City releases diversity training documents, more to come

George Mathewson Rejecting the advice of its own legal counsel, Sarnia has agreed to release additional information related to city council’s botched diversity training.

George Mathewson

Rejecting the advice of its own legal counsel, Sarnia has agreed to release additional information related to city council’s botched diversity training.

On Monday, City Hall released a batch of documents compiled by the law firm of Aird & Berlis LLP related to the Nov. 15 closed-door council training session on Zoom, which was facilitated by the Kojo Institute.

The documents include a letter from Kojo in which the company, as first reported in The Journal, rescinded its agreement to provide additional training in Sarnia after some unnamed councillors subjected trainer Kike Ojo-Thompson to what it called “undisputed, uncorrected and unabated hostility.”

Ojo-Thompson, who is Black, founded the Institute in 1999 and provides training in diversity, equity, and social justice.

Although the letter is now public, some councillors were unhappy that the minutes and agenda of a Dec. 13 closed-door meeting were heavily redacted. During that session, councillors debated whether to release the Kojo letter.

Coun. Mike Stark described the minutes and agenda as “virtually 100%” redacted. “It was not a release, it was black lines,” he said.

Lawyer Mike Pappas of Aird & Berlis, who was retained to advise council on what it should and shouldn’t release, said the redactions were necessary because they relate to things other than the training session.

He warned that, legally, the city could face “further implications” if it disclosed personal information protected under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

But in a 5 to 3 vote, council agreed to release the blacked-out information anyway.

“It sends the message to the public, when they see all the redactions, that somehow we are trying to hide something,” Stark said.

The records released on April 11 can be found here:

https://sarnia.civicweb.net/FileStorage/B05EC2A7E30B48AA87DAA5B9F56051A8-Aird%20Berlis%20Report%20with%20Attachments.pdf