Conference to Highlight Equity, Discrimination

A prominent Canadian teacher who focuses on anti-racism education will deliver the keynote address on Thursday, Nov. 4, at a Multicultural Association of Nova Scotia conference.

Judy Kazz, a vice-principal with the Ottawa-Carleton district school board, will speak about her recent book of poetry, which was nominated this year for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation award of excellence.

The address will take place at 9:00 a.m. in the Dalhousie University Student Union Building, 6136 University Ave., in Halifax.

The conference, Community Voices: Providing Direction, takes place from Nov. 4 to Nov. 5 in the student union building. The agenda includes workshops on systemic discrimination and implementing equity policies. Responses developed in the workplace and in the community to support diversity will be discussed. Workshops are followed by in-depth action-planning sessions.

"Our goal is to give participants opportunities to share their stories, learn from each other and leave the conference with project ideas that can be acted on in the workplace," said Barbara Campbell, executive director of the Multicultural Association of Nova Scotia.

The conference will close with a mock trial about a hate crime motivated by race presented by students from the Indigenous Black and Mi'kmaq Program at Dalhousie Law School.

Registration is available on-site during the conference. Seed funding for the conference was provided by the Department of Canadian Heritage. A steering committee with representatives from the Nova Scotia Department of Education, Scotiabank, the Halifax Regional Police, the Halifax Regional School Board, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, the Nova Scotia Department of Justice and the Multicultural Association of Nova Scotia planned the conference.