Hate Protocol as a signatory organization.
The Response to Racism and Hate Protocol was developed by the Bulkley Valley Response to Racism and Hate Working Group which comprises several community groups and government agencies including Northern Health, the RCMP, and Dze L Kant Friendship Centre.
The group sought to create a system to monitor, track, and address incidents of racism and hate in the Bulkley Valley and hold people accountable while seeking to address and correct community incidents.
According to a staff report, the protocol is based on a number of values and calls upon signatories to implement policies and practices in organizations that align with the values and encourage equity, respect, and inclusion for all people.
The protocol does not make specific calls to action for the Town of Smithers aside from those as a signatory to the protocol.
A guide provides signatories and community members tools to collect information on incidents of hate and racism and information on service and support agencies within the Bulkley Valley.
Coun. Frank Wray said he appreciated the work that went into the report but thinks there might be a better way to combat racism.
“It really seems to be weird speaking out against something that’s aimed at fighting hate and racism. I don’t support hate or racism,” he said. “But I’ve been involved in two different organizations where the bullying and harassment have been weaponized against people, where they are making an accusation against somebody, and it becomes a witch hunt. And it’s not pleasant.”
Coun. John Buikema said he was supportive of the intent of the protocol but is also not in favor of being a signatory because there is a system in place already.
“We have a criminal code, we have courts, we have these human rights commissions, their job is to deal with situations like this. And there’s just something that makes me uncomfortable, a local organization just gathering lists of incidents of hate or racism or some other ‘ism, that I feel like there’s something in place already for that in society, through the whole criminal system.”
Coun. Sam Raven said she does support the initiative because the systems currently in place can be difficult to navigate and can re-traumatize people. She added, while she believes Smithers is a wonderful community, she acknowledged racism exists here.
“I think that having things like this for data collection is actually extremely beneficial, because then we can actually start tackling the problem. If we just put our hands up and say it doesn’t exist, well, then we can’t deal with it. So when we can show the numbers and show what’s happening in our community, however often… it might be once a week, it might be once a day. So I actually look forward to this data collection. And I support this.”
Councillor Paterson also supported the protocol and the town being involved, saying it didn’t appear that it would take up a lot of staff time.
“I absolutely appreciate differences of opinion,” she added. “But to not say that we’re going to support a group of individuals who are working for free to help to support being equals within our community, it’s just a bit disturbing to me”
In the end, council and staff were a bit unsure of what was expected of the town as signatory and council voted to defer the motion and set up a separate meeting with the group to get more clarity.
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