The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

5 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,M ay 2,2019 theifp.ca by Equal Voice, a national multi-partisan organiza- tion dedicated to electing more women to all levels of political office in Cana- da. In a statement to the Georgetown Independent, Equal Voice Canada com- munications manager Nasha Brownridge said the organization is aware that delegates had differ- ences of opinion regarding the protest events on mul- tiple speakers. "Equal Voice supports diversity of opinion and is proud of delegates who took part in the program, but unequivocally con- demns any form of racism or hate," she said. "We did our best to provide a safe environment for all dele- gates to learn and partici- pate fully in the program, but know that some dele- gates faced backlash from the public and their peers that negatively impacted them and their experi- ence. We have asked dele- gates to reach out to us if they had such experiences so we can appropriately respond." Brownridge said that Equal Voice had support workers and elders on site 24-7 for participants, in ad- dition to having full-time equity and Indigenous co- ordinators on staff. Anti-racism and anti- oppression training was also provided in advance of the event for staff, and on the first day of pro- gramming for delegates, she noted. "Daughters of the Vote is still a new and growing program, and we are com- mitted to learning from these experiences to make 2021 even better and to ad- dress the issues that were raised," she said. Fellow Georgetown na- tive and GDHS alumna Gemma Patey joined the Iyar-Singh sisters at the biennial event - and shared similar sentiments about the racial incidents that occurred. "Although I cannot speak for their experienc- es, I did witness some ac- tions by the media, Equal Voice, the online commu- nity, and even some dele- gates that were racist, ableist, Islamophobic and overall negative towards marginalized delegates, who were told that this would have been a safe space for them to re- present their communities and speak their truths," the 19-year-old said. "It was evidence that there is still much im- provement to be done in Canada, and that my fel- low Daughters of the Vote and I will continue to advo- cate for and be that change." NEWS Continued from page 4 SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT THEIFP.CA Saturday May 25, 2019 10 am - 4 pm Gardening donations Donations of garden equipment and labelled potted plants greatly appreciated. Thrift Shop 68 Main St. N Georgetown (Moore Park Plaza) 905.702.8661 DROP-OFF TIMES Friday May 24, 4pm - 6pm Saturday May 25, 9am - 10am Supporting the animals at the Upper Credit Humane Society DROP-OFF TIMESDROP-OFF TIMES Thrift Shop - 68 Main St. N., Georgetown (Moore Park Plaza) thriftshop@uppercredit.com | 905.702.8661 | uppercredit.com Charitable Registration #893738872RR0001 UPPER CREDIT HUMANE SOCIETY Join us for our annual UCHS Thrift Shop plant and garden sale. May 3, 10, 2019 at 7:30pm May 4, 5, 11, 12, 2019 at 2pm Tickets now Available John Elliott Theatre Box Office: 9 Church St., Georgetown Phone: 905-877-3700 PRESENTED BYPRESENTED BY OPEN ING WEEKEND!