{"id":17062,"date":"2017-04-19T17:08:44","date_gmt":"2017-04-19T21:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=17062"},"modified":"2017-04-19T17:08:44","modified_gmt":"2017-04-19T21:08:44","slug":"aurora-reaffirms-stance-on-diversity-and-inclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/aurora-reaffirms-stance-on-diversity-and-inclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Aurora reaffirms stance on diversity and inclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Strength is in our diversity, according to Aurora Council.
\nLocal lawmakers reaffirmed the Town of Aurora\u2019s stance that \u201cdiversity is welcome and serves to make our community stronger\u201d by giving the thumbs-up to a motion from Councillor Wendy Gaertner.
\nLast month, Councillor Gaertner put forward a motion for this reaffirmation that took matters one step further, calling on the Town to use its many platforms to \u201ccelebrate and recognize key community and global events that further LGBTQ rights, human rights, and serve to assist in the elimination of discrimination of any kind.\u201d
\nA sampling of events included in the motion ranged from Pride Week, to Aurora\u2019s annual Multicultural Festival, to the International Day of Racial Discrimination, Black History Month, Asian Heritage Month, and International Women\u2019s Day.
\nHer motion was, in part, a response to a Council discussion this past winter in which Councillor Sandra Humfryes asked that Aurora endorse the City of Toronto\u2019s legislation re-affirming its own status as a \u201csanctuary city.\u201d
\n\u201cThe City of Toronto passed a comprehensive motion and it was a motion for a big metropolitan sanctuary city,\u201d said Councillor Gaertner last week. \u201cAurora\u2019s reality is very different from that and requires a different approach. In my opinion, this motion speaks to Aurora\u2019s reality and Aurora\u2019s future.\u201d
\nCouncil warmly received the motion, with Councillor Paul Pirri saying he \u201ccompletely applauded it.\u201d
\n\u201cIt makes sense,\u201d he said, adding that the motion should also include provision for sexual orientation and all other forms of discrimination under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
\nWith Councillor Gaertner\u2019s consent, that tweak gained momentum around the Council table.
\nAlso gaining momentum, however, were other Council members who suggested other changes, revisions, and additions, that made the motion almost collapse onto itself.
\n\u201cI am in support of the motion as well,\u201d said Councillor Harold Kim, suggesting it would be more inclusive to include all forms of discrimination outlined under the Ontario Human Rights Code, and proposing the motion also include religion. \u201cWe talk about the criteria of prejudice, whether it is LGBTQ rights, human rights, which is broad, and then the elimination of discrimination of any kind. Then it talks about events. If we do desire to keep that clause, I wonder if Councillor Gaertner is open to including other criteria like religion. I think religion is a pretty big one. It is like having [a list of] the greatest hockey players of all time and you leave out Bobby Orr.\u201d
\nCouncillor Gaertner was eventually happy with \u201creligion\u201d being fined tuned to \u201creligious celebrations\u201d but the rapid-fire suggestions prompted some Councillors to subscribe to the view that the more ingredients you add into the mix the more likely you are to leave something out \u2013 particularly as the motion said, \u201cbut not limited to\u201d before going into the specifics.
\n\u201cClause one is a very broad statement that, in my opinion, does capture the intent of the second clause. Once you get into the second clause and you start identifying certain aspects there will always be those who say, why wasn\u2019t this or why wasn\u2019t that?\u201d said Councillor Michael Thompson. \u201cIf we have learned anything from the Multicultural Festival, it was there is always going to be somebody who is going to feel left out as a result of what you try to do. I am absolutely supportive of it but sometimes it is easier to make a broader statement that is all inclusive than just to identify certain aspects.\u201d
\nMayor Geoff Dawe offered a similar sentiment, suggesting that key to the motion were the first clause and the first part of the second, reading \u201c\u2026.that the Town utilize its communications opportunities to provide information, share knowledge, and promote events that celebrate the values of inclusion, acceptance and diversity; and that the Town\u2019s social media platforms be used to celebrate and recognize key community and global events that further [those causes].\u201d
\n\u201cThat way you\u2019re not trying to cover everything out there because you will miss something,\u201d said Mayor Dawe. \u201cThat\u2019s inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

trength is in our diversity, according to Aurora Council.
\nLocal lawmakers reaffirmed the Town of Aurora\u2019s stance that \u201cdiversity is welcome and serves to make our community stronger\u201d by giving the thumbs-up to a motion from Councillor Wendy Gaertner. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-4rc","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-26 01:31:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17062\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}