TORONTO – Today, the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) announced the launch of a collaboration to better advance anti-racism, equity and inclusion (AREI) across municipalities in Canada.
The CRRF is the leading agency dedicated to the elimination of racism and all forms of racial discrimination in Canadian society. As the national voice of Canada’s local governments, FCM represents the governments working closest to people’s everyday lives, hopes and challenges, and they are committed to better lives for Canadians.
“Municipal governments have a key role to play in ensuring that residents of all backgrounds are fully able to participate in their communities without facing systemic barriers,” said Mohammed Hashim, executive director at the CRRF. “We hope to broaden the conversation around race and anti-racism, enhance learning opportunities, and help propel institutional change by bringing together local decision makers from across Canada to share experiences and best practices. This is the first of many dialogues as we collectively work together to mobilize meaningful change in this realm of policy and leadership”.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities believes that everybody should live free from racism, systemic oppression and racialized violence, and that freedom should permeate our cities and communities where we live, work, attend school and raise families. Black, Indigenous and other racialized people continue to face pervasive systemic racism and injustice. With this partnership, both organizations are united by a commitment to build better lives for everyone in Canada.
“As a national federation, FCM has both responsibilities and opportunities to drive change, said Carole Saab, the Chief Executive Officer of FCM. This partnership can fuel progress in our communities, and our hope is that this will result in key outcomes and opportunities for future collaboration to advance anti-racism, equity and inclusion across municipalities in Canada.”
This collaboration intends to identify effective approaches, explore barriers and opportunities for greater collective action, including national mobilization to advance these objectives. Starting with critical conversations and sharing at the Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion (AREI) Forum taking place on May 11th, and a related session at the FCM Annual Conference, the CRRF and FCM are creating opportunities for municipalities to share best practices, highlight successes and discuss how to overcome barriers to progress across Canada.
The partnership between the CRRF and FCM brings focus and resources to the advancement of anti-racism, equity and inclusion on the municipal government stage. Looking ahead, the CRRF and FCM have ambitions to work together to continue creating spaces for exchange and collaboration amongst staff leaders from municipalities across the country. They are also exploring tangible ways to support concrete actions on the part of local governments.
For more information:
Canadian Race Relations Foundations Amira Elghawaby, Director of Communications, (613) 617-6719, aelghawaby@crrf-fcrr.ca
Federation of Canadian Municipalities Media Relations, (613) 907-6395, media@fcm.ca