Executive Director's Report 2003

-Valerie Price

In this our twenty-fifth year, MARL has much to celebrate. We continue to evolve and respond to the needs we see in the community. The two main streams of our work continue to be monitoring human rights issues and keeping them before the various levels of government, and public education. We have accomplished much in the past year as you will see when you take the time to read this Annual Report, as I hope you will.

Our efforts in public education have concentrated primarily on the Holocaust and Human Rights Studies Program and the School Program. This year saw changes in both programs. Integration of what had been two separate programs resulted in an expanded Holocaust and Human Rights Studies Program with 106 students from many diverse backgrounds. The School Program saw changes as well. In February, we launched a revised workshop called Hate - What Have I Got to Do With It? Facilitator David Dorning has done an excellent job of leading students through discussions of what hate is, how to recognize it and helping them to explore their own attitudes. He has also responded to requests from teachers for a follow-up workshop to help students learn how to respond to hate. Since March, David has completed 28 workshops. Plans are underway to formally develop a follow-up workshop and market the two workshops as a package next year. In both programs, we are heartened by the evident impact on young people and the knowledge that this work is contributing to social harmony in our community.

A major initiative in monitoring human rights issues has been a review of employment equity in Manitoba. In 1987, MARL commissioned the Affirmative Action Task Force which reported on the status of employment for four designated groups within the Manitoba government. The task force found that opportunities for Aboriginal people, women, persons with disabilities and visible minorities were in great need of improvement and made recommendations intended to lead to improvements. Recently, we have undertaken to follow-up on the 1987 study to determine what progress has been made and where to go from here. Earlier this week we shared some of the findings of the review with some representatives of community groups in order to consult with them in developing recommendations for future action. As we move forward with this project, we will be working in concert with other like-minded organizations.

Last summer, significant amendments were made to Manitoba's legislation to bring our laws concerning same sex couples into compliance with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. MARL was pleased to support these measures to extend full equality to same sex couples in such areas as adoption rights, property rights and health care decisions.

As we continue implementing some of the structural changes in the organization, we will remain committed to our vision and mission and will rely upon the committed volunteers that have made MARL's work possible year after year. Not only do we enjoy the support of our volunteers and members, we are fortunate to be a United Way funded agency and privileged to have the opportunity to serve the community. In the coming year, as we learn to better measure what we do, we will continue learning how best to serve the community.

PROGRAM REPORTS

Monitoring and Response

Charter Rights & Legislative Review

We reviewed 40 bills and made presentations or submissions on 1 of those bills. This past year saw the passing of momentous legilsation extending equality rights to same sex couples. MARL was pleased to express its support for these changes. We also made a submission in support of same sex marriage to the parliamentary committee currently reviewing the matter. We continue to monitor the impact of recent security legislation on civil liberties and the right to dissent.

Referral

MARL provided referral and/or information in response to more than 80 inquiries from the public. We monitor the issues that arise in this work to determine which are issues that require more attention.

Media Watch

MARL continued to monitor human rights issues in the media. In some cases, MARL became involved in ongoing work on issues related to media stories.

Public Education

School Program - "Hate - What Have I Got to Do With It?"

Workshops are offered to students in S1 to S4 by a skilled facilitator who engages them in discussion of hate, what it is, how to recognize it and helps them to increase awareness of their own attitudes. Eleven workshops were presented to 275 students.

Holocaust and Human Rights Studies Program

In the fall of 2002, this program, which had been a two-year pilot project, was approved as an ongoing annual program. What had been two parallel projects, one offered to students in the Jewish community and one offered to students in the broader community, is now an integrated project. In partnership with the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, MARL has been offering education sessions for 106 students since early February in preparation for travelling to Washington, DC in May to visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, among other sites.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND INITIATIVES

Coalitions

MARL is a member of the Coalition for Human Equality. MARL provides extensive administrative support to the Coalition for Human Equality (CHE) in order to further the work of combatting racism and fostering inter-group cooperation, with a particular focus on March 21st activities.

Outreach

MARL's outreach activities include supporting the work of other organizations through providing information or through direct participation, and consulting with others in the community as we develop our own work. MARL supported the work of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg through participation in its Committee for the Elimination of Racism and Discrimination. We participated along with Community Legal Education Association, the Manitoba Human Rights Commission and the Canadian Human Rights Commission in holding a luncheon to observe International Human Rights Day and honour the recipient of the Human Rights Commitment Award . MARL is represented on the planning committee for the Holocaust Symposium in to be held in Winnipeg in May 2003. We were represented on the Cultural Advisory Committee which is a consultative committee that was involved in the Western Canada Protocol process for developing a new social studies curriculum.

PROJECT REPORTS

Holocaust and Human Rights Studies Program

The Jewish Heritage Centre and MARL are partners in offering this significant educational experience to young people in Winnipeg. The project has been developed as a two-year pilot which will offer a 9-week educational program to grade nine students and will culminate in a visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The second year of the pilot was completed this year when 47 students completed their education sessions, travelled to Washington and shared what they learned with their peers upon their return.

Employment Equity

Work continued on a review of employment equity in Manitoba with the goal of completing the project in the fall.

Education Rights

a summer student completed a policy paper on education rights in Manitoba. The paper is a comprehensive analysis of the rights of students in the public school system of Manitoba and awareness of those rights in Manitoba's schools. It is a document that will inform the planning of future youth programming.

OPERATIONS

• Membership retention - Membership has remained stable.
• Committee Development - at the board level, MARL has been re-developing the organization's committee structure in order to better address the work of the organization.
• Web site development - MARL's web site is currently being redesigned to better serve the public.

FUNDERS

• Core
• • United Way of Winnipeg
• Programs and Projects
• • The Winnipeg Foundation
  • Ethnocultural Community Support Program
  • Human Resources Development Canada