The City of Toronto’s Confronting Anti-Black Racism Advisory Committee (CABRAC) met for the first time on Friday to set their priorities for the year. This Council Advisory Body, a first of its kind, will provide expert advice to City Council on strategic and emerging issues to ensure City policies, programs and initiatives adequately serve people of African descent in Toronto. The committee – chaired by Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson – was established by Toronto City Council at its meeting in September 2020 and will serve their term until 2022.
Establishing the CABRAC focused on confronting anti-Black racism in Toronto and will help further advance the objectives of the Toronto Action Plan to Confronting Anti-Black Racism, which was adopted by Council in December 2017.
The Confronting Anti-Black Racism Advisory Committee is composed of 14 public members:
Brief biographies on each member are available at toronto.ca/abr.
The CABRAC was established to provide advice to City Council on:
In the Changes to Policing in Toronto report adopted by Council in June 2020, one of the recommendations was to build on the mandate and membership of the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Partnership and Accountability Circle, which guides and supports the implementation of the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism, by establishing a Confronting Anti-Black Racism Advisory Committee.
Meeting agendas and issues that will be considered by the CABRAC can be found on the Toronto City Council and Committees Meetings, Agendas and Minutes web page.
Quotes:
“Since the establishment of the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit, I have made it clear that addressing anti-Black racism is a top priority for our city. Toronto has been making strides when it comes to policy changes and new initiatives that all aim to eliminate anti-Black racism in our city. We know we need to do more and this advisory committee will help us further meet those goals and ensure that we are on track with the implementation of our action plan. I want to thank all the members of this committee for making the time to join this team of other leaders and for committing themselves to making Toronto a better city for all.”
– Mayor John Tory
“The Confronting Anti-Black Racism Advisory Committee will advise City Council on pressing issues beyond the scope of the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism. Their insights on city-wide intergovernmental issues will go a long way toward informing the City’s approach to combating racism and increase the impact of Black perspectives on civic decision-making.”
– Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson (Scarborough Centre), Chair of the City’s Economic, Community Development Committee and Co-chair of the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Advisory Committee
“The development of the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Advisory Committee is another step in the City’s plans to tackle anti-Black racism and in eliminating systemic racism throughout our organization and agencies, setting an example for other large organizations across Toronto. I look forward to supporting City staff to implement the advice and guidance we receive from the Committee through their engagements with City Council.”
– Chris Murray, City Manager
“The Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit has done a tremendous job working with the Partnership and Accountability Circle to advance the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism in the City system and will work now alongside the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Advisory Committee to fully realize the full potential of the Action Plan. This new Committee, a formal part of the Council process, will contribute more wisdom from Black leaders on important intergovernmental issues impacting Black communities. In doing so, we will be advancing our commitment to facilitate greater involvement of Black residents in city decision-making.”
– Denise Andrea Campbell, Executive Director, Social Development Finance & Administration
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