Resilience Whistler
End Racism and Hate: Your Right. Your Responsibility.
Since September 2020, the Whistler Multicultural Society has been funded as a spoke in the Resilience BC Anti-Racism Network providing information, updates and access to training, resources, and workshops.
November Anti-Racism Community Engagement
On November 14, 2023, the WMS Resilience program held a community engagement to discuss issues of racism in the Sea to Sky community and how the community can work together to help resolve these issues.
During our initial discussion it became clear that many instances of racism occur in the workplace. In addition, a 2022 survey by the Whistler Multicultural Society revealed that the schools are also the location of many instances of racism or racial discrimination. The key findings have been summarized below:
Immigrants and people of colour are scared to file any complaints about racism or discrimination in the workplace because of the systems in place for filing complaints.
Migrant workers on closed work permits do not have the luxury of leaving their place of employment if they feel abused or discriminated against.
Some people may not realize they are being discriminated against or being taken advantage of.
When faced with instances of racism, students do not feel they can approach teachers.
Schools do not teach students to be accepting of everyone
After discussing the issues faced by racial minorities in the Sea to Sky we discussed what can be done to reduce instances of racism.
Employers and employees should be required to participate in diversity training
Ask employers to commit to stopping racism or discrimination in their companies
Train more migrant support workers to help migrant workers navigate Canada’s worker's rights and build a case or complaint against employers
Expose different cultures to children at a young age to make them more accepting of and curious about other cultures.
Teach about the ways diversity strengthens Canada
Inclusivity training for teachers
Moving forward we hope to work with the community to initiate changes like those mentioned above. We will be doing this through meeting regularly with a group of people who are invested in making a difference in the community as well as meeting with social service providers in Whistler to discuss the kinds of initiatives taking place in their organizations.
To read the full report, please CLICK HERE
Anti-Racism Legislation Engagement
On September 20th and 26th 2023 we met with 15 people across two meetings to discuss the kinds of programs and legislation the community wants to see from the Government of B.C. and the Whistler Multicultural Society. Nine different questions were posed to the groups to gain a better understanding of the support needed by the community and how current legislation and programs are impacting racial groups. A full report has now been submitted to the provincial government.
Key recommendations outlined in the report:
Validate the experiences of equity seeking people and acknowledge the systemic racial issues within Whistler
Change the narrative about who makes up the Whistler community
Increase governmental and social resources to support those experiencing racism and make them more accessible through the use of comprehensible language and ease of access
If you are interested in seeing the full report click here. A short summary of the report can also be found on our blog page.
In 2022, the Whistler Multicultural Society conducted a study on Racism, Bias and Discrimination in the Sea to Sky corridor. The goal of the study was to understand if and how racism and discrimination are experienced within our local communities.
A survey was distributed primarily online through a variety of social media channels. The results of the study intend to inform the creation of a protocol that will outline best practices for local service providers to respond to incidents of racism.
Key findings show that:
Most participants who identified as racialized (self identifying as Indigenous, black or African descent, biracial, person of color or other) have experienced some form of racism while residing in the Sea to Sky corridor
Of those who have, there is marked reluctance to report incidents
There is no one clear place/person that individuals would feel most comfortable reporting racism and discrimination to
Anti-racism training is seen as important to create a successful reporting environment
Click here for full results and analysis.
"It is important for all members of the community to feel valued and safe. More education should be done to address this issue. My experiences of racism has been in my workplace with comments or gestures that are done from silliness and ignorance"
We asked participants:
Have you experienced racism in the time you've lived here?
Resilience Whistler monthly newsletter
Each month our Resilience Whistler newsletter brings information, updates, and access to training, workshops and other materials and resources to grow your interracial competence and understanding. Check out the links below to previous editions. As part of our work with Resilience BC, WMS maintains a summary of anti-racism education, resources, and materials that we have found useful; check it out at Resources.
