County should be applauded for anti-racism initiatives

February is African Heritage month and it’s timely and appropriate to see the County of Kings take steps to help eliminate racism and discrimination in our communities.

All too often, organizations and individuals are willing to pay lip service to the problems of racism and discrimination, but when it comes to doing something tangible to address the issues little comes to fruition.

That isn’t the case with Kings County council. At the January committee of the whole session, councillors voted in favour of approving a declaration to join the Canadian Coalition of Municipalities Against Racism and Discrimination. The Canadian Commission for UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and its partners are inviting Canadian municipalities to be part of a global initiative to establish a network of cities interested in sharing experiences to improve policies to fight racism, discrimination, xenophobia and exclusion.

By joining the coalition, the county would adopt 10 common commitments, develop its own plan of action against racism and report publicly on actions taken in respect to the commitments and plan.

Deputy Warden Diana Brothers, who brought the matter forward to council, said she became aware of the initiative at a recent Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference. She pointed out that the only municipality in the province to join the coalition to-date is the Halifax Regional Municipality. However, the Town of Kentville is looking into joining as well.

We would like to commend Brothers for bringing the matter forward. Municipal government works at a very grassroots level, and one of the best ways to effect change is to begin at home, in our own backyard.

It would be nice to think that racism and discrimination have been eradicated, but this is naïve. People still encounter discrimination based on race, gender and age and the county is doing more than simply recognizing the problem by joining the coalition; it’s doing something tangible to address it.

Warden Fred Whalen should be commended as well for volunteering to take the initiative to the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities (UNSM) rural caucus. This will raise awareness among other municipalities and hopefully increase the impact. In fact, all councillors are to be commended for endorsing the coalition and for supporting Whalen’s desire to take the matter to the UNSM rural caucus.

Councillor Madonna Spinazola came forth with an excellent suggestion at the January COTW session as well. In honour of African Heritage Month, she suggested holding the February COTW session at the Gibson Woods Community Hall. Gibson Woods is an example of a historically prominent Black community within Kings County and it’s located within Spinazola’s constituency. Councillors voted in favour of the recommendation.

This is another example of doing something tangible to promote inclusion and shows that our local elected officials have their hearts and heads in the right place when it comes to valuing the contributions of all citizens, regardless of race, gender or age.