Council wants hate-mitigation survey to reach more voices

City council wants to take another crack at a survey about discrimination in Hamilton after a consultant’s effort drew only 91 responses.

“I’m baffled why we could continue to keep it so narrow in scope,” Coun. Brad Clark said Wednesday.

Clark was reacting to Sage Solutions’ 55-page “stakeholder engagement summary report,” which gathered public feedback to help guide the city’s “hate prevention and mitigation” initiative.

The city hired the firm in February to lead the engagement exercise, gathering input from equity-seeking groups, city partners and others.

The $89,000 contract follows the city’s effort in 2019 to draft policies and protocols aimed at discouraging hate groups from holding rallies outside city hall.

It also comes after anti-LGBTQ disrupters showed up at Pride celebrations in June 2019, leading to violent clashes with counterprotesters at Gage Park.

Sage Solutions’ initial report, presented during Wednesday’s general issues committee meeting, found a “polarized understanding of the issue” in Hamilton.

“There is a notable disconnect reflected in these findings between some leaders who see hate as a minor problem in Hamilton that has been blown out of proportion by a vocal minority and those who see it as a significant and widespread problem that is being minimized or ignored by those in power,” the report states. “The former group are therefore seeking to keep their response to hate muted in order not to give it undue attention, whereas the latter sees this lack of response as fuelling hate and allowing it to flourish.”

Moreover, the consultants found the input gave a “low priority” on “regulation and enforcement” to tackle discrimination even though that was the city’s “initial focus” for the project.

“Instead, residents are looking for proactive, visible and principled municipal leadership. They want to see followup on reports previously submitted rather than additional engagement at this time. They are asking for resources to be shifted away from enforcement and toward social services and community programming.”

The feedback overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic and outrage over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody.

On Wednesday, Mayor Fred Eisenberger likewise argued a survey meant to inform city policy on such crucial issues should reach more than 91 people. “Is there going to be a broader effort?”

Those survey responses are “still important,” said Sonia Preisler, who presented the report. “They’re valid and there were many ways to engage folks.”

The report’s findings were also based on research from other municipalities and previous Hamilton reports.

Moreover, 154 residents partook in one of five online “listening sessions.” There were interviews and correspondence with 10 community members.

CEO Rebecca Sutherns said more than 600 people visited the survey on the city’s Engage Hamilton website, but only 91 completed it. That completion rate was “lower than usual,” she said.

Coun. Maureen Wilson said she finds value in the “lived experiences” that could be shared in “listening sessions,” including “really, ugly jarring” incidents that a survey might not capture.

Council backed Eisenberger’s suggestion for a staff report on the question of reaching more people via a survey.

Elected officials also supported Clark’s call for a legal analysis to accompany a recommended staff report on “hate-related flags and symbols.”

The plan had been for the consultant to reach out again to participants to help form recommendations to be presented to council in a final report by December.

John Ariyo, manager of community initiatives, said based on council’s latest direction, staff would revisit that timeline.

A city spokesperson confirmed additional work is part of Sage Solutions’ contract.