A course aimed at addressing racism in Nelson is being offered free through a new initiative called Anti-Racism Community (ARC) Stewards pilot program.
The program was developed by the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Center Society and will be offered free to participants who want to understand the fundamentals skills to address racism and how to defuse and incidents that could happen.
“Up to 20 individuals will be trained in this program so they can teach others how to deal with racism,” says Brittny Anderson, MLA for Nelson-Creston.
The program is an eight-month training program where some of the training will be done online, and some will be done in person.
“Developing skills to combat racism is not just a regional issue, but a national one that we all need to help with.”
According to a news release the program is the province’s way of dismantling systemic racism and building a better, more inclusive province for everyone and to modernize the 45-year-old Police Act.
ARC will start the first training session in October, and the deadline to submit an application is Aug. 11.