July 17, 2020: Register for the Anti-Racism Town Hall

Join the conversation! A Town Hall focused on Anti-Racism, will be held on July 30, 2020, at 6 p.m. through an online video call. The Town Hall will be an opportunity for all members of our regional community to speak to the systemic racism that exists within our community and provide ideas about how the Region can address it. This Town Hall is our next step in creating an Anti-Racism Secretariat, similar to what is in development or already exists in other regions and municipalities.

One possibility of how the Secretariat might look, is it would act as its own division within the Region. Its focus would be on making recommendations to Council regarding regional services and programs that can positively impact the Black, Indigenous and other racialized communities. The community has highlighted Ottawa and Toronto as good blueprints to look at as a starting point. Moving forward, we will seek community feedback on gaps, areas of improvement, as well as how a similar framework could be adjusted and implemented for the Region of Waterloo.

Complete the registration form to be a part of this meeting (found in the 'Tell us what you think' tab). You can sign up to speak or just watch. The Town Hall will be streamed live if you'd like to listen to the presentations by the community. If you register to speak, we'll send you a zoom link to attend the virtual meeting to present. Please note that if there is sufficient interest in speaking, a second session will be added to hear more voices. A summary of key themes heard will be presented back after the session on this site.

A survey will be available after the Town Hall if you would like to provide your comments that way.

*Creating safe(r )spaces: The Region of Waterloo hopes to create an atmosphere where all voices are welcomed.We look forward to hearing about your experiences, being mindful of others' confidentiality, please do not share others' stories without their permission. Further, we cannot tolerate comments that would be classified as hate speech or defamation to others. We invite you to share your stories and opinions, remembering that we are all here in the spirit of community building and progress. Attendance at this meeting signifies your consent to the statement above.