Seven of nine Sarnia council members attended Monday’s controversial session to learn how to be more aware of diversity, equity and inclusion issues when conducting city business.
At the end of a two-hour presentation, several councillors asked consultant Kristy Foreman of EQU8 Strategy Inc. questions ranging from how to refer respectfully to Indigenous people to the prevalence of systemic racism in Canada.
Perhaps the biggest statement was made by Coun. Bill Dennis’ empty seat in council chambers. He did not vote in favour of council spending $4,339 to hire Foreman and boycotted the public meeting.
“There’s no way I’m going to go to that,” he said when asked if he would attend. “I treat everybody well. All this stuff is divisive. I’m not going because I don’t agree with it.”
Dennis admitted he was still smarting from another, far more contentious diversity training session in 2021, which took place behind closed doors at city hall.
At that time, a Toronto company cancelled agreements for future sessions after some unnamed councillors subjected the consultant to what was called “unabated hostility.”
Dennis said he attended in 2021 because “we were sold a bag of magic beans and told the training was a way to be hospitable to international students.
“It just turned into a session where I was told I was a white supremacist and that’s just not true. I treat everybody nice.”
The 2021 training session turned into a fiasco and Sarnia’s integrity commissioner was asked to investigate.
Following the 2022 election – when Dennis topped the polls — newly-elected Coun. Chrissy McRoberts strongly advocated for another attempt at diversity training. She told council she believed that successfully completing diversity education was the only way council could “move forward.”
When McRoberts made her motion for council to give it another shot, she said a local firm called Diversity Ed had offered free training.
But council opted to put out a Request for Proposals (RFP) and ultimately hired EQU8 based in Vancouver.
McRoberts said she was excited to see all but two members of council attend Monday, along with the city’s entire senior management team. Unlike the 2021 training session, there was no controversy and no outbursts.
“The speaker was very articulate and factual,” McRoberts said. “Several conversations emerged after the completion of the course that inspired me and confirmed that this was a valuable tool for our council to help us better serve our community.”
Monday’s session covered sexual orientation and gender identity, anti-racism, anti-sexism, and cultural safety and sensitivity. The consultant was a lawyer who spoke a lot about current legislation and legal compliance.
McRoberts said she’d like to see council participate in annual diversity training on subjects not covered Monday.
“For example, this course did not include discussions about the experiences or needs of our senior population or those who require accessibility,” she said.
Aside from Dennis, Coun. Dave Boushy was the other member of council who did not attend.
“Why stir the pot with this sort of training?” he said “What we need is for council to respect each other, and to respect the chair, the mayor.
“Let’s just be kind to one another,” said Boushy. “I just felt that we don’t need to spend money on that.”
Coun. Terry Burrell said he had a problem with the cost too but attended because he wanted to support council’s decision to have the training.
“I think spending $4,000 on it is atrocious,” Burrell said. “And I wasn’t really impressed, although the speaker was less insulting and less opinionated than the last time.”