Appendix A: Community Equity Council - Terms of Reference

Disclaimer: This appendix contains information from a third party (outside the Government of Canada). The documents have been posted as received. Readers wishing to rely upon this information should consult directly with the source of the information.

Community Equity Council Logo

The Ottawa Police Community Equity Council Relationship Framework (ToR)
Final
(Approved – December 4, 2018)
(Updated, December 2020 and May 2023)
(Current Update January 2024)

Introduction

The Ottawa Police Community Equity Council will work within a Relationship Framework (Terms of Reference) that provides a clear foundation around the expectations and supports to the Council. The Relationship Framework was finalized and approved by the Council on December 4, 2018. Updated December 2020 and May 2023.

  1. Mandate of the Council

    The Ottawa Police Community Equity Council, working within an intersectional framework, will collaborate with the Ottawa Police Service to increase the OPS’s ability to work more effectively with Indigenous, racialized, and faith-based communities in Ottawa.

  2. The objectives of the Council

    1. Community and police service members will provide meaningful and honest feedback about the ongoing relationship with the community and police.
    2. Community members will provide strategic advice, based on input from the community, to the Ottawa Police Service on how to improve the relationship.  
    3. Community members will provide engagement support when a critical incident occurs between the community and the police.
    4. Police members will offer insights into police processes and systems to influence positive change within the police systems while recognizing the limitations of the police structure.
    5. Police service members will be advocates for change within the police service.
    6. The CEC will provide suggestions to change OPS systems and processes.

  3. Outcomes for the Council

    The three outcomes for the work of the Council are:

    1. To improve relationships between Indigenous, racialized and faith-based communities and the Ottawa Police Service.
    2. To see changes within the OPS are initiated to develop and maintain strength-based relationships with Indigenous, racialized and faith-based communities.
    3. An increase in the accountability relationship between the police to the Ottawa community.

    Specific actions will be identified to achieve these outcomes and to measure the progress in the work of the CEC. The CEC will develop and work with an annual Work Plan that relates to the three outcomes.

  4. A principle-based relationship

    • Solution focused
    • Strength based
    • Transparent
    • Respectful and honest

    Principles will continue to be developed by the CEC that will inform the work of the Council.

Roles and Responsibilities

  1. Collective roles and responsibilities of the Council

    The roles of the council are:

    1. Respond to the community around specific situations and facilitate resolution within the OPS (Bridge or liaison role).
    2. Provide advice and solutions from a bigger perspective (post incidents and based on thematic trends) on the relationships between OPS and the community.
    3. Provide advice and solutions to the OPS around internal changes that they need to make to address thematic trends.

  2. Individual Council members’ roles and responsibilities

    1. Attend Council meetings every second month.
    2. Adhere to the Code of Conduct of the Council.
    3. Work on at least one committee or work group.
    4. Meet with members of the public (outside of your community) at least once a year to get feedback on the relationship with the police (this will be part of the work plan.).
    5. Use the key communication messages developed by the Council when participating in the public meetings.
    6. Stay connected to your nominated community organization through a formal accountability mechanism (e.g. attending meetings to give and receive feedback).

  3. Chairpersons’ role and responsibilities

    The OPS and Community Chairpersons and Vice-Chairpersons

    • The Council has four leadership positions:
      • Community Chair
      • Community Vice-Chair
      • OPS Chair
      • OPS Vice-Chair
    • The OPS positions are part of the Executive command.
    • The Community positions are selected by the CEC.

    The Co-Chairs have responsibilities to:

    1. Work with the Facilitator in preparing the agenda.
    2. Follow up on specific actions that come out of each meeting.
    3. Support the conversations in a leadership role, including elevating the conversations to strategic discussions.
    4. Speak to the media on the collective positions of the Council.
    5. With the facilitator, address conflict of interest and violations of the code of conduct.

    The OPS Chairperson has the responsibility to ensure that items that are for the Chief of Police are shared in a timely manner that reflects the advice of the Council.

  4. Facilitator’s role and responsibilities

    The Facilitator will support the process of the Council including:

    1. Work with the Chairpersons in preparing the agenda.
    2. Facilitate the Council meetings, including summarizing discussions and decisions.
    3. With the co-chairs, address conflict of interest and violations of the code of conduct.
    4. Provide templates and processes to support the Council in their work.
    5. Ensure that the administrative supports are in place for the Council.

  5. Administrative support functions

    The Administrative support functions are required to support the smooth operations of the Council.  The tasks are divided amongst the OPS Chair’s office, the OPS-CEC members and the Facilitator’s office. The administrative tasks include:

    • Attend all meetings of the Council and record the deliberations.  Prepare the minutes and submit no later than 2 weeks after the meeting.
    • Coordinate the logistical support to the meetings, including the organizing of the meetings.
    • Maintain updated contact information for all Council and committee members.
    • Ensure that all members of the Council and committees are informed of meetings.

  6. Respect, Values and Inclusion Directorate and DRR roles and responsibilities

    The Respect, Values and Inclusion Directorate and the Diversity and Race Relations section of the Ottawa Police Services will provide ongoing logistical, management and administrative support to the Community Equity Council including:

    • Managing the budget for the Council.
    • Supervision and support to people providing support to the Council.
    • Retaining the records and the corporate history of the Council (currently with the Facilitator’s contract).

    DRR manages the logistical support to individual Council meetings (space rentals, food etc.)

Selection of Council Members

  1. Membership criteria

    The criteria for being a Council member is based on a matrix that will be reviewed and updated each time a selection process occurs. Selection criteria will relate to:

    • Community Identity
    • Intersectional Identity
    • Strategic skills
    • Community relationship to the police (arrests, incidents of being stopped)
    • Community incidences (gangs, drugs)
    • Cross-sector relationship skills

  2. Selection process to the Council

    1. Community members
      • There will be an open and transparent recruitment process for community members, including a clear description of the qualifications that are needed to be on the Council.
      • The membership criteria (above) will form the basis for selection of membership to the Council.
      • The recruitment information will be distributed broadly throughout the community.
      • The process will include an application form, signed agreement to the Mandate, submission of resume, letter of interest and a letter from a community organization that the candidate has some accountable relationship with.
      • All final candidates for the Council will go through an interview process.
    2. Ottawa Police Service members
      • Council membership from the Ottawa Police Service is based on position and includes all Executive OPS members including:
        • Deputy Chiefs (Co-Chair)
        • Deputy Chief
        • Chief Administrative Officer
        • All Superintendents
        • Human Resources
        • Director of Respect, Inclusion and Values
        • And others as identified.
    3. OPS Youth Advisory Council (YAC)
      • The CEC has designated two spaces for members of the OPS Youth Advisory Council. They would ideally represent YAC leadership and/or be a representative of the Indigenous, faith-based or racialized communities.
    4. Indigenous Elders
      • The Council will work with the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition to select three Elders to represent the Indigenous (First Nation, Inuit and Métis) community in Ottawa. The Elders will rotate so that there is one Elder available for each Council meeting.
    5. Resource People to the OPS
      • Staff Sergeant, Diversity and Race Relations
      • Manager of Strategic Partnership & Engagement
      • Others as required
    6. Ex Officio Members
      • The Chief of Police is an ex-officio member of the CEC.

  3. Terms

    1. Community Council members will be on the Council for two to three year terms, and up to a maximum of six years.
    2. Community Council members will need to take two years off after their six years before being eligible to apply again for the Council.
    3. Police Council members are assigned to the Council through their position. Should their position change, the OPS member will transfer their knowledge to the police member replacing them in their Council role.

  4. Removal of Council Members

    The removal of Council members is considered a very serious situation and would not be done without deliberations between the Council member, the two Co-Chairs and the Facilitator. There are a number of reasons that council members would be removed from the Council.

    1. Attendance: Council members who miss three meetings in one year will be asked to reevaluate their commitment. If they cannot reliably attend, they will be asked to remove themselves from the Council.
    2. Behaviour: The Community Equity Council will conduct its work based on a Code of Conduct that is agreed upon by the Council Members. Council members who violate the Code of Conduct will be spoken to outside of the meeting with a clear explanation of the violation and the expected change. If the behavior does not change or improve after a discussion has occurred and sufficient time has been given to show evidence of change, the Co-Chairs will bring forward a motion to the full Council for the member to be removed. The organization that is connected to the Council member will be informed if a Council member is removed.
    3. Accountability: Each Community Council member has been asked to identify an organization that they will ensure accountability to. Each Community Council member will be required to fill out the Accountability template and update throughout the year on their accountability activities (see Appendix A).
    4. Police Members: Police members are accountable to their internal performance management system. Concerns that are not resolved through discussions and interventions by the Co-Chairs and/or Facilitator with the CEC-OPS member will be directed to their supervisor.

How We Will Work Together

  1. Community equity Council meetings

    1. Frequency of meetings: Council meetings will happen six times a year. The Council will meet every other month, starting in January of each calendar year. Council meetings will be held in January, March, May, July, September and November of each year.

      Committee meetings will be held the alternative months when the Council is not meeting.

    2. Agenda preparation: A standard agenda will be developed that will support the Council deliberations and will ensure that there is time for: timely discussions around current issues happening in the community and conversations and recommendations coming from the Committee work.

  2. Community Equity Council Processes

    1. Code of Conduct: The Four Agreements are currently being used as our Code of Conduct. (see Appendix C)
    2. Meeting process: The meetings will be facilitated to support full participation by each Council member. The discussions will be focused and be referenced to the mandate. In preparing for discussions, a briefing note or presentation will be provided so that Council members can start the discussion with the same foundational information. A round will be conducted so that we hear from each member of the Council on key discussions and decisions. Before the end of each meeting, a summary will be provided on the key messages coming out of the Council including decisions. These will be uploaded to the website and shared publicly 24 hours after the meeting.
    3. Meeting minutes and key messages: Meeting minutes are prepared by the Administrative Support person to the Community Equity Council. The minutes will be a high level summary of the discussions and decisions made. The key messages, agreed by the Council at the end of each session, will be inserted into the minutes.
    4. Addressing conflict: Conflict is natural and healthy in any group environment. Conflict at the table and in Council discussions will be respectful. When there is conflict between individuals and/or groups within the Council, we will require Council members to initiate resolution of a conflict between themselves. If they cannot reach a resolution, they can ask the Co-Chairs and/or Facilitator to help resolve the issues. Conflicts that are adversely affecting the Council will be addressed by the Co-Chairs and the Facilitator in a pro-active, constructive way.
    5. Conflict of Interest: In some discussion within the Council it may be important to identify a conflict of interest. Council members can declare a conflict or the co-chairs or facilitator can name a conflict. A conflict of interest can be: where family members or close friends of a Council member are involved in a specific situation or where the situation includes police members that a Council member directly supervises. The Co-Chairs and facilitator will decide on whether the conflict will adversely impact the discussions or decisions and how to address it.
    6. Guests and public participation: Council meetings are not open to the public.

  3. Decision-Making Process

    The decisions that the Council makes will primarily be recommendations to the police on how to make improvements around their relationship between the OPS and the Indigenous, racialized and faith-based communities. The decision-making process will be a modified consensus model.

    1. Appropriate time will be given to have full discussions to support informed decisions. Specific time will be allocated in the meeting agenda for the discussion for each item and can be extended when necessary.
    2. Using the consensus model, the table will have the opportunity to discuss the item and identify whether the Council has consensus.
    3. The 1-6 ranking adopted at the meeting is:
      1. Fully support
      2. Support with reservations
      3. Acceptable
      4. Will not block it, can live with it
      5. Need more information or discussion in order to support
      6. No; cannot accept it.
    4. If everyone is at level #4 or above, consensus has been reached.
    5. If there is consensus in the room with some reservations, the reservations will be considered in order to make the decision stronger. If this requires changes to the item, these will be discussed and posted in the meeting.
    6. If there is no consensus and there is a time restriction, the group will move to a vote.
    7. A decision has been achieved if there is agreement by at least 75% of the CEC at the meeting.
    8. If the motion goes to a vote, each person who is not part of the majority can request to have their name noted along with the concerns that prevented them from supporting the motion.

  4. CEC Committees

    There are a number of Standing Committees for the Community Equity Council.  Each will have their own Terms of Reference. The mandates for each committee are:

    1. Committee mandates

      Communications Committee: This committee has three responsibilities:

      • Review and ensure that the CEC website is up to date.
      • Develop and update, as needed, a communications policy (including social media policy) for the CEC.
      • Review and summarize the Community Engagement feedback and present a report to the CEC on the issues emerging from the community.

      Training and Recruitment: Track concerns and offer solutions related to training and recruitment in the OPS. Specific focus is on training on better supporting OPS members to work effectively with Faith based, Indigenous and Racialized community members.

      EDI: This committee is focused on providing input into the EDI plan, reporting and implementation within the OPS. The committee also has responsibilities to review and work on recommendations that came out of the OPS reports relevant to the Faith Based, Indigenous and Race Based communities, including the Use of Force Report.

      Anti-Racism Committee: This committee will look at ways that the OPS can work with communities who have identified the OPS as being racist or where incidents occur and racism is named as one of the dynamics in the situation; and guide and support OPS in Identifying common challenges and issues relating to anti-racism. These will be opportunities to learn to deepen an anti-racism practice in OPS. Specific attention will be on anti-black racism.

      Indigenous Relations Committee: The committee will work on areas that need strengthening between the Indigenous community and the OPS.

      2SLGBTQQIA+: The committee will identify and work on areas that need strengthening between the LGBTQ2S+ community and the OPS that intersect sexual orientation, gender fluidity, faith, race and Indigeneity.

      Trending Issues The committee will review issues that come from the community. This committee will support existing OPS processes to resolve the issue in a constructive and strength based way while also providing recommendations for better or new processes.

      NRT Committee: The committee will examine the Neighbourhood Response Team’s (NRT) effectiveness in responding to Faith based, Indigenous and Racialized community members and offer suggestions for improvement.

      Leadership Committee: Committee made up of the leadership of the CEC. They respond to issues that arise between meetings.

      Nominations Committee: The committee will support recruitment of CEC members including doing the interviews and making recommendations to the Leadership Committee.

    2. Membership to the Committees: Committee members will be made up of Community Equity Council members, community members and Ottawa Police Service members. Community and OPS members can indicate at any time an interest in a committee. An open recruitment process will be done for committees as needed. The Nomination Committee will be activated as needed.
    3. Co-Chairs for Committees: There will be two co-chairs (one from the OPS and one from the community). Both co-chairs will currently be sitting on the Community Equity Council. When a community co-chair cannot be found from the CEC, the committee will identify a community co-chair from the membership.
    4. Frequency of Meetings: Committee meetings will be held six times a year, in the alternative month that the Council is not meeting. The months for committee meetings are: February, April, June, August, October and December. Committees can also plan supplementary meetings to complete the work of the committee.
    5. Supports to Committees: The OPS co-chair will provide supports to the committee including calling of the meetings and meeting minutes are produced.

  5. CEC Ad Hoc Workgroups

    The Community Equity Council can form a working group to respond to a specific situation. The members of the working group will be identified based on the expertise and experience required to address the situation. The mandate of the workgroup and the membership will be decided by the Council.

    A Work Group will have a time limited mandate until the situation is resolved or the work has been absorbed into a CEC committee.

    The only ongoing ad hoc committee is the Recruitment working group.

  6. Use of Force Review Panel

    The Use of Force Review Panel established by the Ottawa Police Services will have a working relationship with the CEC to support recommendations coming out of the panel being able to move forward. The Panel has its own Terms of References.

Our role in the Community - Accountability

  1. Communication processes

    1. Formal CEC Media spokespeople: The Community and OPS Co-Chairs are the media spokespeople for the Community Equity Council unless another person has been delegated to speak on behalf of the Council on a specific issue.
    2. Collective media messages: The Community Equity Council or the Communications Committee, will develop collective media messages that reflect the overall direction of the CEC. All communication messages are approved by CEC Leadership Committee. Those messages can be shared by all Council members if approached by the media.
    3. Website: The Community Equity Council has a presence on two websites.

      The content for the website is to be reviewed by the Communications Committee every six months and make recommendations to Leadership for updates. The management and technical updating of the OPS website will be the responsibility of the OPS and the external website is the responsibility of the CEC Facilitator.

    4. Social Media: The Community Equity Council (CEC) will establish and maintain an official social media presence, which will be maintained by the Communications Committee and supported by the Ottawa Police Service Diversity and Race Relations section.

      The social media presence will represent official communications, issued on behalf of the Community Equity Council, by CEC Co-Chairs.

      Social media will be used to convey official statements such as media releases.

      Media releases issued by the CEC Co-Chairs will be relayed to all CEC members before transmission.

      All community members are free to comment and speak on all matters that affect their community or upon which they have expertise or working knowledge, by way of their own social media accounts, but acknowledge that only the CEC Co-Chairs are official spokespersons for the Council and that other Council members are personally responsible for the content they publish.

      CEC Members in their capacity as community members may be asked for official comment on issues concerning the CEC. If the comment requires a collective response, these requests should be redirected to the CEC Co-Chairs.

      CEC Members in their capacity as sworn officers or civilian members acknowledge that they are subject to Ottawa Police Service Policy 2.22 which governs social media.

      CEC Members should follow common sense social media engagement guidelines, which generally include: relaying timely and accurate information in a respectful and honest manner, while being sensitive to the privacy of others.

      CEC Members should be mindful that social media is public space and that any statement, no matter inconsequential or obscure, can be seen by the public and the media and reflect upon their status as CEC Members (Approved and added at the January 15th, 2019 meeting).

    5. Tracking CEC Communication: The Communications committee will track CEC media stories.

  2. Accountability of the Council to the Ottawa Community

    1. Individual Accountability: Each Community Council member has been asked to identify an organization that they will ensure accountability to. That accountability includes: updating the organization and getting their feedback on the issues that are arising at the Council and, if possible, presenting a public report through that organization (e.g. AGA or community gathering) on the work of the Community Equity Council. The Council member is required to complete their accountability relationship template on an annual basis.
    2. Annual work plan with performance indicators: The Community Equity Council will work with an annual work plan that has specific outcomes and performance measures. The work plan will be developed at the first meeting of each year and will be based on the issues identified by the community and OPS around Indigenous, racialized and faith-based communities.
    3. Annual Orientation: An annual orientation will be provided that includes an overview of the Ottawa Police Services, the data related to the communities in Ottawa and the intersectional approach.
    4. Annual evaluation of the Council: The Community Equity Council will do an annual evaluation that will include an individual assessment by each Council member and a group evaluation. The results will be used to support improvements and changes to the Council. The evaluation will be done in the fall of each year.
    5. Annual CEC report: An annual report will be developed each year in late fall that will assess the progress of the Council, including the areas the Council focused on, the impact of the work and lessons learned.

  3. Evaluation and Revision of the Relationship Framework

    The Relationship Framework will be reviewed and updated annually at the first meeting of the new year.

Appendix A – Accountability Template

Appendix B – Definitions

Indigenous: Includes First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in Canada. The word Aboriginal is also used to describe Indigenous people.

Intersectionality: The complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups. (Merriam-Webster dictionary)

The CEC applies the OPS Inclusive Language Guide and the 2SLGBTQI+ Language Guide in our materials and discussions.