Rather than sanction Sprovieri, which the integrity commissioner did not recommend, council instead voted in favour of a requirement for all members of council to undergo the training.

Wards 9 and 10 Coun. Gurpreet Dhillon, one of the council representatives on the committee, said he felt “organizational changes and subsequent staff turnover on the committee” caused “unintended issues.” He also said he feels the committee was a worthwhile endeavour despite the regular attendance and quorum shortfalls.

“I believe the formation of the committee gave residents the confidence that we are on track to become a progressive place to live, and an attractive place for businesses to invest,” said Dhillon. “I would like to see the committee formed again next term, as the process of creating an inclusive and equitable city should be an ongoing one.”

Wards 3 and 4 Coun. Martin Medeiros, who also sat on the committee, said he felt part of the problem came from unrealistic expectations from some resident members, who didn’t fully appreciate the workload or the legislative limitations of municipal government when they signed up.

“Understand that we meet once every couple of months. The type of work that they take on, I think others are not as prepared to take on that work. They’re the ones who develop the work plan … we don’t influence them at all (as councillors),” he said.

“I think when it comes to how realistic some of these work plans (were), I think people started getting discouraged,” added Medeiros. “I think the disconnect was, (on council), we were looking toward more about how they could be used as an advisory board to council.”

“I think people started losing interest because you have different people with different agendas, who want different things and (had different) interpretations of what the committee could be,” he said.

The committee was able to accomplish some of its goals during its two-and-a-half-year mandate. With its input, the city has developed partnerships with various community outreach groups and organizations including the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion.

The committee’s input was also instrumental in developing the city’s first inclusion and equity strategic framework.

“We (want) to thank (council) once again for the collective opportunity to do the work that we had the opportunity to do on the inclusion and equity committee. It helped to ensure that Brampton is truly a space that can belong to everyone,” committee member Cheryl Costello told council on June 6.

“We’ve had a great deal of success, but there is still is a great deal of work to do. As you can tell from the report, the input we’ve provided and the community contacts and network that we’ve offered to the city to do the work,” she added.

