Fewer than half of Toronto councillors have taken anti-racism training mandatory for city employees

Thestar.com
May 17, 2022

More than 25,000 municipal employees have completed mandatory training in confronting anti-Black racism under a council-approved action plan. But according to city records, only 12 of Toronto’s 25 councillors this term have taken the program.

Coun. Michael Thompson said it’s an education gap his colleagues should rectify.

Thompson, who represents Scarborough Centre, argued that elected officials have a responsibility to educate themselves about racism “because they’re in the position where they’re making decisions around this very issue, and because many of the constituents they represent are Black.”

Thompson is the only Black member of Toronto city council, which oversees a municipality where nearly one in 10 residents are Black. He’s taken the course himself, and said it was an “eyeopener.”

“Councillors as leaders need to be the first to get this training,” he said.

Council unanimously approved the Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism in 2017. The five-year strategy is intended “to address the pervasive legacy of anti-Black racism in city policies, systems and institutions,” and includes an expert-devised training curriculum. Each year the city selects divisions and agencies to receive the training, which is compulsory for municipal employees as well as those working at the TTC and Toronto Police Service.

The course is offered in four- and eight-hour formats. According to Denise Andrea Campbell, executive director of the city’s social development, finance and administration department, it’s designed to educate employees about the history of Black populations in Canada, and how to recognize racism in a local context.

It includes sections devoted to the city action plan, which Campbell said helps municipal employees put lessons from the training into practice in order to better support their Black colleagues and serve Black residents.

The training began in 2018 with a focus on city staff, but it’s available to council members on request, Campbell said. Since 2018, a total of 25,783 employees have undergone it.

The city has more than 38,800 employees, while the TTC and police employ about 16,000 and 7,500 respectively.

A list provided by the city shows that in addition to Thompson, the 11 councillors who have taken it are: Mike Layton, Paula Fletcher, Anthony Peruzza, Mike Colle, James Pasternak, Nick Mantas, Shelley Carroll, Brad Bradford, Stephen Holyday, Paul Ainslie and Ana Bailão.

Mayor John Tory has also completed the training, and told council last week he believed it was an “incredibly important” initiative.

When surveyed by the Star, not all councillors who aren’t on the city’s list explained why they haven’t taken the program. But Josh Matlow said he wasn’t able to attend on the dates offered, and planned to go in the future. “I recognize how important it is,” he said.

Gord Perks and Cynthia Lai, who also aren’t on the city’s list, said they took a different anti-racism course through the board of health. Coun. John Filion said he took a course through TOLive, a city agency whose board he sits on, while Coun. Frances Nunziata took training in her role on the police board.

Campbell, the city executive director, said although her department encourages “varied learning experiences on addressing anti-Black racism” other courses aren’t a substitute for the city’s, which is specifically based on Toronto’s action plan.

Thompson said he wasn’t angry that so many of his colleagues haven’t completed the course, and wouldn’t speculate about why they have yet to sign up.

“I don’t want to paint my colleagues in a bad light or anything like that. The point is to encourage them to take the training,” he said.