Following the news that Councillor Terina Shaw will not be facing any sanctions following three complaints to the city’s integrity commissioner, one of the complaints says she is disappointed.
After Regina city council voted not to sanction Shaw for ‘disrespectful’ and ‘unprofessional’ comments she made toward another councillor; Shaw revealed that another two complaints against her had been deemed ‘unfounded.’
The two other complaints, which included a complaint from 47 signatories and Erica Beaudin, executive director of Regina Treaty/Status Indian Services, alleged that comments made by Shaw were racist, promoted stereotypes and violated the City of Regina’s code of ethics bylaw.
The complaints alleged that during a January 26 meeting of Regina’s executive council, Shaw made comments that implied Indigenous men are sexual predators.
The second incident occurred during a June 15 meeting of city council, where Shaw commented about Indigenous peoples choosing to be homeless.
Interim City Manager Jim Nicol confirmed there would be no investigation into Shaw’s comments.
Susana Deranger, one of the 47 people who signed one of the complaints and who is indigenous, said she didn’t expect sanctions but expected something to come from them.
She said that one of the most concerning parts for her is that the integrity commissioner can’t even deal with the complaints.
“It is quite interesting or disconcerting that the integrity commission had no jurisdiction to deal with this,” she stated. “This is racism that is aimed at Indigenous people. One white woman insults another white woman, and all of a sudden, she has jurisdiction.”
Shaw revealed that he suffers from a severe brain injury and attention deficit disorder (ADD) which can cause her to ‘say things without stopping and thinking.’
Deranger said she is also concerned about Shaw’s comments regarding mental health.
“I’m also very disconcerted about how the mental health community is going to be stigmatized now by her assertion that someone with her ADD has made her racist. If you don’t have a filter and you don’t have racist thought, there is nothing to unfilter,” she said. “I have ADD, I know many people with ADD and ADHD, and they do not conduct themselves like that.”
“If you are not racist, you are not going to make those comments,” she added.
Deranger explained that this situation could have been put to rest if Councilor Shaw had apologized for her comments.
“We had a meeting with her, and I said whether her racism was intentional or unintentional, it still had an impact, and you need to make that right,” she recalled. “When she said it was unfounded, I did nothing wrong; it shows that she had no remorse, and she’s had since June to apologize, and she hasn’t.”
As for a future apology from the Ward 7 Councillor, Deranger said it wouldn’t be enough now.
“An apology is strong enough because a true apology means that there is reparation, so if I do something to harm, then you must find something to make reparation for the harm that you’ve done, and she is not even willing to apologize.”
Overall, Deranger said that if they would have at least sanctioned her, then she would have at least known there were consequences for her actions.
“If you don’t show someone there are consequences for their actions, then how do they change.”
Despite now repercussions or apology from Shaw, Deranger said they had been promised some action.
“The Mayor and City Council has made some commitments to us that they will move forward. One of them is that there will be anti-racism and anti-oppression training.”