MINTO — Minto may be getting increased support for a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion.
The Town of Minto council has unanimously approved the terms of reference for the diversity, equity and inclusion committee.
The purpose of the DEI committee is to give advice and help to staff, members of council and Minto residents in order to ensure Minto is “a welcoming and inclusive rural community,” says the terms of reference.
The DEI committee emerged in the response to a anti-Muslim hate video someone put on TikTok two years ago, filming some local refugees in Harriston.
“Back in 2021 there was an unfortunate incident in the community where someone put a hate message on TikTok about the Muslim family that was killed in London,” said Belinda Wick-Graham, the director of economic and community development for the town of Minto, who helped create the terms of reference.
“So our community kind of rallied together to support our Muslim community that is in Minto and show that we’re not a place for hate,” Wick-Graham said.
The desired impact of the DEI committee is to make a positive message of inclusion within the community.
Wick-Graham said that the desired result is “to really demonstrate that Minto is a progressive rural community that welcomes everybody. And we want people that move here and that live here currently to feel that they belong. Our whole tag line is, where your family belongs.”
The DEI committee supports inclusion. Even the individual who posted the anti-Muslim message on TikTok does not need to feel threatened by the DEI committee.
“I don’t think that anybody needs to feel threatened by this committee. It’s about being welcome, like about making people feel welcome and not hated for anything, right.
“This is coming from a good place. And there are people out there that for whatever reason have negative views on certain things.
“And like the Muslim case that happened, our community rose above that. We had hundreds of people show up and do a solidarity march,” Wick-Graham said.
According to the terms of reference, the DEI committee will have the following principles.
- Reflect the diversity of equity seeking groups within the Town of Minto
- Develop and promote a vision of inclusion
- Be committed to operating with effective, respectful and inclusive communication
- Promote and operate through a consensus decision-making process
- Foster intentional collaboration and partnerships
- Inject intersectionality into strategies to build bridges between communities
- Be responsive to the community’s needs
The mandate of the DEI committee is to help provide a plan and create a space for discussion on matters related to diversity and inclusion.
“The Town of Minto diversity, equity and inclusion committee will provide support to staff in the creation and implementation of a diversity, equity and inclusion plan and shall provide a forum for consultation, feedback and discussion on matters of diversity, equity and inclusion in the Town of Minto,” stated the terms of reference.
The DEI committee will have 10 to 15 members appointed by the council. Members are to be chosen from the public as well as one council member. According to the terms of reference, members are to be representative of the following groups.
- Indigenous peoples
- LGBTQ2S+
- Newcomers, new Canadians
- Persons living in poverty
- Persons with disabilities
- Racialized people, people of diverse ethnic or cultural origin
- Seniors
- Women
- Youth
- 3-5 community members working in allyship
The DEI committee will act as a subcommittee to the cultural roundtable committee.
The next step is to find people to serve on the committee.
Jesse Gault is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
