City of Waterloo Council Summary October 28, 2024

** The council summary below provides a snapshot of the major items presented at Monday’s council meeting. The council meeting webcast is available on the City of Waterloo YouTube page. Please refer to the minutes for an official record of the meeting.

City of Waterloo reaffirms its condemnation of racism and hate-motivated incidents

Councillor Wright brought forward a motion that calls on the residents of Waterloo Region to join City of Waterloo staff and Council in the work to oppose racism and hate, and in fostering a sense of belonging for all community members. The motion acknowledges a recent Statistics Canada report showing that Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo is experiencing the highest rate of police-reported hate crimes in Canada, and that police-reported hate crimes have increased dramatically over the past few years and continue to disproportionately target people based on their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, gender identity, and disabilities. It recognizes the importance of the work of community partners such as the Coalition of Muslim Women of KW in combatting hate, and the need for community-wide efforts and municipal cooperation to combat hate and racism across Waterloo Region.

Council unanimously reaffirmed their condemnation of racism and hate-motivated incidents, committing to prioritize a preventative and community-led approach to combating racism and hate, internally and in collaboration with external partners. Council will continue to support the work underway by City staff (led by its READI and Neighbourhoods teams). The motion will be shared with local and area MPs, MPPs and Heads of Council, AMO and the Presidents of Conestoga College, the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University.

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Media contact:

Cari Van Niekerk
Director, Corporate Communications
cari.vanniekerk@waterloo.ca