The Town of Westlock wants its citizens and the world to know it is a welcoming and inclusive community for all.
The town is achieving that through a number of new initiatives, including an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) program for the town expected in 2024, and via a declaration as presented at the Nov. 27 regular council meeting, where councillors voted to join the (international) Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities.
The declaration to join the Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities was signed by deputy and acting Mayor Murtaza Jamaly, and stated in part, “whereas, municipal governments in Canada, along with other levels of government, have responsibilities under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as federal, provincial and territorial human rights codes, and therefore have an important role to play in combating racism and discrimination and fostering equality and respect for all citizens; be it resolved that the Town of Westlock agrees to join the Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities and in joining the coalition, endorses the common commitments and agrees to develop or adapt its own unique Plan of Action accordingly. These common commitments and the Town’s unique plan of action will be an integral part of the Town’s vision, strategies and policies.”
CAO Simone Wiley noted the intention of the coalition is to bring together municipalities that want to improve their policies against racism, discrimination, exclusion, and intolerance.
“Administration has been doing some research for quite a while actually, on the Canadian Commission of UNESCO. They launched the International Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities in 2004 and FCM (Federation of Canadian Municipalities) also encourages municipalities across Canada to join,” said Wiley. “When I was doing the research I found there were over 20 municipalities in Alberta who have joined the coalition, from as small as the Town of Provost … to the big cities of Edmonton and Calgary and various municipalities in between there.”
The coalition seeks to advance initiatives to improve practices to promote social inclusion, establish policies to eradicate all forms of racism and discrimination and promote human rights and diversity, noted Wiley.
“The program provides an overall guidance document. I found it especially helpful that they have a resource specifically for small and rural municipalities because a lot of times things can be tailored to big cities so this was quite nice that there’s a guideline for small and rural (municipalities) such as the Town of Westlock,” she said adding that the resources provide examples of programs, policies and initiatives for the municipality to consider and speaks to building sustainable communities.
“Addressing racism and fostering inclusion can help build sustainable small and rural municipalities,” said Wiley. “It can be useful to think about sustainability in terms of the sustainability frameworks used by many municipalities across Canada, which see sustainability as incorporating four main pillars: economic, environmental, social, and cultural.”
Wiley noted the town is already working on some of the items outlined in the guidebook, identified by the coalition including immigrant attraction and retention through the rural renewal program and building relationships with Indigenous communities.
“We also have in our administration business plan, we have a target initiative identified for 2024 to work on an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) program for the town,” she said. “This just reaffirms the town’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion.”
Acting Mayor Murtaza Jamaly said joining the coalition was very timely and that “it was important to note that the qualities of equity, diversity and inclusion are part of our community and part of our organization.”
“The flags we fly on our flagpoles and the colours of our crosswalks do not reflect the actions of our community. I think this will reflect the actions of our community well,” said Jamaly.
Coun. Randy Wold agreed, and said he believed Westlock has been an inclusive community for many years.
“I guess this is what it takes to show the rest of the world that we are (inclusive). Then I will gladly join this coalition,” said Wold. “I’m not going to let a small group of radicals sway my weight and my thoughts of how we’ve always had it. I think it’s a wonderful thing.”
