COUNCIL – ‘We declare our opposition to racism and discrimination…’

Kamloops is now officially against racism and discrimination of all kinds.

City council accepted a Notice of Motion today (Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017) from Coun. Arjun Singh with virtually no comment. Coun. Dieter Dudy suggested the motion should have included women, but other than that, council simply voted to approve it.

Singh gave notice of the motion a week ago, and had earlier declared his solidarity with immigrants and their contributions to the country, noting that he himself is a son of immigrants. For that, he received quite a bit of flak on social media for supposedly grandstanding. Today, though, there was no controversy, and that’s as it should be. The motion is as follows:

We, Kamloops City Council, declare our active opposition to racism and discrimination and support programs and initiatives promoting diversity and inclusivity in our community. We strike to uphold values such as those expressed in the British Columbia Human Rights Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act and contribute to their further development. We also support the education of the public and ourselves about the current presence and forms of discrimination and what can be done to erode or eradicate them.

Our population is very diverse and includes immigrants, refugees, and other newcomers to Canada; aboriginal people; persons with disabilities; youth; elders; LGBTQ2S communities; visible and other minorities; and people of faith and spirituality; as well as Canadians who do not identify with any such designations. We consider social and cultural diversity to be an asset to, and an indicator of, a healthy society and hope to guide the whole of society to become more welcoming and inclusive of all people. Together we’re better!