durhamregion.com | This Week | Thursday, July 14, 2022 | 24 Ask Our Backyard Specialists to Help You Create Your Own Oasis Custom Pools • Swim Spas • Spas • Outdoor Living Space Outdoor Kitchens • Patio Design 69 Taunton Rd. W| Oshawa 905.571.0189 | www.tauntonpools.com FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED FOR 38 YEARS -11 time Readers Choice Winner NEW LOCATION OUTDOOR LIVING aT ITs BesT! HIRE AN APPRENTICE - A SMART BUSINESS MOVE Looking to attract and retain good workers? We provide: • Financial incentives (up to $20,000*) so you can hire with confidence and sponsor apprentices • An Employer Resources Toolkit, Diversity, Inclusiveness and Equity (DEI) training for SMEs, Labour and Employment Laws (LEL) for HR training and so much more • Access to our Employer's Resource Kit on creating an inclusive environment Integrate apprentices into your workplace! Get to know the benefits of the Red Seal APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM FOR EMPLOYERS Contact us today: Hire an apprentice today! Let us help you recruit motivated Red Seal skilled trades jobseekers. To learn more about participating in the Apprenticeship Program, Go to www.ApprenticeRedSeal.ca We will help you find the best candidate for your Red Seal skilled trades operations from our existing databases that matches candidates to your business needs. There are many diversity and inclusion conversations happening in Durham as Canada continues to promote a more equitable terrain for marginalized groups, such as our BIPOC and 2SLGBTQI+ communities. On the flip side of that coin, many persons are centring power and privilege and unpacking what that means exactly. Does it mean that all white cisgender heterosexual men are to be blamed for all the woes that we are facing in society? Or does it mean that some persons because of their historical positioning in society and around the world on a whole have been privileged with greater access to resources and a better quality of life? Dutch anthropologist and journalist Joris Luyendijk writes about men like him of the same skin colour, sexual identity, culture, social class and education. He notes that, "We don't know what it's like to be discriminated against, to adapt to another culture or another social class. Because of our training, we can also get the idea that we are the smartest in the class. All of that together is very personality deforming." He says, "Just like everyone else, boys like me are told: Follow your heart, be yourself, do your best and you'll be fine. All other people discover that this is not true, but we do not." -- Joris adds, "With us, it beats for the rest of our lives." Maybe, just maybe, it is not solely hard work, hours of sweat, tears and blood that got the persons we now see in positions of power and privilege to be there. Could there still be work for us to do at the systemic level? This is a call for us to be brave and confront the personal and institutional work that needs to be done to bring about a more equitable society, where it means equal access to opportunities whether you are born a girl, or have a disability, or are a child of a refugee or a single-parent mom, whether you are born into poverty or to parents who are illiterate. Our prime minister set the example with gender parity in Parliament and when asked how he could do this, his response was simple: it is 2015. It is 2022 and the answer is simple -- we cannot do this work alone. We need allies in our power holders to be socially and corporately responsible. There is room on that ladder for many more. Maybe, just maybe, the downtrodden are not on the ladder not because they are lazy, or slow learners or parasitic -- maybe they just need better life chances. Rona Jualla van Oudenhoven is a resident of Durham; she currently sits on several Durham local councils and is attached to Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands as diversity, equity and inclusion strategist. UNPACKING POWER AND PRIVILEGE IN DURHAM OPINION RONA JUALLA VAN OUDENHOVEN ASKS, 'COULD THERE STILL BE WORK FOR US TO DO AT THE SYSTEMIC LEVEL?' RONA JUALLA VAN OUDENHOVENColumn This is a call for us to be brave and confront the personal and institutional work that needs to be done to bring about a more equitable society. A STRONGER VOICE We recognize that diversity is the strength of our communities and we are inviting you to share your voice in our publications. DURHAMREGION.COM/COMMUNITYDIVERSITY