Councillor Terina Shaw is looking to ‘set the record straight’ with Regina residents after comments she made earlier this year.
Those comments include, during a January 26 meeting of Regina’s executive council, she made comments that implied Indigenous men are sexual predators.
The second set of comments came during a June 15 city council meeting, where Shaw commented about Indigenous peoples choosing to be homeless.
Those comments caused two complaints to be filed, which included a complaint from 47 signatories and Erica Beaudin, executive director of Regina Treaty/Status Indian Services, alleging that comments made by Shaw were racist, promoted stereotypes and violated the City of Regina’s code of ethics bylaw.
“The nature of my well-intentioned inquiry has been misappropriated to represent something completely counter to my values on very important issues such as homelessness, poverty, and racism,” she said.
After meetings with Erica Beaudin and Susana Deranger on September 1, along with Mayor Masters and City Manager Jim Nichol, Shaw said she learned how impactful her questions were to people’s feelings.
Shaw stated that she would be taking the training after hearing from Susan Deranger, who suggested the Ward 7 Councillor take Cross-Cultural Training.
“I want to learn,” she said. “I promised Erica Beaudin, Susan Deranger and Mayor Masters I would take a course in Cross-Cultural Training. I want to do better not because I was sanctioned by the Integrity Commissioner but because I need to understand how I can hurt people’s feelings with questions I asked.”
“I never want to ever have my words, questions or actions hurt Indigenous people or any other culture,” she continued. “I only want to help and serve the people.”
