The City of Toronto’s children’s services division has its own dedicated anti-racism group, and whites and other ethnicities are banned from meetings, TheToronto Sun has learned.
The group, called the CABR (confronting anti-Black racism) strategic advisory circle, differs from City Hall’s dedicated CABR unit, made up of a handful of staff at Toronto’s social development division. (There is a third body, the CABR advisory committee, which meets every few months and reports to council.)
A document says membership is limited to no more than 20 “Black staff within children’s services,” a municipal division based out of Metro Hall that helps place kids in child care, assists agencies with programming and services, and also oversees the dozens of Toronto Early Learning and Child Care Services centres, or TELCCS, run by City Hall.
That “terms of reference” document, which the Sun obtained in a freedom-of-information request, says the advisory circle’s role is to provide “advice on the development, implementation and evaluation of initiatives, policies and programs” for children’s services. The group “employs an anti-oppression framework,” the document adds.
It’s unclear how the CABR circle and CABR unit overlap. In a June 2024 email, Jheanelle Anderson, with children’s service’s equity unit, told Kemba Byam, manager of the CABR unit, she had been getting questions “about the purpose of our CABR advisory circle” and was asked to “provide clarification.”
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“We’re concerned that this might open the doors to dismantling the group’s structure, such as its advisory capacity – there may also be confusion about when to engage the CABR division for consultation versus when to engage the children’s services CABR circle,” Anderson wrote. “Would you be able to meet to discuss this?”
A City Hall briefing note says the circle was “established in 2017 intentionally on Afrocentric principles.” The note refers to the CABR circle, as well as an LGBTQ body called Pride 365 and a group centred on disabilities, as “communities of inclusion” meant to “foster a sense of belonging, provide professional development and a support system for members, and provide advice on initiatives impacting equity-deserving groups.”
While the mandate is broad, rules regarding meetings are narrow. According to the terms of reference, meetings are held monthly “at minimum,” plus an annual general meeting and a yearly “full-day strategic planning session.”
While the annual general meeting is “open to all staff across the division,” other gatherings exclude city employees depending on race.
“To be an ally is to be a member of a privileged group who recognizes your privileges, lessens undue impact and is committed to using your power to support those at the margins to address injustice in a way that keeps those groups and their needs centre,” the document adds. “At the discretion of the advisory circle, allies are welcome and invited to participate in the advisory circle; however, they are not able to attend in-camera sessions, and will not be able to vote on any motions put forth by the advisory circle.”
There appear to be no guidelines as to when a meeting can take place in private, and it is unclear what matters are put forward for discussion behind closed doors. But the circle has an explicit mandate to advise senior managers on “key issues” affecting both Black staff and “Black children and families accessing the early years and child-care system.”
Both the briefing note and terms of reference were shared by Anderson in her 2024 email to Byam.
The Sun asked City Hall about the CABR circle, its closed-door meetings policy, its role at children’s services and how it overlaps with the CABR unit. More than a week later, a city spokesman responded with a one-sentence statement: “Initiatives to support staff looking for insight and guidance around the City of Toronto’s confronting anti-Black racism plan are welcome at the city and help foster a wider community of inclusiveness in the workplace.”
The spokesman did confirm, despite Anderson’s concerns, that the circle is still active today.