Archive

This is a moment in history

June 12, 2020   ·   0 Comments

By Sandy Brown

As we watch the news, we are seeing a familiar story unfold, Too familiar.  While the world has hit the pause button; we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to reject our past behaviours and define ourselves, our communities and our priorities.

Inequality and injustice hurts us all. Only when we work together can we make significant and meaningful change. Listening to the opinions, history and life experiences that are not shared by you leads to new ideas and solutions – and understanding.

The past two weeks have been an eye-opening lesson in diversity for all of us.   There is a vast chasm between where we are and where we need to be. We must challenge our assumptions, our fears and our biases. We cannot afford the luxury of thinking this is just an American problem or a big city problem.

And it’s a very complex problem, it has taken years to come to this moment.  We can no longer wait to find the solutions, we need to be a better society and community, now.  While I cannot claim to be understand the daily reality of a minority, I can stand in support and educate myself on the whole picture and speak to some of the changes that have been adopted in the areas of mental health, substance abuse and policing, to begin to address the inequalities and injustices.

Beyond the intolerable societal racism, mental health advocacy and substance abuse are all intertwined, and we are learning that more and more minorities are attesting to a lack of services, supports and outreach. 

Here in Dufferin County, we are dealing with some of these areas and will be actively seeking out the advice and listening to the voices of minority communities to create broader conversations that lead to action. 

Local Community Service Organizations in Dufferin are partnering to aid residents in high-risk situations in the County. The Dufferin Situation Table (DST) is a risk-driven collaborative effort that assists individuals and families facing a situation of Acutely Elevated Risk. This model is used in over 30 communities in Ontario and provides timely assistance to those in need to avert a crisis and provide relief/resolution and support. Fifteen organizations such as Orangeville Police, OPP, DCAFS, FTP, Alzheimer’s Society and Dufferin Area Health Team meet weekly to discuss specific cases.   This program has been very successful.  70% of the cases are brought to the Situation Table by police agencies.

Several other jurisdictions in Ontario have created Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Teams.   A police officer will accompany a mental health worker to respond to individuals presenting with symptoms of mental illness, substance abuse, behavioural disorders, or anyone in an acute crisis.   We need this type of program rolled out universally.   Many of the situations that we have witnessed in the news from The United States and Canada have had their beginnings in a mental health or substance abuse situation.  

This offers no excuse for any person or officer who participates in or promotes racism. Judging people, not offering full services and not being aware of yourself and your actions is unacceptable, but we must move beyond blame, right and wrong and me versus you. 

I am disheartened that the George Floyd incident has opened all police forces and all police officers for criticism.   It is unfair; policing is a challenging job, and if officers are not provided with the right training and or the right support system – we have to take responsibility.   

When I say we, I mean the politicians that set the budgets.  We need to continuously improve our jurisdictions and continue to look at how we can improve all departments.   

We need to look at the growing defund police movement – which in my mind means diverting some funding into the kind of social work or mental health advocacy resources that are needed.  I know that our region does not have enough professional mental health workers. We do not provide that area of healthcare enough funding.   If, in fact, those suffering from mental illness, substance abuse or behavioural disorders can be helped prior to acting out in a potentially criminal way – we may not need as many boots on the ground police officers.   Let me be clear – we can’t put the cart before the horse, the mental health advocacy and action has to occur and be effective before any review of police budgets or reductions in staffing.  Reduced police budgets could occur through attrition as officers retire – once the effects of improved mental health advocacy can be measured.  

This Sunday, I will be walking with those who are concerned about anti-black racism in our area.  I will be walking for all of those who have been exposed to prejudice in our community.   We need to treat all people as we wish to be treated.   It is unfair to judge someone by the colour of their skin – you need to know that person and understand their character before making judgements.  

It is not enough to say we embrace diversity and human rights as foundations of our democracy. It is not enough to rely on the Anti-racism Act (2017) that defines government policies, practices and procedures. We have the capacity for empathy, kindness, understanding and the ability to monitor and change our individual actions.

When we are complacent, we are complicit. When we are silent, we are complicit.

Let me leave you with a couple of quotes from Martin Luther King Jr.

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

“I have decided to stick with love.  Hate is too great a burden to bear.”  

Readers Comments (0)