Multicultural centre in North Bay, Ont., uses persona dolls to teach kids about discrimination
CBC
Having an open, honest conversation with children about bias can be a challenge, but a group in northern Ontario hopes to make that topic easier to discuss.
The North Bay and District Multicultural Centre uses persona dolls to engage children in productive, non-threatening conversations.about unfair or discriminatory behaviours. They also help children identify practices that hurt other kids who might be different, and allow them to come up with more inclusive behaviours.
Julie Van Berkel, the centre's welcoming communities co-ordinator, said the program helps engage the community and create a more inclusive and healthy area for everyone.
The project runs in two parts.
The first step is offering a series of workshops.
"We're hoping to engage community members who have lived experiences of discrimination or of feeling not included because of their identity," Van Berkel said. " And we're hoping that these dolls will represent the diversity that we do have in this community."
The second part of the program involves connecting with early childhood educators, daycares and kindergarten classrooms, she said.
"They will actually purchase and use the dolls within their schools, within their classrooms, to teach young children empathy and appreciation for differences."
The multicultural centre, which works with immigrants and newcomers to help adjust to life in Canada, began running the program after hearing anecdotes from newcomers.
"A lot of people were not understanding this, how difficult it is for new immigrants arriving to this country," Van Berkel said. "There's a lot of misunderstanding around the government supports for new immigrants and then also just racially motivated discrimination.
"They don't understand different cultures, different languages, and there's not a community of acceptance at times," she added.
So far, the atmosphere of non-acceptance hasn't expressed itself in violent acts.
In North Bay, police recorded one hate-motivated incident in 2019 and none in 2020. But that number climbed to five in 2021.
"Percentage-wise, yes, it is a large increase. But these are still very low numbers," David Woolley, a corporate communications officer with North Bay police, told CBC News in March.
Municipal councils across Essex County and in Chatham-Kent and Sarnia have spent this year’s budget season trying to keep tax increases manageable while battling inflation and soaring policing costs and weighing the immediate cost of repairing aging infrastructure against the long-term cost of holding off.
Construction on Marda Loop’s main streets project may have quieted down, but redevelopment work continues at several locations along 34th Avenue. This time, the focus is on preserving the street’s history.
As both the provincial and federal governments hone in on mining opportunities in northern Ontario, supporting local industries and building safer highways are top of mind for regional leaders this year.
Tucked inside Toronto’s leafy, quiet and private residential neighbourhoods are facades that tell the story of another time in the city’s urban planning history.
Ontario’s two main opposition parties will try to turn the page on what was a difficult year, with one rebuilding after an underwhelming leadership vote result and another searching for a new person to take the party helm.
This year, two things will happen to Canada's fiscal watchdog: Interim Parliamentary Budget Officer Jason Jacques will be replaced or made permanent, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will publish its review of the office.
As the era of bilateral bad blood between Canada and the U.S. drags on, some snowbirds are facing a choice this January: Go south to warmer climes, or boycott a country that has gone from friend to somewhat of a foe.
RCMP are warning people of slippery conditions on the Trans-Canada Highway after a transport truck slid off the road in the area of Clarenville, N.L.
Sidney Crosby is remembering fellow Nova Scotian Lowell MacDonald, a former NHLer who died Sunday, as an inspiration to his career.
Moncton artist Alan Spinney doesn't usually paint on a five-by-five inch canvas, but he and his wife have started doing that for a new mini-art gallery.
Residents of Pimicikamak Cree Nation are celebrating and relieved now that power and electricity are being restored to the community.
Two people are dead after an early-morning highway collision on New Year’s Day, the Saskatoon Fire Department said Thursday morning.
A small group of Haitian Canadians celebrated the island nation's Independence Day at a B.C. church on Thursday by serving soup that symbolizes freedom.