A four-point strategy to assess the degree or absence of systemic racism in the Town of Arnprior has been deferred by elected representatives until the New Year.
Mayor Walter Stack shared his thoughts on the matter under the “Announcements” section of the municipal meeting Monday (December 14th), but councillors preferred to see the matter as an agenda item at their first meeting in January.
The matter flows out of a CBC News feature on Racism in the Valley which first aired December 7th.
The deferral comes despite a substantive social media backlash at what were perceived to be ill-informed comments by certain of the municipal spokespersons in both Renfrew and Arnprior.
Mayor Stack’s proposals included sensitivity training and workshops for both officials and staff- and as such, should be referred to Budget, according to County Councillor Dan Lynch who first voiced the procedural objection.
Rather than risk the failure of a required two-thirds vote to bring the issue to the table, representatives will take the extra time to pool their thoughts and formulate a plan to show the way forward.
