Multicultural centre in North Bay, Ont., uses persona dolls to teach kids about discrimination

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.