New Westminster is joining up with cities around the world to help tackle extremism and polarization.
At its Jan. 13 meeting, council voted 5-2 in support of a motion from Coun. Nadine Nakagawa that the City of New Westminster join the Strong Cities Network. The motion said New Westminster has a focus on “community belonging and connecting” as a core priority in council’s current strategic plan but stated “division, extremism, and polarization are on the rise both locally and globally.”
“We know that many members of our community feel unsafe or unwelcome because of aspects of their identity, and that's basically because of who they are,” Nakagawa said. “And evidence, as the folks from the Strong Cities Network and the Foundation for a Path Forward have noted, shows that extremism is on the rise globally.”
Given what is happening in other cities, Nakagawa said she has to assume extremism is on the rise in New West, even if is bubbling below the surface.
“Municipalities worldwide are talking about these issues,” she said. “And even more importantly than talking, they are taking action.”
As the level of government that is closest to the people, Nakagawa said cities are uniquely positioned to have their ear to the ground and to find grassroots solutions that will build up community connections.
“And before people go ahead and say that this isn't a city's role, that this isn't our jurisdiction, I believe that ensuring that all members of our community feel included and can live without experiencing hate or discrimination is everyone's work, ours included,” she said. “And it feeds into other actions that we do take around housing, public spaces, and public engagement. It really is at the heart of what we do.”
What is the Strong Cities Network?
Eric Rosand, executive director of the Strong Cities Network, said the organization is a global network of 264 cities working to counter hate, extremism and polarization and to strengthen social cohesion in cities around the world. Attending council’s Jan. 13 meeting via Zoom from Washington, D.C., he said New Westminster would become the 10th Canadian city to join the network.
Rosand said the network is very much about supporting mayors, councils and local governments and working in tandem with community-based partners on efforts to enhance community well-being, promote public safety, and respond to what's become a crisis in cities around the globe — the rising level of disinformation and misinformation about different global events and elections, which is something that’s fuelling division and divide in cities.
“We are really committed to working with all types of government at a local level, whether they're urban or rural, big or small, connecting them with other cities, whether it's in their own country or in other countries, that are working on similar challenges, so there's more peer-to-peer learning and more resources available for city-driven approaches to hate and extremism,” he said.
According to Rosand, members of the Strong Cities Network have access to a variety of one-on-one advisory services to help with difficult issues they’re facing. They can also access webinars on different topics and attend in-person meetings.
Rosand said the network collects and distills the information from participating cities and provides information, including tool kits, policy briefs and guides that focus on different issues.
“They're all driven by what cities have told us,” he said. “So, we're not a research organization, we're not an academic organization; we're really driven to produce practical, tangible products to support city efforts in this work.”
According to the network’s website, membership is free and is open to local authorities at the city, municipal or other subnation level. The Strong Cities Network was launched at the United Nations in 2015.
“Members are not required to do anything; members simply have the opportunity to do any of this,” Rosand said. “There's no specific commitment required, other than to be willing to receive information from us, be willing to share information with us electronically.”
The Strong Cities Network encourages its members to take advantage of its activities, which are often funded by donors, Rosand added.
“We encourage cities to connect with each other, and we facilitate peer-to-peer learning opportunities, one-on-one city learning opportunities,” he said. “Our work is really driven by what we're hearing from cities.”
Referring to the Israel-Hamas crisis, Rosand said the Strong Cities Network was “inundated” with requests from cities after Oct. 7, 2023, about how they could de-escalate and reduce tensions in their communities.
The @Strong_Cities #FifthGlobalSummit included the endorsement of a Declaration of Networks Against Hate, the launch of six new policy briefs, new members & more.
— Strong Cities (@Strong_Cities) December 11, 2024
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Foundation for a Path Forward
Tariq Tyab, co-founder of British Columbia’s Foundation for a Path Forward, attended the Strong Cities’ Network’s annual summit in New York City in September 2023.
“Our work in Canada and British Columbia has been specifically on online harms and how misinformation, disinformation, malinformation, is affecting Canadians of all communities, not just Muslim communities, Black, Asian, First Nations, Jewish communities, etc.,” he told council.
Tyab said it’s important to learn what challenges cities are facing.
He said the Breaking Bread, Building Bonds program being championed in New York City — which brings disparate communities, different religious groups and different multicultural groups together to have a meal and have “difficult conversations” in a facilitated way — is one way to combat online hate and the spread of misinformation.
The 1,000 Neighbourhood Gatherings in Colorado Springs are another way to bring community members together, he said.
Because federal and provincial governments don’t have the impact on community members that cities have, Tyab said the Strong Cities Network is a place to learn from other cities.
“Some of the ideas may work for New Westminster, some of them may not,” he said. “But it's a way to share collective knowledge from around the world to be able to benefit your local city.”
How did council vote?
In a 5-2 vote, council supported Nakagawa’s motion, with Mayor Patrick Johnstone and councillors Ruby Campbell, Tasha Henderson and Jaimie McEvoy voting in favour of the motion. Councillors Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas were opposed.
Fontaine moved an amendment to have staff report back to council about the full scope of financial and operational impacts and opportunities related to the City of New Westminster joining the Strong Cities Network. While it sounds like the network may do incredible work, he said it is prudent to have city staff review the proposal before the city joins any kind of network.
“What are the opportunities for us? What are the potential costs? Will this require international travel on the part of elected officials or staff, etc.?” he said. “It would be really good to know all of that before we pass a resolution tonight and just simply join the Strong Cities Network.”
Minhas supported Fontaine’s amendment, but it was defeated in a 5-2 vote. Other council members said there is no cost to the city to join the network or to access its resources.
Henderson said she doesn’t think a staff report is necessary because any future costs connected to the city’s membership in the network would come back to council for its consideration.
Nakagawa opposed the amendment.
“There are already processes around … asking staff to do additional work or asking for budget, so I think it's redundant,” she said, “and I think it is a waste of staff time to come back with that report.”
Fontaine argued that he thinks it is best practice from a governance perspective to have the city’s non-partisan, independent staff provide council with an understanding of what the Strong Cities Network is all about, rather than relying on presentations from two individuals connected to the program and a Google search.
“I am assuming they're telling the truth, but I have not had any staff feedback or input,” he said. “This is the wrong way to do this. It's the wrong process. And it doesn't matter what organization it is.”
Johnstone said he spent a bit of time researching the Strong Cities Network after receiving Nakagawa’s notice of motion and is “really comfortable” having the city join the organization.
“I think it's clear even here in New Westminster, even the conversations we had after Oct. 7, that we had in this community, demonstrates that we actually have some work to do here to figure how to have more constructive and more meaningful dialog between people who strongly disagree on issues,” he said. “I think that maybe the tools they can provide will help us get there.”
Henderson said divisiveness and discrimination are rising in communities. She also welcomes resources that will be available to the city around the issues of online hate, misinformation, and inflammatory rhetoric, both online and elsewhere.
“It's important that we as a council take a principled stand, that we want to bring people together. We want to foster connection, we want to foster belonging, and that we don't support this kind of toxic behaviour online or elsewhere,” she said.
