NP6
T H U R S D A Y, M A R C H 1 8 , 2 0 2 1
S A S K AT O O N S TA R P H O E N I X
ELIMINATING RACIAL DISCRIMINATION Celebrating diversity in the workplace
JENNIFER JACOBY-SMITH POSTMEDIA CONTENT WORKS
Each March, the Saskatoon Open Door Society (SODS) celebrates diversity in the workplace by hosting the Annual Diversity Awards Gala. This event is an opportunity to highlight employers, and individuals who are demonstrating leadership in the recruitment and retention of newcomers to Canada. “The Diversity Awards and the gala are intended to honour and celebrate local employers who demonstrate outstanding devotion to enhancing equality, diversity and inclusion in and out of the workplace,” explains Ashraf Mirmontahai, director of employment services unit at the SODS. “Our award winners promote diversity and inclusiveness through their hiring practices and are actively involved in supporting newcomers in their integration into the workplace.” She adds that award winners “embrace the skills and achievements of all our citizens, regardless of ethnic ori-
gin, faith, religion, gender, age, disability and culture.” The Gala itself is the culmination of work that starts the previous fall when a call for nominations goes out. Businesses or leaders who’ve made outstanding contributions in the integration of newcomers can be nominated for an award in seven different categories. Award recipients are chosen by the Selection Committee – made up of representatives in the local business community. Over 125 nominations were received this year. To recognize the contributions of essential workers during the pandemic, the Gala also created two additional award categories. The first gala took place in March of 2017 at the Sheraton Cavalier and each year the ESU has continued to celebrate business leaders every year. In 2019 the Gala’s attendance doubled and it was held at the Delta Bessborough Hotel. Last year the event again outgrew its venue and was held at Prairieland Park just before the
During tomorrow’s gala, a diverse group of percussionists will perform a song using different traditional instruments from seven different countries. Open Door Society’s Employment Services Director, Ashraf Mirmontahai, plays the Daf, considered the principal percussion instrument of Persian music. J ERRY PAT EL, C OU RTESY OF S A S KATOO N OPEN D OOR S OC I ETY
pandemic hit. Normally, the Gala is a glittering evening. Cocktails are followed by a sit-down gourmet dinner, with multicultural entertainment, door prizes and motivating speeches. Then award winners are honoured. This year the Gala is going virtual. The awards presentation will be broadcast online following mandatory health
protocols. The broadcast will be open to the general public, creating an opportunity for an even broader audience. This year’s attendees are asked to make a voluntary contribution to the SODS women’s entrepreneurial program, the Women’s Business Hub. Supporting the Women’s Business Hub is important for the SODS. “Newcomer women meet
still more challenges and barriers to employment than their male counterparts, given family and domestic obligations and cultural constraints,” says Mirmontahai. “Women entrepreneurs like the participants in the Women’s Business Hub have an additional hurdle to overcome – that of gender discrimination in the world of business. The hub provides them with support, training, facilities and contacts to get their business off the ground and make their vision a reality.” Each year the Gala helps to raise the profile of employers and individuals in the business community in Saskatoon who are leaders in increasing employment opportunities for newcomers. “By celebrating the winners’ perseverance and leadership, as well as their motives and methods, such an event not only encourages other employers to follow their lead, (but) it also provides an opportunity to introduce their peers to the practical benefits of maintaining workplace diversity
and inclusivity, such as bringing new perspectives, different skills, and the ability to relate to changing market demographics,” Mirmontahai notes. In the future, the SODS hopes to expand the awards to include nominations from the entire province of Saskatchewan or even all the prairie provinces. The SODS offers many programs and services to help newcomers thrive in their new life in Canada. They believe in promoting cultural awareness and acceptance, especially for children in the pre-school years. The SODS runs two multicultural daycare centres which are currently accepting children of all backgrounds, including non-immigrants. “It is our hope that these young ones will grow up to become the entrepreneurs who contribute to the diverse workforce celebrated by the Annual Diversity Awards Gala,” says Mirmontahai. For more information or to register for the Annual Diversity Awards Gala livestream visit www.sods.sk.ca.
LORI CAMPBELL PLANS TO ADVANCE INDIGENOUS ENGAGEMENT AND TRANSFORMATION THROUGH NEW ROLE Lori Campbell has dedicated her career to ensuring that Indigenous students can see themselves in post-secondary institutions. An intergenerational survivor of the Indian Residential School system and a child from the Sixties Scoop generation, Campbell grew up without a strong sense of who she was or where she came from. Being led to believe that Indigenous people did not attend post-secondary institutions, Campbell didn’t see herself attending university. It was Campbell’s basketball career that brought her to the University of Regina in 1991, where she played on the Cougars team. During her first year, she discovered the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (now First Nations University of Canada) and it gave her a completely new perspective. “That’s where I saw Indigenous scholars and Indigenous students. I found people who knew who I was and why I had been adopted,” says Campbell. “For the first time, I felt that as an Indigenous person I could be Indigenous and I could be at a university, and I could be successful.” Campbell is now returning to the University of Regina to fill the newly-created role of Associate Vice President (Indigenous Engagement). She sees it as an oppor-
tunity to be an Indigenous voice and decision maker within all areas of the campus community. “Indigenous peoples need to be at decision-making tables that affect all peoples within post-secondary institutions, not just invited to tables where the conversation relates to issues only for Indigenous peoples,” says Campbell. “I see these senior leadership roles at institutions as opportunities to be at those decision-making tables.” University of Regina Interim Provost Dr. David Gregory says the creation of the Associate Vice President (Indigenous Engagement) position was incredibly important to foster the integration of Indigenous ways of knowing within the University, including teaching and research. One of the focal areas within the University’s 2020 -2025 strategic plan, All Our Relations or Kahkiyaw kiwȃhkomȃkȃninawak in Cree, is Truth and Reconciliation. Within this focus, the University’s goal is to take significant action on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action relevant to post-secondary education. “Our work toward reconciliation is predicated on engaging Indigenous and non-Indigenous members of our community through honest and respectful relationships,” says Gregory.
“University administration, along with our Elders and Knowledge Keepers, will walk with the Associate Vice President (Indigenous Engagement) in a collective effort to advance Indigenous engagement and transformation through communication and collaboration.” Gregory added that the University is a place for all people. “We need to ensure we are supporting all of our students, faculty, staff – and other members o f t h e U n i v e r s i t y ’s community – by truly committing to embracing the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion.” The ta-tawâw Student Centre at the University of Regina recognizes that all students have the ability to be leaders, and their nitôncipâmin omâ Student Success Program (the OMA Program) helps firs t-year Indigenous students cultivate their leadership skills on campus, and in their communities. Kenilee Pelletier participated in the program during her first year of university. She is now a third-year student, working towards a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, and works with other students in the OMA Program as an English tutor. Pelletier was born and raised in Regina and is a member of the Cowessess First Nation. She was one of only a few in her peer
group to attend university after high school. She credits the OMA Program for supporting her in her first-year by providing the tools she needed to succeed and introducing her to other first-year students who were experiencing the same challenges and experiences. “They helped me navigate through classes, introduced me to tutors, guided me through firsttime experiences at University, and supported the first steps of my educational journe y,” says Pelletier. “Now, as an OMA tutor, I feel like I’m contributing to the next cohort of future leaders as they begin their educational journey. Like I once did.” D u r i n g C a m p b e l l ’s time as a student at the University of Regina, she completed a Bachelor of Indian Studies degree, a Bachelor of Psychology degree, and a Master of Adult Education. Now, she looks for ward to returning to the University in a senior leadership position and having an opportunity to create more systemic changes that are embedded in the institution’s policies and procedures. “I have a deep connection t o t h e Un i v e r s i ty o f Regina, and the impact that it had on me really set the course for my career. I really wanted to be able to dedicate my career to
ensuring that other Indigenous students can see themselves [here],” says Campbell. “It’s really an honour for me to come back to where I am from and take on this inaugural role.” Campbell will begin her new
role as Associate Vice President (Indigenous Engagement) on June 1, 2021. This story was provided by the University of Regina for promotional purposes.
TOGETHER
WE’RE BETTER
LET’S END
RACISM & DISCRIMINATION
NOW!
PROGRAMS, RESOURCES, GRANTS AND MORE. saskculture.ca |
/SaskCulture |
@SaskCulture
Missed it? Okay... We’ve got your back! threadsarchives.ca Subscribe! Get access to 50 short videos, talks and filmed performances from over 30 local and national speakers and artists from all walks of life, plus never-seen-before footage. Stories from Newcomer, Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives about what it means to belong and flourish. It also makes perfect classroom material. Weaving the tapestry of community one thread at a time!
T H U R S D A Y, M A R C H 1 8 , 2 0 2 1
S A S K AT O O N S TA R P H O E N I X
NP7
ELIMINATING RACIAL DISCRIMINATION USask COVID-19 research to track online hate directed at Asian community
USask Research Profile and Impact
USask linguistics researcher Zhi Li, partnered with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission (SHRC), has been awarded almost $25,000 by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to lead a team in tracking the causes of online hate on Twitter directed at Asian people. “We will not only track the pattern and trend of anti-Asian xenophobia but also analyze the social and
linguistic factors contributing to the development of such xenophobia in light of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Li. “Ours is the first interdisciplinary data-driven study to measure this.” Li will work with USask sociologist Hongming Cheng, and USask adjunct computer scientist Roy Ka-Wei Lee, now faculty at Singapore University of Technology and Design, as well as two graduate students and one undergraduate student. The researchers will gather
an estimated 80 million tweets, sent in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, from October 2019 until present. Working with Darrell Seib, SHRC director of systemic initiatives, the research team will identify racist content in an existing database of tweets and use that information to train an algorithm to automatically pinpoint offending posts in the COVID-19 data. “We’re looking at tweets, but also re-tweets,” said Li. “We intend to look at what makes the content ‘unfriendly’ or derog-
atory—the linguistic patterns behind the messages—as well as the patterns for how this information spreads.” The researchers will study the factors that influence the spread of online hatred directed at a specific group— in this case, the Asian community. “The importance of this type of research cannot be understated. An evidence-based understanding of online hate and discrimination will illuminate social and structural divides in society, and help
human rights agencies effect change,” said David Arnot, chief commissioner of the SHRC. “Online hate cannot continue to go unchecked. The more we understand it, the better equipped we will be to respond to this kind of racial discrimination.” The initial research will focus on the text content of hateful online tweets. In future projects, the researchers intend to comb through the same data, tracking hateful content in the form of memes, GIFs, and emojis.
What makes a social media post racist and how does that hatred spread? These are some of the questions University of Saskatchewan (USask) researchers are tackling, measuring how social media hatred directed at the Asian community has risen dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. GETTY IMAGES
This section was created by Content Works, Postmedia’s commercial content studio.
We are a place that embraces
differences. A place that is strengthened by diverse world views and perspectives.
A VOICE FOR CHILDREN & YOUTH The Advocate for Children and Youth office advocates for the rights, interests, and well-being of children and youth in Saskatchewan.
A place that fosters equity, diversity and inclusion. A place where all people – faculty, staff, students, alumni and partners – are integral members of our community. At the University of Regina, we are a place for everyone.
Anyone can call our office if they have a concern about a child or youth receiving services from a provincial ministry, agency, and/or publiclyfunded health entity. All contacts with us are confidential.
Photo provided by U of R AV Services
www.uregina.ca
Don’t miss tomorrow’s
MARCH 19, 2021
Online Livestream Event
Register at
www.sods.sk.ca