GLADYS OSIEN: Hello, everyone. Welcome to season 7 of Diversonomics, a podcast about diversity and inclusion from Gowling WLG. My name is Gladys Osien.
PHEDELY ARISTE: And my name is Phedely Ariste. We're coming to you from the City of Ottawa. We'd like to recognize that Ottawa is located on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation. We extend our respect to all First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people for their valuable past and present contributions to this land.
So in this episode, we are honored to have Councilor Rawlson King with us. Councilor King is Ottawa's first Black city councilor, who represents the Rideau-Rockcliffe Ward. A strong believer in public service, Rawlson previously served as President of the Overbrook Community Association and was the first co-chair of the Ottawa Police Service Community Equity Council. In 2018, Rawlson won the United Way Ottawa Community Builder of the Year Award. And in 2021, he received a Special Recognition Award from Black History Ottawa.
GLADYS OSIEN: Councilor King is the Council Liaison for Anti-Racism and Ethnocultural Relations Initiatives. In this capacity, he was responsible for the creation of Ottawa's Anti-Racism Office and Strategy. In this episode, we're so excited to delve into the City of Ottawa's first Anti-Racism Strategy that was approved by Council in 2022. To give a bit of background, the Strategy is a five-year plan to proactively identify and remove systemic barriers in the city's policies, programs, and services.
The Strategy proposes 28 recommendations, 132 actions to address racial inequity in governance, housing, economic development, health outcomes, children and youth development, achieving racial equity in the workplace and institutional practices. The Strategy and the recommendations are available on the City of Ottawa's website. And we will, of course, include the link to the report in our show notes.
PHEDELY ARISTE: Upon reviewing the Strategy, I came across some really interesting recommendations that I think will be helpful to review, especially with respect to achieving racial equity in the workplace.
GLADYS OSIEN: That's right. And, for example, the report recommends foundational and ongoing learning to develop racial-responsive leadership. It also recommends understanding anti-racism principles through training, dialogue, and, of course, ongoing learning, as well as trauma-informed approaches to discussions about race and racism in the workplace. These are ideas that, I think, we can try to undertake even on an individual basis. So please check out the Strategy for more details.
PHEDELY ARISTE: I think it will be a really exciting episode as we will be able to take a deep dive behind the scenes into the implementation of the Strategy and just how it came to fruition. So without any further ado, let's get into this discussion.
So thank you so much, Councilor King, for making the time for us today. Gladys and I are very grateful. So we know the Anti-Racism Secretariat was formally established in 2020 to target systemic racism and discrimination and is also largely responsible for the development of Ottawa's Anti-Racism Strategy. Can you tell us what led to the development of the Strategy?
RAWLSON KING: Well, the Anti-Racism Secretariat ultimately was born out of an event that occurred in my ward in 2019, where a racial slur was spray-painted on a family's garage door in Rideau-Rockcliffe. It was very disappointing because, in April of 2019, there was great elation in the community and throughout the city with my election as the first Black city councilor in the City of Ottawa's history, then in May, literally a month later, in my ward, we saw the N-word with the associated words get out, spray-painted on the garage door of a resident who lived in that house and who has lived in the ward for 20 years and has actively contributed to the community as a family physician.
So this act of hate and racial discrimination was definitely shocking and devastating for the family. It was shocking and devastating for the community. And it did spark concerns amongst many racialized communities in Ottawa, including organizations such as the African Canadian Association of Ottawa, the 613-819 Black Hub, the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership, the Ottawa Muslim Association, the Jewish Family Services of Ottawa, and many, many others, who wanted municipal action.
In fact, they stepped up. They were on the front stoop of that home, in front of the garage door, and asked specifically for the creation of an Anti-Racism Secretariat for the city. So this establishment, I think, is unique because often municipal governments react. You park illegally. And you get a ticket. And there's a reaction.
Or you are a developer looking to build something. And you put in a planning application. And then the city reacts. It's not often that the city becomes proactive when community members actually ask for changes. And that's what occurred in front of that garage door in May of 2019.
GLADYS OSIEN: It's so unfortunate that you and the members of your ward dealt with such a shockingly hateful event so shortly after your election. These types of events are extremely damaging to members of our community and can be extremely traumatizing. At the same time, it's amazing to see the community step up and demand change through action.
It sounds like you were really able to bring people together through this grassroot initiative, which brings me to your formal role in the Strategy. You were named Council Liaison for Anti-Racism and Ethnocultural Relations Initiatives. Can you tell us a bit more about the role and the experiences you were able to bring?
RAWLSON KING: Absolutely. Well, it ultimately formalized the role I had liaising with the community. Because when I took office, being the first Black city councilor, people wanted to relate to me around issues that went beyond my ward and, actually, sometimes beyond jurisdiction. So I found I was taking many meetings on top of the regular meetings that you would expect a city councilor to deal with in terms of transportation, quality of the roads, parks. I was also taking meetings with community members about the frequency of their children being expelled from schools in wards that were far away from mine in terms of a jurisdiction that didn't involve me directly in a sense.
I was sitting down with meetings with community members and an MPP from a different area of the city. And I found myself having many of these calls and these types of meetings. I found myself, especially after that hateful incident that I described, sitting down with Black community members and the interim police chief at the time talking about the need for the restoration of a Hate Crime Unit and a Hate Crimes and Bias Unit at the police service. So ultimately, based on the fact that representation matters, the creation of the Council Liaison for Anti-Racism and Ethnocultural Relations Initiatives position, I think, was really established to acknowledge the fact that the city needs to take a more inclusive approach towards anti-racism initiatives.
And it also really formalized the fact that I was really recognized as an advocate for both addressing individual and systemic racism within our community. And it acts as a formal tie with city staff that is working in equity services. So when my colleagues have challenges or issues, they're able to talk to me, as well as community members. And I'm able to act as a liaison with Equity Services at the city. So it really is a formalization of the role that I took on from day one after being elected.
PHEDELY ARISTE: It's interesting to hear you mention that, Councilor, because I feel as though policy development and even decision-making, particularly in equity-seeking spaces are never short of challenges. With that being said, what are some of the challenges you and other members of the Anti-Racism Secretariat faced in developing the Strategy?
RAWLSON KING: Ultimately, I think it really involves ensuring that we engage as many people and groups as possible. We have to remember that certain groups are not homogeneous, especially the Black communities, in plural. People come from different places, have different perspectives, and expect different results. And so it can be challenging in a environment, especially our political environment, where we stereotypically just paint the Black community or the Asian community with one brush.
There are many different components to those communities. And there are different outlooks. And there are different expectations from those communities. So the challenge for us is not just consulting the Asian community, as example.
I mean, we sat down with different community members from the Japanese community, from the Korean community, from the Chinese community. And so I think that's the challenge. It's ensuring that you're engaging with as many people and as many groups as possible so that you are enhancing that engagement and, by definition, therefore, enhancing policy objectives and the policy results.
GLADYS OSIEN: That's great. And yeah, I think that's an important aspect, having all the voices at the table and being able to engage with different communities. Because I'm sure-- what I've gathered from your answers so far is that you've done a lot of work beyond being a city councilor by speaking to families that relate to you.
As you said, representation matters. And so from that perspective, you've talked about engaging with different communities. And what was interesting about the Strategy was the intersectionality lens. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
RAWLSON KING: Well, it's important for us to talk with everyone and allow everyone to really feed into the policy. So this Anti-Racism Strategy is not a construction of Councilor King or his office or just a political construction out of City Hall. It was important for us to really talk with as many groups as possible and to have them determine the areas of focus. And so that's why it was very important for us to reach out to multiple communities and to understand that there are intricacies in those multiple communities, that Black people, as example, have a lot of challenges, but Black women have very specific challenges-- subset of challenges within the concerns within the Black communities. So it's important for us to really have that understanding.
And, of course, if you're a Black woman, and you're also part of the gay and lesbian community, you have even more concerns. And so it is important for us to understand the complexities of people's identity and how that impacts the challenges that they face, whether that's individual or systemic racism. And it allows us to have a better framework for redressing some of those challenges that they might see when they-- when they're seeking programs and services from the city.
So it is important for us to really drill down and understand the different challenges that different communities have, including the Indigenous community, who's also covered by this Anti-Racism Strategy, and who face challenges with anti-Indigenous racism and trauma as well. So I think it is important for us to take a very multifaceted, nuanced approach towards addressing some of the challenges. And that's what the intersectionality approach the city, really, is attempting to do, really.
PHEDELY ARISTE: Councilor, something that I really gleaned from your response was the word "trauma." And I know that's the word that comes up in reading the Strategy. We were curious about the trauma-informed approach. And my question to you is, what does the information-gathering process look like in that context when developing a strategy such as the one before us?
RAWLSON KING: Well, the Strategy is designed to provide a recommendation. So it has nearly 30 recommendations and over 130 actions to address racial equity in governance, in housing, in economic development, health, child and youth development, looking at racial equity in the workplaces and institutional practices. But you can't really formulate policy effectively in this area without actually understanding people's life experiences. And so that's the idea here, is to really understand the challenges that people have had and continue to have, and how we can redress them. And so that's why I'm really proud of the fact that the areas of focus were developed directly and informed directly by people themselves.
It was the community that defined these areas of action. And they've defined them because of their life experience, the challenges that they had around housing or finding culturally appropriate health services or finding proper economic development opportunities, being successful when they are seeking contracts from the city or seeking jobs from the city. Obviously, there have been a lot of challenges there for people. And they relayed those challenges to us. And those life experiences have informed the approach in terms of some of the recommendations and actions that the city will look at.
So I think it's very important to ensure that if we want to grow an equitable and inclusive city, we not only say that we are committed to that fact, we ensure that we are working with people who have those lived experiences, asking them how we can do better as a city, how we can redress and properly confront the challenges that we have and really fix and provide greater opportunities to people that will lead to better outcomes.
GLADYS OSIEN: I feel like that was a very robust and comprehensive answer in the sense that-- like you said, there is so much that goes into anti-racism as an action. And the fact that these were informed by the community and lived experiences speaks to how different it might be from, for example, diversity, inclusion, and equity initiatives. And I think in the Strategy, that was an important distinction that was made, that while the Strategy aligns with equity initiatives, it has its own mandate. And I was wondering whether you can expand on what the distinction was and what the distinction is and why it was so important to make that distinction.
RAWLSON KING: Well, very clearly, an anti-racism strategy will center on racial equity while examining how institutions and structures operate and maintain a system that produces racially and equitable outcomes for Indigenous, Black, and other racialized groups. So it's important because it really is focused on ensuring that we address specific impacts of discrimination and systemic racism. And it's different as well because it is a strategy that also works ultimately to be preventative, responsive, and proactive to address racially inequitable outcomes and power imbalances produced by systemic racism and institutionalized racism within the city.
So the real issue here is ensuring that we have a tool that addresses systemic barriers that impact Indigenous, Black, and other racialized residents in Ottawa and monitors the impact of the interventions on all those communities. And it's really ensuring that the city clearly outlines the measures that will specifically address anti-racism, that will move forward to address anti-racism, and that will move forward to address anti-Indigenous racism. So I think it's important to have a strategy that really addresses economic and social well-being, inclusion, and self-determination for people who are here, ensuring that people have more equitable outcomes and more equity in terms of opportunities which they would expect before their government, especially in a democracy that is dedicated within its constitution to ensuring that multicultural principles are enshrined.
I think it is important for us to ensure that we continue to have tools, a strategy that ensures that we do produce more equitable outcomes for people. And that's the difference because it's specifically honed at people who've had continuous challenges and who need specific supports and deserve those supports and deserve the equity in terms of the delivery of those supports at the city.
PHEDELY ARISTE: Given the fact, though, that this is a five-year plan to proactively identify and remove systemic barriers, I'm wondering whether there are any mechanisms in place to ensure accountability and that the implementation of the Strategy be followed through.
RAWLSON KING: Absolutely. Well, one of the key things that we're going to ensure is that this plan will be implemented in two phases. So there would be a phase that would start next year and run until 2025 that will focus on building internal capacity and awareness, that will focus on collecting race-disaggregated data, and that will continue engagement in relationship building and implementation of the recommendations and actions that have been outlined.
And then following a mid-term review, phase 2 would incorporate feedback data and lessons learned from phase 1 to ultimately continue to implement actions outlined in the plan that would include housing as example or health outcomes as an example. So what this is really ensuring is that the approach is driven by data. That's a challenge that we've had across the board, whether it's health outcomes or other areas that governments deal with in terms of service provision, that often we don't have the necessary data to move forward with proper actions. And so it's important that we have that put into place.
GLADYS OSIEN: I really appreciate the data-driven approach. It's an objective and measurable way to move forward. That said, what is your personal measure of success in terms of anti-racism? What do you envision for the city?
RAWLSON KING: Well, I think, for me, it's ensuring that all communities thrive and that all residents thrive and can live up to their full capabilities if they're willing to take advantage of the opportunities. And it's a challenge if you don't have access to those opportunities. So I think equity in opportunities that will allow for better equity of outcomes is very important for me, ensuring that we have more people-- qualified people that are participating in the city, able to work at the city and not have the fear that they are denied employment opportunities because of the color of their skin.
We want to ensure that the same thing goes with economic development opportunities at the city. The City of Ottawa engages in over a billion dollars of contracting. And we want to ensure that whether it's through social procurement mechanisms or regular procurement mechanisms, that minority-owned businesses have a good chance of winning and competing for those contracts fairly.
We want to ensure that there are culturally appropriate health outcomes for people and accessibility to services, especially mental health services, which we heard very clearly from both the Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities, that they want to see more health services that are focused on the challenges-- the specific challenges that they have. So my feeling is if we can provide tools that allow communities to thrive and improve their socioeconomic contributions to the city and ensure that we have more successful people contributing to the full economic and social life of the city, then we have succeeded.
And that's the idea. It's to ensure that we can have strong contributions from community members to ensure that no youth is left behind, they're able to participate, have access to the best public services, and are able to utilize that access to succeed and to contribute in a strong way to their city. Then we would have been successful in terms of the implementation of the Strategy and really providing a on-ramp for people and communities to ensure their greater success. So that's the key for me.
That's why I'm really pleased we are able to celebrate the approval of the Strategy, which was approved unanimously. There are many things that Council can't agree on. And that was made famous through some of the meetings that we had over the winter. But I can honestly say there's a wonderful place where the Council has been in total agreement. And that has-- will ideally improve the quality of life of all people at the end of the day in the city.
PHEDELY ARISTE: Well, Councilor, we're just grateful to have had this conversation with you today. So thank you again for your time. It was a pleasure and a privilege. To me, the importance of these discussions is to always advance the dialogue on important issues and to highlight certain realities that certain people will face that are, unfortunately, sometimes omitted from the record.
So we appreciate you setting out all of these issues for us and for our listeners. I believe it's important to have these bold discussions and, equally important, to follow up on them with meaningful action. So we have no doubt the Strategy will be a success. And thank you again.
RAWLSON KING: I appreciate it. Thank you.
GLADYS OSIEN: And it is a success, by the way. [LAUGHS] I think the fact that it's there is successful. The fact that you were able to put that together is amazing and speaks to your commitment to the community. So thank you.
RAWLSON KING: Thank you.
So that was our discussion with Councilor King. We hope that you enjoyed this insightful conversation. Our discussion with him highlighted that through engagement, collaboration, and community, we can work towards dismantling or, at least, addressing the institutional structures that contribute to inequitable outcomes experienced by members of racialized communities.
PHEDELY ARISTE: And today's discussion also gave us the unique opportunity to be conduits in exploring a sociological approach to address issues that impact various communities here in Ottawa. What was also inspiring, in my view, was the ability to speak on policy on a legal platform, as Councilor King wonderfully articulated in the following snippet.
RAWLSON KING (ON RECORDING): About 20 years ago, if you were saying that a law firm was going to have a-- kind of, a socioeconomic discussion, people would just be shocked. They'd be like, wow, what's he saying? And so you're talking about social issues that are outside of the context of legal decisions and precedent.
And I think that's great. So I really applaud you on that. I think that the fact that law firms as well are moving in that direction is excellent. And I think it's very helpful.
GLADYS OSIEN: That was a really good clip. And for the record, we intentionally kept the part where Councilor King said that we were doing good work.
[LAUGHTER]
PHEDELY ARISTE: We're doing the best that we can.
GLADYS OSIEN: Yes, we are.
PHEDELY ARISTE: And in all seriousness, though, I do think it's important that, as members of the legal profession, we remember that we are well-positioned and well-equipped to be agents of social change.
GLADYS OSIEN: Absolutely. And I also agree with Councilor King that these conversations are important to have and that we hope that you, as our listeners, find them helpful. And on that note, we will end the episode here. Thank you again to Councilor King and his wonderful team for the opportunity to have this insightful discussion.
PHEDELY ARISTE: And for our listeners, if you ever have any questions, comments, or ideas for topics and guests, please look us up at www.gowlingwlg.com/diversonomics, and get in touch with us. We would love to hear from you.
GLADYS OSIEN: Also, be sure to subscribe to the Apple Podcast or Spotify so that you do not miss an episode. Feel free to leave us a review. And let us know what you think of today's episode.
PHEDELY ARISTE: That's it for now.