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Global Crises, Local Impacts: Preventing Hate & Building Social Cohesion Amid Global Crises — Unleashing the Potential of Cities in Western Canada & the Western United States

Publication Date:

28/11/2024

Content Type:

Event Reports

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City-Led ActionGlobal Crises Local ImpactsMayoral LeadershipSocial Cohesionvictoria

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Event Details

Description:  On 30 – 31 October 2024, the Strong Cities Network (Strong Cities), in cooperation with the Foundation for a Path Forward (F4PF) and the City of Victoria, British Columbia (Canada) convened more than 65 mayors, councilmembers and other officials and experts from cities across the western United States and Canada, as well as state, provincial and federal officials, for the first-ever conference focused on preventing hate and maintaining social cohesion in cities and communities in these geographies. The event was organised with funding support from the Attorney General’s Office, British Columbia, Canada and the US Consulate, Vancouver.  

Where & When: 30 – 31 October 2024, Victoria, British Columbia (Canada)

Cities Represented

• Canada:  Calgary (Alberta); Creston (British Columbia); District of North Saanich (British Columbia); Edmonton (Alberta); Fredericton (New Brunswick); Langford (British Columbia); (British Columbia); Port Moody (British Columbia); Vancouver (British Columbia); Victoria (British Columbia); Yellowknife (Yukon)   
• United States: Albuquerque (New Mexico); Aurora (Colorado); Bellevue (Washington); Bend (Oregon); Boise (Idaho); Colorado Springs (Colorado); Fairbanks North Star Borough (Alaska); San Leandro (California); Santa Fe (New Mexico); Seattle (Washington); Shoreline (Washington); Tempe (Arizona) 

Organisations Represented

Federal/Provincial Government:

• Department of Canadian Heritage (Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Program)
• European Union Delegation, Canada
• Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, British Columbia
• Public Safety Canada, Canada Centre for Community Engagement and the Prevention of Violence;
• RCMP
• BC Hate Crimes
• US Consulate, Vancouver
• US Department of Homeland Security – Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships 

Non-Governmental:

• Alaska Version 3
• Canadian Centre for Safer Communities
• Carnegie California
• Cure for Hate
• Diversecity Community Resource Society
• Doug Hudlin Charitable Society
• Fort Properties; Foundation for a Path Forward
• Institute for Strategic Dialogue
• Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria
• Kwikwetlem First Nations
• Metro Vancouver Aboriginal Executive Council
• Organization for the Prevention of Violence
• Ronald J. Roadburg Foundation
• StopHate AB
• UBC Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions
• University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland
• Victoria Downtown Residents Association  

Key Takeaways

For Mayors and Local Governments

• Be proactive and prepared to respond to a hate-motivated incident that can undermine social cohesion in the city. This involves, for example:

• Understanding the threat landscape, which communities in their city are being targeted and how mis- and disinformation is being used to exacerbate the threat; 
  • Having trusted relationships with community-based partners that can be leveraged in times of crisis;  
  • Prioritising community safety and the well-being of all residents, including by leaning into community conversations on difficult topics and on how to reimagine safety in public places, particularly following a hate incident;   
  • Providing early warning systems for residents to share information with local police or the local government about inter-communal or other tensions in the city;  
  • Having a crisis or emergency plan that includes guidance for responding to a socially-driven crisis and a properly trained response team; 
  • Deploying wrap-around services, including trauma-informed mental health professionals, to communities impacted by a hate-motivated crisis;  
  • Keeping politics out of the city’s response;  
  • Joining neighbouring cities to ensure a coordinated response to hateful and conspiratorial rhetoric that targets communities across multiple local jurisdictions;  
  • Providing regular updates to communities as a crisis unfolds and countering related mis- and disinformation. This includes working with trusted partners in local communities to reinforce official messaging; 
  • Being present in impacted communities, emphasising how the city will provide necessary support; 
  • Engaging with individuals looking to protest or agitate to clarify rights and laws and set expectations; and  
  • Ensuring police are properly trained in de-escalation tactics. 
• Address underreporting of hate crimes and bias incidents: this can involve, for example:
  • Overcoming trust deficits in communities where underreporting is suspected; 
  • Working with historically marginalized communities to make the reporting process easier; 
  • Developing and disseminating guidance on how and where to report; and 
  • Raising awareness among community-based organisations (CBOs) on their role in identifying and preventing hate and providing training and capacity-building. 
• Prioritise efforts to build trust with and across communities and enhance inter-communal dialogue. This might include: 
  • Having a local government that reflects the diversity of the residents it is meant to serves; 
  • Better understanding the nuances of different communities and ensuring city staff have the necessary cultural competencies to engage with them; 
  • Creating more spaces and opportunities for people from different communities to interact and for local government to listen to and learn about their needs, concerns and grievances;  
  • Ensuring that city-led or facilitated conversations with communities impacted by a global crisis acknowledge the trauma on all sides; 
  • Leveraging CBOs trusted community brokers who may be well-placed to facilitate mediated conversations between different sides of divisive issues;  
  • Using city-sponsored community events to identify pressing community needs and concerns and ensure these are reflected in city budgets and programmes; and 
  • Providing accurate information to residents regarding global crises to prevent mis- and disinformation and protect vulnerable groups.  
• Deepen and broaden support for CBOs, which are well-placed to provide a link with ‘hard to reach’ communities and help legitimise city policies and actions in communities where scepticism hinders engagement. This support should extend beyond just funding and include: 
  • Ensuring CBOs have the knowledge and skills required to maximize their impact; 
  • Convening and connecting CBOs and other community partners across the city;  
  • Encouraging and incentivising them to collaborate rather than to compete with each other for limited funding. 

For City Councils 

• Take action to prevent and respond to hate targeting councilmembers and council meetings: This means, for example, ensuring the council chamber is a ‘safe space’ for members and constituents alike and that council meetings are structured to allow for authentic processes where grievances are brought forward in a meaningful but respectful way. This could involve limiting time for constituents to speak, underscoring that dehumanising language will not be tolerated and putting in place other controls, such as using technology to create physical distance between residents and the council without impeding the latter’s ability to listen. 

For Federal Governments

• Help ensure that small and mid-sized cities have the resources and services necessary to support migrants, minorities and other vulnerable communities.  Smaller (and often homogenous) cities often lack the services and resources to accommodate the influx of newcomers. This can lead to tensions between residents related to jobs, health care or housing and increased hate directed at the local government and/ city council members.  

• Continue to strengthen prevention-related cooperation between federal, state/provincial, municipal and community-based stakeholders in their respective countries and facilitate sharing of hate prevention-related good practices and lessons between municipalities in Canada and the United States. For example, the planned Canada-US community of practice to support the exchange of prevention experts and practitioners should include a workstream focused on local government practitioners. 

For Strong Cities

• Expand city-city peer learning opportunities for cities in western Canada and the United States, with a particular focus on helping mayors, city councillors and local governments implement the recommendations and city needs identified in this workshop.  For the latter, this includes how to: 
  • Anticipate, prepare for and respond to the impacts of global crises on communities and access to good practices from other cities to apply in their local contexts; 
  • Use data to identify where and how residents feel safe and that they belong, and how to overcome chronic community underreporting of hate crimes and bias incidents; and 
  • Develop city plans and programmes for addressing digital hate that reflect the needs and priorities of local communities.  
     

Next Steps

Key findings from this workshop will inform the Strong Cities Fifth Global Summit, being held in Cape Town, South Africa, from 3 – 5 December 2024. The Summit will feature the participation of several cities in Canada and the US and includes the governments of Canada and the United States as among its sponsors. 

Practices shared during the Victoria workshop and captured in this event report will also be integrated into the Strong Cities Online Resource Hub, which houses a library of living guides and toolkits on mayoral leadership and city-led action to prevent and respond to hate, extremism and polarisation. In addition, to build on the Resource Hub’s growing City Spotlights Library, Strong Cities will partner with city officials from the workshop to create spotlights capturing their local governments’ inspiring and innovative prevention efforts. 

Strong Cities, through its North America Regional Hub, will continue to work with cities in Canada and the United States in 2025 and beyond and looks to return to British Columbia in 2025 for the second iteration of this cross-border, city-to-city dialogue.  

Additional Resources

• Global Crises, Local Impacts: The Role of Canadian Cities in Maintaining Social Cohesion. Strong Cities Network, July 2024 
• North America Regional Hub: Strengthening Community Cohesion and Countering Online Hate — Operationalising Local Prevention Efforts in Edmonton, Strong Cities Network, November 2024 
• Global Crises, Local Impacts: Key Findings & Recommendations to Date, Strong Cities Network, September 2024 
• Global Crises, Local Impacts: The Role of Canadian Cities in Maintaining Social Cohesion, Strong Cities Network, June 2024 
• Impact: Catalysing City-Led Prevention, Strong Cities Network, June 2024 
• Global Crises, Local Impacts, including latest findings and recommendations, April 2024 
• A Guide for City-Led Response, Strong Cities Network, April 2024 
• Preventing and Responding to Election Disruption and Violence: Ten Considerations for Cities, Strong Cities Network, March 2024 
• Transatlantic Dialogue Initiative: Ten Key Findings in 2023, Strong Cities Network, March 2024 
• Navigating Local Impacts of Global Crises: Ten Considerations for Mayors and Cities – Lessons Learned from the Israel – Gaza Crisis, Strong Cities Network, December 2023 
• A Guide for Mayors: Preventing and Responding to Hate, Extremism and Polarisation, Strong Cities Network, September 2023 
• A Guide for Cities: Preventing Hate, Extremism and Polarisation, Strong Cities Network, September 2023 

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