The Town of Newmarket wants to take action to end anti-Black racism and town council now has a plan ready to do that.
The plan to dismantle anti-Black racism comes after years of work on the issue and seeks to provide actionable steps for the community to address the issue. Council received the plan written by consultant EMPOWER Strategy Group to tackle 117 recommendations made by a task force. Council asked staff to develop a two-year implementation plan and bring it back to council in six weeks.
Newmarket African Caribbean Canadian Association president Jerisha Grant-Hall said the work will take courageous leadership and collaboration.
“We need an action plan, but more importantly, we need people invested in targeting systemic racist policies, decisions and programs so we can engender a more inclusive community,” Grant-Hall said.
The action plan has recommendations and key performance indicators to guide every town department toward improving inclusivity. It advises support for Black-owned businesses, making goals for staff to reflect local diversity and creating an advisory community body to hold the town accountable, among other actions. The timelines for actions go from 2023 to 2027.
Creating the action plan has included consultation with every staff department, EMPOWER CEO Evelyn Myrie told council.
“We wanted to get their voices in that action plan to make sure we’re all in alignment with the work we’re about to take on,” she said.
Newmarket Mayor John Taylor said there had been an incredible amount of learning that has happened. He thanked NACCA for helping drive the town to take these steps.
“I know we’re really just starting, but it’s already been an interesting and rewarding experience,” Taylor said. “There’s a lot of work to do, but I really do feel a certain amount of pride with where we’re at."
Grant-Hall spoke about the history of NACCA and the need to address the hundreds of years of oppression.
“We have to do more to systematically address and reduce the over 400 years of oppression and the corresponding mental health impact of chronic, systemic anti-Black racism,” she said.
One point she raised was regarding the town’s street naming process, and in research, NACCA could not find any streets named after Black community members on the approximately 665 streets. She said urgent improvements to the street naming policy are needed to recognize Black community members and other underrepresented groups.
Taylor said the town will need more than words in addressing anti-Black racism.
“It’s not the words that will create results, and it’s not the words we’ll be judged by, it is actions,” he said. “Action is critical at this point.”
