Everyday Politics with Laura Mae Lindo

A Promise to Black Communities: Kitchener Centre Debate

Everyday Politics with Laura Mae Lindo presents "A Promise to Black Communities": Kitchener Centre Debate.

Candidtes running to become the next MPP for Kitchener Centre discuss topics such as mental health, economic prosperity, community safety and justice reform, education, and anti-racism and human rights in Ontario.

Additional Resources:

Employment Equity

Employment Equity Act, 1993, S.O. 1993, c. 35
https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/93e35

Case Summary, Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund:
https://www.leaf.ca/case_summary/ferrel-v-a-g-of-ontario-1998/

“The Ontario Court of Appeal held that the Ontario Human Rights Code satisfied any duty the government had to enact legislation to combat systemic discrimination in employment, although it did not think that the government had such a duty. As a result, the Court dismissed the appeal and the EEA was repealed.”

Anti-Racism and Human Rights in Ontario
Ontario Human Rights Commission Business Plan 2023–24 – 2025–26
https://www3.ohrc.on.ca/en/ontario-human-rights-commission-business-plan-2023-24-2025-26#:~:text=Over%20the%20past%20few%20years,tangible%20cost%20savings%20over%20time.

“ Over the past few years, including in fiscal year 2022–23, the OHRC has had to employ vacancy management to fund its business-related projects/initiatives. Evolving business needs and funding requirements as well as structural deficits have led to operational pressures and having to forego key opportunities in the work of the OHRC”

The Human Rights process and race and discrimination complaints
https://www3.ohrc.on.ca/en/race-policy-dialogue-papers/human-rights-process-and-race-discrimination-complaints

“Studies in many jurisdictions have indicated that complaints alleging discrimination on the basis of race and related grounds have a lower success rate than cases”

Hate Crimes in Kitchener-Waterloo

“Waterloo region has highest rate of police-reported hate crimes in Canada. What police, advocates are saying” (Desmond Brown, CBC News)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/waterloo-region-police-reported-hate-crimes-1.7341666

“Additionally, he said, about half of the police-reported hate-motivated crimes revolve around ethnicity.
"About 50 per cent [in this category] are for Black individuals, and that's startling," Crowell said, adding "anti-Black racism exists in our community to a significant degree." “

“Police report rise in hate crimes in Waterloo Region” (Shelby Knox, CTV News)
https://www.ctvnews.ca/kitchener/article/police-report-rise-in-hate-crimes-in-waterloo-region/

Of the 369 reported incidents in 2023, 190 involved race or ethnicity. That is up from 97 cases reported to police in 2022. Black people were targeted most frequently. “From 2020 to 2023 there were 387 hate-motivated crimes on the basis of race, 190 occurring in 2023. Across all [three] years, these hate-motivated crimes most often targeted Black individuals. In 2023, 43 per cent of those crimes based on race targeted Black individuals,” Mathias said.

Mental Health and Black Communities

Statement form Black Healthcare Workers, Alliance for Healthier Communities:
https://www.allianceon.org/fr/node/4076?language=fr

Education

Roots of Youth Violence
https://youthrex.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/The-Roots-of-Youth-Violence-vol.-1-Findings-Analysis-and-Conclusions-2008.pdf

Community Safety and Justice Reform

2023 Quarterly Use of Force Statistical Report – Q4 and Annual Summary (February 21, 2024)
https://www.wrps.on.ca/en/about-us/resources/Regulated-Interactions--Intelligence-Notes/2024-043-Q4-and-2023-Annual-UoF-Report_2024-043_forwebsite.pdf

“To meet the minimum requirements of Ontario’s Anti-Racism Act (2017), and the Data Standards for the Identification and Monitoring of Systemic Racism (Anti-Racism Data Standards), the proportion of racialized person subjects involved in reportable use of force incidents has been compared to local resident population demographics obtained from 2021 Census data.2 Ratio values > 1.5 were used as the cut-off to identify overrepresentation (Lamberth, 1996; Police Foundation, 2003; Withrow et al., 2008). Caution is needed in the interpretation of patterns based on small numbers because the addition or subtraction of a few cases can drastically impact ratios.Based on the proportion of racialized individuals in the local resident population provided in the 2021 Census data, Black (ratio of 3.72) and Middle Eastern (ratio of 2.75) individuals were overrepresented in 2023 Modernized Use of Force Reports (Table 6). This replicates the pattern observed since 2020, where Black and Middle Eastern individuals were overrepresented in Use of Force Reports.” (pp. 11-12)

Everyday Politics with Laura Mae Lindo

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Laura Mae Lindo

Dr. Laura Mae Lindo (she/her/elle) is a respected activist, educator, and former politician who holds both a Masters and PhD in Education. Dr. Lindo is a knowledgeable advocate for the rights of womxn and girls, a respected ally to vulnerable communities, and, most importantly, a courageous public speaker, ready, willing, and able to speak to issues often left unaddressed. Dr. Lindo has worked at Toronto Metropolitan University in the Diversity Institute as well as lectured at St. Francis Xavier University (Antigonish, Nova Scotia), the University of Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island), York University (Toronto, Ontario), and Wilfrid Laurier University (Waterloo, Ontario). A former Member of Provincial Parliament for Kitchener Centre and Ontario’s Official Opposition Critic for Anti-Racism and Equity as well as Colleges and Universities and Citizenship and Immigration, Dr. Lindo was the inaugural Chair of Ontario’s first Black Caucus. She is currently an Assistant Professor in Philosophy at the University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario) and Founder and Director of the e(RACE)r Institute where she continues to put anti-racist theory into practice.