Everybody’s Business
Toronto Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell Speaks on Human Rights
Gwangju’s history carries the spirit of “freedom, equality, democracy, and peace,” making it an ideal place to host the World Human Rights Cities Forum for the third consecutive year in May 2015. Representatives from various cities around the world will congregate in Gwangju to address the human rights issues they are currently facing and exchange ideas and best practices. One of these representatives is Pam McConnell, Deputy Mayor of Toronto.
Coming from a diverse community allows McConnell to share some important perspectives with Korean leaders. Collectively, Toronto’s residents speak over 140 languages. According to The Korea Times, the non-Korean population of South Korea is 3%, while Gwangju’s is 1.7%. Despite the very different demographics, McConnell holds the fundamental belief that when people work together, they can build strong and healthy communities. She draws inspiration from the community that she represents, admiring their engagement in ensuring the livability of their neighborhoods.
McConnell began serving her community as a teacher in the youth shelter system and a manager of cooperative affordable housing, where she recognized the glaring need for more to be done to help people living in poverty. Since 1982, she has been working for the citizens of Toronto as an elected official: first as a school trustee, then in 1994 as a city councilor, and most recently as the deputy mayor. In addition to these offices, she belongs to many committees and coalitions committed to battling injustice. Her work has included creating programs that address discrimination based on race and sexual orientation and support of women seeking municipal office, making efforts to eliminate racial profiling by the Toronto police force, and leading Toronto’s Poverty Reduction Strategy.
These and other accomplishments have given McConnell the opportunity to share her ideas and experience with the attendees of the Human Rights Forum in Gwangju. “It is so tremendously important that on issues such as human rights we share best practices around the world,” she says. “Having an opportunity to share the work we are doing in Toronto, and in particular the development of the Poverty Reduction Strategy, in the international arena was very exciting. I look forward to listening to and learning from my colleagues at the Forum who are doing work in their own jurisdictions, and bringing those lessons back to Toronto and Canada.”
In McConnell’s view, education plays a critical role in establishing principles of human rights. “While legislation has an important function, I don’t believe that we will have a truly equitable, respectful, and harmonious society until human rights are seen as everybody’s business,” she says. “Instilling human rights language and principles at an early age through our education systems is the best place to start. Curriculum that addresses human rights, such as the anti-Apartheid curriculum in Toronto during Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment, allows us to prepare new generations to appreciate the importance of enshrining human rights values in all of their future decision-making.”
She explains that core of her efforts is ensuring equal access to opportunities for all people: equal access regardless of race, culture, gender, age, status, disability, sexual orientation; equal access to housing, services, and education; and equal ability to participate in the community, in decision-making, and in the workforce. “Barriers that prevent equal access to opportunities come at a steep cost—both a social cost and an economic cost,” she continues. “The cost of inequality is evident in our cities and in our neighborhoods, and it affects the health and balance of our communities. Poverty is the most obvious symptom of inequality.”
One of Korea’s most pressing human rights issues is the poverty rate among its senior citizens. According to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, South Korea spends the second lowest amount on welfare for the elderly, and its poverty rate. It ranks last among the 30 countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The upcoming forum is an opportunity for Korea to address this issue and others that threaten human rights.
To those who wonder how they can contribute to human rights, McConnell has some simple advice. “It is critical that human rights abuses, no matter how small or large, are called out when they occur. If you overhear someone making a racist or sexist remark, call them on it. If you read news reports about human rights abuses happening at home or abroad, learn about local groups that are organizing in response and join them,” she recommends. “When you are electing political representatives at any level of government, make sure you understand his or her track record on human rights. If you are inspired and driven, volunteer on the campaign!”
As an inspired and driven person herself, McConnell believes that human rights and poverty are “everyone’s business.” Although she and the other delegates come from cities and countries with very different demographics and sociopolitical situations, it is the desire to create more equitable cities that brings people like Pam McConnell as leaders and learners to the World Human Rights Cities Forum.