The City of Prince George will be applying to join the “Strong Cities Network.”
City Council voted to direct staff to apply at this week’s meeting.
“It’s a network of municipalities all across the world that are dedicated to eliminating all forms of hate, extremism, and polarization,” said Councillor Garth Frizzell.
“Cities from Toronto to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, Mount Vernon in the United States, Tanga in Tanzania, Murcia in Spain, all around the world.”
The other Canadian city members are Victoria, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Brampton, and Montreal.
A full list of member cities can be found here.
Frizzell noted he attended one of the organization’s online sessions.
“The messages resonate, and they’re consistent with the directions that we’ve been looking to achieve through things like our commitment on anti-racism here the city,” he said.
“I support the idea because I really think, as so many issues we see in our society, they are lived and we feel them in our cities,” said Councillor Trudy Klassen.
“They might be sort of traditionally considered provincial or federal in jurisdiction, and yet they happen here, and so if cities can educate themselves and learn to gather some tools to try to nip those things in the bud so that we can all live together in a city that we enjoy and feel safe in, I think that’s an important aspect and something that needs to be attended to.”
It was noted that membership in the network is free of charge.
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