Timmins residents share painful stories on day to eliminate racism
Timmins residents share painful stories on day to eliminate racism
On the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the group called Timmins Together hosted a symposium.
The agenda included a speech by Councillor Kristin Murray and a discussion panel featuring local newcomers who shared some of their discriminatory experiences in the city.
Ifeoma Kasimanwuna, of the Timmins Local Immigration Partnership, said they took a fresh approach this year.
“How (better to) educate people than have them together with people with lived experience, share their experiences and talk about how racism and discrimination is showing up in the community so that those at the helm of affairs, at the upper levels in organizations, can really pay attention,” Kasimanwuna said.
The symposium began with a candid speech by Murray about some of her experiences living as a black and Indigenous child in Chapleau. She called on people to decolonize their language.
Murray said sayings such as 'grandfathered in,' 'peanut gallery' and 'no can do' have racist ties and should not be used.
"Just because we heard something growing up doesn't mean it's appropriate," she said.
The audience also heard from newcomers, including people from Asia, including the Philippines.
When Estella Chow moved to Timmins in 1993, she said employers didn't want to hire her.
“You know what it, it's bringing back the pain that I have for a long time, you know,” Chow said.
“You just feel it like, it slices your heart if you go back to that.”
But now she's a business owner and is proud of her successful children.
"We should accept the people of who they are, whatever country they coming (from),” she said.
“At the end of the day, we’re one.”
The symposium also addressed what newcomers say is a big issue here and throughout the country -- when employers ask for 'Canadian experience' on job applications.
“It’s a very good excuse not to hire a newcomer,” Kasimanwuna said.
“It’s also a good excuse to get a newcomer to start from the bottom and keep them at the bottom because you don’t have it the way we do it, forgetting that diversity is about bringing different things to the table.”
For those who want to learn more about eliminating discrimination in the workplace, the Timmins Economic Development Corporation invites people to read the 'Workplace Inclusion Charter' and sign the declaration to celebrate diversity in the community.
At the moment, wildfires are burning across six provinces and one territory in Canada — and they’re still spreading in what’s being called an unprecedented fire season. While firefighters work tirelessly to battle the merciless flames and prevent further destruction, scientists say the wildfires are linked to climate change and that this will be the new normal.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he raised concerns about reports that LGBTQ2S+ rights and democracy are under threat in Poland during a Friday visit with its prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, in Toronto.
Air Canada says travellers should be prepared for further flight disruptions as it works to return service to normal following a technical malfunction Thursday.
As more Canadians pass their family cottages down to the next generation, 'major shifts' in the ownership of recreational homes will occur, according to Re/Max. But amid concerns around the cost of housing, some may be wondering whether they can afford to keep that family cottage. Here's what younger generations need to know about inheriting a recreational property and the market today.
A 38-year-old sergeant in the Canadian Army was fined $3,000 and issued a severe reprimand after he made what a military judge described as 'utterly disgusting' anti-Jewish comments while conducting an infantry training course in 2021.
Pierre Poilievre is off to Manitoba to rally Conservative supporters ahead of a byelection that Maxime Bernier is hoping will send him back to Parliament. The far-right People's Party of Canada leader lost his Quebec seat in the 2019 federal vote and lost again in the 2021 election.
The number of people in Canada with inflammatory bowel disease is increasing rapidly and is expected to grow to 470,000 by 2035, according to a new report from Crohn's and Colitis Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is committed to keeping David Johnston in place as Canada's special rapporteur on foreign interference, despite a majority of MPs voting in favour of his stepping down from the gig.
Police charged three men, believed to be members of a street gang, with the attempted murder of a 65-year-old man who was shot 13 times while walking his dog in Schomberg in February.
Three Toronto men have been charged with attempted murder after they allegedly shot an innocent dog walker in Schomberg, Ont. in a case of mistaken identity.
Gatineau police arrested an 18-year-old man in connection to the investigation into a hidden camera discovered in the washroom at an elementary school.
A local addiction treatment facility is expanding and moving operations to the Mission Services building on York Street. Quintin Warner House staff say the move will mean improved programs for more clients.
The defence has completed its closing summations in an ongoing Windsor murder trial involving the shooting death of 20-year-old Madisen Gingras in April of 2020.
Planning to pass time in Montreal's many parks this summer? Check yourself for ticks, warns one woman who recently contracted Lyme disease. Jasmine Rochereul, 23, says she spent much of last summer sprawled in city parks, where she believes she picked up the tick-borne illness.
A bronze statue of Queen Elizabeth that was toppled and damaged by protesters two years ago was put back in its place Friday on the grounds of the Manitoba legislature after a lengthy set of repairs.
A dozen sheriffs and Calgary Police officers roamed Calgary's core for three months, but the provincial pilot program is officially over as of this week.
A Calgary father and son face a lengthy list of criminal charges after being arrested in connection with the sexual exploitation, assault and extortion of multiple teen girls.
One person has been taken to hospital with serious injuries after an ultralight aircraft caught on fire in Surrey Friday afternoon, according to authorities.
In a Canadian first, the University of British Columbia has adapted its early childhood education program to support young people who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH).
