Anti-Racism Directorate (ARD) and MNO Anti-Hate Engagement
Background:
The Government of Ontario indicates on its website that it has a “commitment to ensure all people in Ontario are served equitably…and has taken proactive steps to address systemic racism in government decision making, programs and services.” To lead this initiative, the provincial government, in 2016, established an Anti-Racism Directorate (ARD) with powers to develop and implement the current strategy through community partnerships.
In 2017, Ontario released its Anti-Racism Strategic Plan which stipulates key objectives to “eliminate systemic racism and advance racial equity in Ontario for Indigenous, Black and Racialized populations.” According to the 2017 Anti-Racism Act, the government is expected to undertake a public review of the Strategy at least every five years. This review process has now been initiated, and Ontario is seeking input to inform the revised Strategy.
MNO’s Citizen Engagement Plan:
The MNO is preparing an engagement strategy in order to gather input from MNO citizens, with the goal of providing feedback to Ontario on the ARD Strategy that is representative of the experiences of Métis peoples and will aid in a revised provincial strategy that will better meet their needs.
The engagement strategy kicked off at the 2022 AGA in August with the distribution of the ARD Strategy Fact Sheet outlining high level information about Ontario’s ARD Strategy which included information directing citizens to where they can find further information. Following the first round of engagement focused on Anti-Racism, the RRP Branch is in the process of planning one-hour engagement sessions via Zoom with the youth, women and 2SLGTBQ+ working groups. These engagement sessions are planned to be held in the spring of 2024, which will run along side a survey that will be made available and advertised to all MNO citizens.
In preparation of these citizen engagements, the RRP Branch is preparing documents to be made available in advance of the Zoom sessions and the survey going out, in order to help citizens to stay informed and be able to participate meaningfully in these engagements.