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PANEL DISCUSSION ON RACIAL PROFILING FOR MCGILL SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS



Montreal, August 15, 2011 --- As part of its Student Civil Rights Information Project (SCRIP), CRARR will co-host a panel discussion on racial profiling which will be held on September 28th 2011 from 3:00-5:00 pm, in the Wendy Patrick Room of the McGill School of Social Work, located at 3507 University (McGill metro).

The panel discussion will mark the opening of this year’s SCRIP activities at McGill, which will consist of a series of activities throughout the course of the upcoming school year, aimed at informing students at Concordia and McGill Universities on issues of civil rights and discrimination. SCRIP is a CRARR initiative launched last year with the mandate to encourage students to take an active role in advocating for equal rights through access to knowledge and pertinent information.

The two-hour panel discussion will provide social work and other students at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as faculty members, with a basic understanding of racial profiling in different laws and recourses and a clearer understanding of the role of specific institutions in addressing this issue within a social work perspective

Francois Larsen, Director of Research, Communications and Policy from the Commission des droits de la personne et droits de la jeunesse, will speak on his firsthand experience in dealing with cases of racial profiling at the Human Rights Commissions of Ontario and Quebec and provide a clearer understanding for students of how racial profiling is defined and handled by the Quebec Commission and the complications in investigating such cases. He will also speak on the recently released report of the Commission’s public consultation on racial profiling.

Mr. Larsen will be joined by a representative of the Batshaw Youth and Family Centres, who will speak on racial profiling in the specific context of the youth protection system and the recent initiatives that have been implemented at Batshaw to address issues of discrimination, equality and challenges with diversity.

The third panelist, from the Service de Police de la Ville de Montreal (SPVM, to be confirmed) will speak on how community policing initiatives to work more effectively in socially diverse Montreal neighborhoods and to prevent racial profiling.

A question answer period will follow.

Please note that although this event will be tailored specifically to social work students, it will be open to students from all faculties and professionals from community organizations and related fields of practice are also welcome to attend.

This event is organized in partnership with the Social Work Students Association (SWSA), the Racialized Students Network (RSN), the Graduate Collective Against Racism for Equity (GCARE) and the Social Equity and Diversity Education office (SEDE).

*The format and some members of this discussion panel are still to be confirmed and are subject to change.