‘Treating each other better’: Richmond Hill commits to restoring compassion and rejecting hatred

Richmond Hill becomes the first municipality to declare a ‘compassionate community’ in York Region

Yorkregion.com
June 10, 2022
Sheila Wang

“Respect, honesty, integrity, and compassion.”

This is what Raika Sheppard would like to remind Richmond Hill council, the newly-appointed Ward 4 councillor said as she proposed an initiative to her council colleagues.

At the June 8 meeting, a majority of council members decided to adopt Sheppard's proposal regarding building a compassionate city, which makes Richmond Hill the first municipality to declare a “compassionate community” in York Region.

It means Richmond Hill affirms the Charter for Compassion, and its commitment to restoring compassion and encouraging diversity and cultivating an informed empathy of others. Meanwhile, the city is committed to rejecting any practice that breeds hatred, violence, intolerance and disdain.

The adoption of this initiative came just months before the end of this council term, which has been marked by unruly behaviours among council members and often prolonged and chaotic meetings.

“There is so much more that we can do. I think by declaring us a compassionate city is the first step in us treating each other better as colleagues and treating the staff better and working toward the greater good of Richmond Hill residents,” Sheppard said to her council colleagues.

Sheppard was appointed the Ward 4 councillor three months ago after her predecessor David West was elected mayor in the January byelection following the retirement of the former Mayor Dave Barrow.

Sara Jamil, of Oak Ridges, who is the co-founder of Compassionate York Region -- spoke in support of the motion, noting the public endorsement of compassion as the city's guidance for governance, civil discourse and how we do businesses is crucial.

Councillors Carmine Perrelli, Tom Muench and Greg Beros voted against the motion after tossing a number of questions at Sheppard.

Beros questioned the necessity of committing to the new initiative as the city is already part of a similar initiative “character community.”

Muench asked about Sheppard’s motive for bringing forward this proposal before asking to refer it back to staff, which was subsequently voted down.

In her responses to the questions, Sheppard said: “I personally have faced on this council -- whether on or off chambers -- behaviours that do not comply with those. So my reason and my motivation for this motion is to highlight the fact that even though we're part of Richmond Hill character community initiative, we as council members fail to comply with the initiative and what we're supposed to adhere to.”

Regional Coun. Perrelli said he wouldn't support the initiative because it was not inclusive.

Describing the compassionate community initiative “a breath of fresh air,” Mayor West said it was “synergistic” with the character community initiative.

“Compassion to me is the baseline and foundation of so many things that follow from it,” the mayor said, noting other things get built on top of this foundation such as the city’s diversity, equity and inclusivity strategy.