TORONTO AREA INTERFAITH COUNCIL (TAIC)

"FAITH AND COMMUNITY SAFETY"

Second Annual Interfaith Breakfast with Mayor Miller and City Councillors

     The Toronto Area Interfaith Council (TAIC) organized a successful second annual breakfast with Toronto  City Mayor David Miller and a number of City Councillors and staff. Attendance was open to all, and some two-hundred people from many faith groups attended the event.

    This year there was a theme of community safety. Mayor David Miller reported on his campaign to outlaw handguns altogether, and a number of fact sheet were made available in the handouts. A knowledgeable panel of people actually involved with this high priority issue for Toronto was ably moderated by Richard Landau, Executive Producer at CTS (Channel 9 on cable) and host of Faith Journal.

     Avrum Rosensweig works with Ve’ahavta, http://veahavta.org  , a Canadian-based Jewish humanitarian and relief organization operating in Canada with the aboriginal peoples, and with native peoples around the world.  Nikhat Rashid is the project manager of the Toronto-based Faith of Life Network, www.faithoflife.net,     a non-sectarian Muslim initiative aimed at educating, informing and engaging in dialogue within the Muslim community and building bridges with society as a whole, in order to address the negative and inaccurate perceptions of Islam and Muslims. Thiva Paramsothy is a youth outreach worker with the Malvern Family Resource Centre, and President of the Canadian Tamil Youth Development Centre, www.cantyd.org .  Rev. Alan Nicholson is Chair of the African-Canadian Christian Network, www.accntoronto.com , 18 churches partnering with community organizations, which administers a three-million-dollar grant from the Ontario Government  to reduce violence among black youth, by fostering and enhancing programs that enrich the lives   of young people and their families.

     Many of the causes of violence, especially among youth – who often have not much to occupy them after school – were discussed, and encouraging examples were given of programs to counteract them. A passionate panel of informed and directly involved people set a great precedent for future interfaith breakfasts. However, it can only be called a success if it results in some follow-through. Alas, the suggested discussions at each table about current initiatives and future steps by the city and by the faith groups did not really happen, due to the lateness of the hour, and most of the well-prepared sheets of discussion points on “Exploring the Role of the Religious Sector in Making a Safe City Safer” did not get filled out by people or handed in.

    The City cannot do this important work alone. Faith groups must be encouraged to develop programs in this area vital to all of us, and especially to our children. For further information and assistance, please contact Michael Skaljin, Supervisor, Community Crisis Response Program, City of Toronto , 416-392-8710, cell 416-526-0588, mskalji@toronto.ca , also a member of the TAIC Community Safety Work Group.

  Reported by Rev. Leslie Gabriel Mezei, Publisher, Interfaith Unity

  Pictures by Rev. Terry Weller, Editor, Interfaith Unity 

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