Three months ago, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) started a conversation in Timmins.
It’s furthering those discussions this week.
In a three-day visit, the OHRC is meeting with local civic and Indigenous leaders and offering free education sessions.
OHRC Chief Commissioner Renu Mandhane first visited Timmins in March.
After that visit, in an interview with the Canadian Press she said that racism appears to be normalized in the city.
“I was surprised at the reaction because I had spent a very short time in this city, five days, and in that time this was sort of a stark, pretty clear finding of our trip, that at least for Indigenous people this was a normalized sort of daily experience,” she said.
For her group, she explained the information surfaced when asking if people had filed a human rights complaint or complaint with the institutions they were concerned about
“And people sort of said, ‘well this is just part of life, like I can’t file a complaint every day for small things or even big things that happen,’” she said.
“The reaction was interesting because I think there was a defensiveness, which is very normal, that’s not unique to Timmins, but I think it gave voice for Indigenous people to actually finally say, ‘no actually this is a fair assessment’ and a lot of Indigenous people said it just created space to have that conversation.”
After the trip, the intent was to return and offer training in the spring of 2019.
“We also were obviously following what happened after our first visit and really sensing from the city a momentum and we wanted to be part of that momentum,” Mandhane said.
“We felt like it was important to be here when that openness was there and…a year is a long time and even if that openness was there people move on and they have other priorities.”
Yesterday, Mandhane sat down with civic and Indigenous leaders.
The table included voices from policing, child welfare, health care, shelters, and leaders from the Mushkegowuk Council, Nishnawbe Aski Nation, the Metis Nation, and more.
She said the meeting was positive, and opened lines of communication that hadn’t necessarily been there before.
“What the commission can do is use our position and influence to get people to a table, but what happens after that obviously is up to the local leaders and how they feel that this relationship can evolve into the future,” she said.
Over the last couple of months, the city has been taking strides to improve.
“This has far exceeded our expectations, which is I think one of the real strengths of small municipalities is they are nimble, they can move quickly,” she said.
This week there is a four-day Indigenous celebration leading up to National Indigenous Peoples Day. Tonight, council will be talking about the terms of reference for an Indigenous Advisory Committee, and Thursday three Indigenous flags will be raised at city hall for the first time.
“You can put out a challenge and not every person will take up that challenge and I do feel that Mayor Black really owned what we said and took steps very quickly,” she said.
The training sessions the OHRC is also offering this week are giving people a broad understanding of current human rights issues and how to spot the issues so they can then look for help to understand how to meet their obligations.
About 100 people have registered.
“The quality of people who are coming, they’re the right people. They’re people who are actually providing service in the community, they’re leaders, they’re the people who can make change,” she said.
When the OHRC hands over the baton to local leaders, she said hopes to see “champions who want to have these conversations continue and who really make it their own purpose to continue those conversations.”
She noted that the new Indigenous Advisory Committee could be the group with the right ideas.
“It’s really positive that we already have a group of people who have come forward to be part of that initiative,” she said.
