Council must lead, educate for Kincardine to become inclusive community, says facilitator

Kincardine council must take a leadership role and provide opportunities for education and communication if it wants the municipality to become an inclusive community.

That’s the word from facilitator Dr. Laura Mae Lindo (above), in her presentation to council at the meeting Wednesday night (July 24).

Condensing her 78-page report into a 12-slide presentation, Lindo focused on what she heard through the public engagement process, offering an overview of key issues, a review of themes from the survey and community conversations, and a review of questions for council to consider, moving forward.

Just prior to her presentation, mayor Kenneth Craig noted that council was just receiving the report at that meeting. No decision was being made about the Dr. Solomon Secord Monument which prompted the hiring of the facilitator and the public engagement.

Last year, the monument was removed from in front of the Kincardine Library during the reconstruction of Queen Street. Due to concerns about the inscription on the monument (some believe the reference to Secord serving the Southern Army is offensive), council agreed to hire a facilitator to conduct public engagement into equity, diversity and inclusion in the municipality. A survey was done in March, interviews in April, and community conversations in May.

Craig said a decision about the monument could come as soon as September, depending on the amount of conversation required. “It’s difficult to have discussions about race, but it’s necessary,” he said.

Lindo told council that what she heard was that the community is looking to its elected officials as the leaders to help them navigate a really difficult conversation.

The survey had 475 respondents, she said, and some comments were very passionate and difficult to read.

She said there were comments about bias in the engagement process.

“If people in the Municipality of Kincardine are worried that speaking about race means that they are being ‘racist, how can council continue to engage meaningfully in a discussion about experiences of racism in the municipality?” she stated. “How can council effectively guide the community through its fears when engaging in this discussion so as to facilitate honest, caring, and compassionate discussions about the people in the community and their experiences as people of colour?”

She also addressed “woke” ideologies.

“What might be needed to help bridge the gap between those who worry about ‘woke ideologies’ and those who interpret ‘woke’ as an awakening to new ideas and fresh opinions about how the world is structured?” she stated. “How might current understandings of these ideas be mobilized to address rising tensions in the Municipality of Kincardine as the discussion of the Secord Monument continues?”

Lindo spoke to clear decision-making criteria; and an educational campaign that honours questions raised by the community and the need to continually re-evaluate history as historical societies teach us to do.

She also noted that the roots of racism must be meaningfully addressed; and that learning from history requires accurate historical records. And she addressed honouring the ancestors in the municipality, as well as considering what role monuments should play in today’s municipality.

Lindo said the key themes from the community conversations were the need for community healing; centring black voices, challenges tying identity to a legend, myth or historical recollection; the municipality we want to be; learn more, do better; and navigating complicated histories.

“If you shut down difficult conversations, you can’t get to that space of healing,” she said. “You need the truth to get to that reconciliation.”

Lindo said there has been some tension with the increase in rancorous on-line comments on municipal Facebook channels and others.

“This discussion isn’t about race or racism in general terms,” she said. “It’s about the role of black people in the community and what their needs are. It’s attached to the idea of how black people were treated historically, how they were dehumanized by legislation.”

She told council to understand its own limitations.

“People think you can do a lot of things that you can’t do,” she said. “When you have a situation like this, some things are beyond what you can do. Find a partnership that can do the things beyond the scope of what you can do. If council can’t do it, who can do it?”

Craig thanked Lindo for her presentation which he said puts council in a better place than it was before.

Deputy mayor Andrea Clarke said Lindo’s report helps council understand the different perspectives.

“History can’t be changed, whether the monument is replaced or not,” she said. “This has certainly been a learning experience. I’m grateful to the community members who want to stand up and be inclusive. I regret that some people didn’t take the opportunity to talk to the facilitator, especially those with a different lived experience.

“If we’re not going to engage in conversation, I wonder if we’ve learned anything from history.”

To listen to the entire presentation by Lindo, visit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUm5IARGKo4.