Whereas City Council wishes to identify and address elements of systemic racism that exist in the work of the City of Saskatoon;
Whereas City Council recently passed the Public Engagement Policy that, among other things, seeks to: “Facilitate public participation and input to decision-making through effective and efficient consultation, involvement, collaboration and empowerment processes,” that entrenches as guiding principles: “engagement processes are designed in a way that promote and allow for adequate community contributions while building relationships with a diverse group of stakeholders” and “the importance of relationship building rooted in mutual trust and respect,” and that provides City Council with the responsibility to: “Support the increasing capacity of the organization in designing and executing useful, efficient, and innovative public participation activities over time;” and
Whereas public engagement with residents significantly influences the directions undertaken by Council and administration; and
Whereas gaps and barriers in the City’s engagement and subsequent policy-creation processes lead to the potential for inequity and unforeseen shortcomings in city policies and practices; and
Whereas there are known barriers to participating in public engagement, and these barriers are exacerbated for marginalized communities, including racialized, Indigenous, newcomer, lower-income, gender-diverse, disabled, trans, Two-Spirit, and queer persons;
Therefore, be it resolved that the Administration report back on a strategy to identify and address systemic barriers that prevent residents from accessing, taking part in, and providing feedback within public engagement conducted by the City, with a specific emphasis on underserved and underrepresented populations in the community. This strategy should be informed by best practices from other cities.
Item 8.1.5 was considered next.