Plante administration seeks to make Montreal 'more inclusive'

The Plante administration will announce later today the creation of aroundtable to address discrimination and diversity issues in the city, CBCNews has learned.

Made up of about a dozen members of Montreal's different cultural communities, the roundtable will meet regularly at City Hall during the next year with the goal of "making Montreal more inclusive," according to a source within the Plante administration.

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Among its objectives are highlighting major issues concerning discrimination and diversity, and identifying what practices need to be put in place.

The roundtable will be expected to make recommendations on the best ways to diversify municipal decision-making bodies. It will also look at the employment and recruitment of visible minorities in public services and their access to social housing.

The roundtable is expected to meet with Mayor Valrie Plante, or if needed, her pressattach,every two months to go over their work.

They will be expected to presenta list of recommendations by December 2018. Their first meeting is scheduled for Friday at City Hall.

Plantecriticized for lack of diversity in executive committee

Plantecampaigned on a promise to make her administration representative of Montreal's diversity. After the election, she was criticized for naming an executive committee that had novisible minorities.

"It's a shortcoming, clearly, the [lack]of cultural diversity, in the city council in general," Plante said at the time.

Shepointed out that whilevisible minorities make up 30 per centof Montreal's population, that number is not reflected in city council, where only four of65 councillorsare from visible minority communities.

In an attempt to address the criticisms about lack of diversity,Plantenamed one of thosecouncillorsCathy Wong of the oppositionquipe Denis Coderreas speaker of city council.

Provincialsystemic racism inquiry watered-down

Studying discrimination issues has recently proved controversial in Quebec provincial politics.

Responding to demands from anti-racism groups, the Couillardgovernment had announced earlier this year its intention to hold publicconsultations into systemic racism.

But the announcement was met with criticismfrom the Coalition AvenirQubec,the Parti Qubcoisand even some Liberals, who denied systemic racism was a problem in Quebec.

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In October, the government recast the consultations as a diversity forumfocusing instead oncreating economic opportunities for immigrantsand visible minorities.

In his opening statements ata diversity forum event held last week in Quebec City, Premier PhilippeCouillardnever mentioned the words discrimination or racism.

In response to the changes, acitizen-led coalition announced its plan to hold itsownconsultations on racism and discrimination in the province.