Ok I have been out of the mix but I have just dipped back into #yyccc's systemic racism public hearing and Coun. Sean Chu is asking why people haven't been talking about how Canada is also a very tolerant country.
Coun. Chu says 40% of city council are minorities, and that shows that the vast majority of Calgary is not racist.
Chu is talking about the importance of having a conversation about going forward with the police. He says there's a reason why it's the biggest budget item in the city budget, because law and order is needed.
I'm not quite sure what is going on right now, I was told by Coun. Carra earlier that they would probably close the public hearing and set the recommendations aside until they come back to council later this month. #yyccc
Coun. Davison is asking whether they should perhaps take some time to digest everything that has been heard after the three-day public hearing. That was what I thought was happening up until now.
Nenshi says he agrees with Coun. Davison that #yyccc will do more work on the recommendations before council but after the three-day hearing it would be an "incredible disservice" not to take some step tonight.
Davison says he isn't sure what to do at this moment and he fears saying or doing the wrong thing, so he isn't comfortable moving to refer the recommendations to council.
Coun. Carra says he thinks a lot of people are likely feeling "gutted" to see councillors getting into the weeds of governance instead of taking a productive step forward.
Apparently they're currently talking about an amendment to an amendment. So that's how far down the rabbit hole we currently are. Sorry I don't have the full picture of what's going on rn. #yyccc
Where council goes from here is the big, big question coming out of all this: calgaryherald.com/news/local-new… #yyccc
Also earlier today the CPS chief, the heads of the police commission and the two unions representing officers issued a statement acknowledging systemic racism and saying they want to work on next steps. #yyccc
That statement seems to be partly what the current debate is focused on. I need to see the amendment... and its amendment. #yyccc
Results! Here's what's on the floor right now. I believe the piece in bold and underlined is the amendment to the amendment currently being voted on: 
Amendment to amendment is carried. So that's approved. Vote on the main amendment coming up. #yyccc
Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart: "This is a defining moment in our city and it will make a broad and bold statement ... I know how important those two words are after three days of public hearings." (I think she's referring to words systemic racism.) #yyccc
Committee just approved the amended recommendations unanimously.
Carra says he's upset that "procedural wet work" has "derailed" thoughtfulness about the last three days of public hearing.
Coun. Sean Chu: "Yes, there is racism. However, I don't hear anyone saying thanks to Canada for allowing me and my family to immigrate here. Many millions of immigrants come to Canada ... Calgarians are very, very tolerant people." #yyccc
Chu says unintentionally spelling or pronouncing someone's name wrong isn't racism and imposing a five-minute time limit on someone's speaking time isn't racism.
Coun. Jyoti Gondek: "The systemic racism we're trying to combat is rooted in the system we're trying to use to combat it. That is impossible. I have listened and I need to be so much better." #yyccc
Gondek: "We will do the best we can. It's gonna be ugly. Buckle up." #yyccc
Coun. Druh Farrell: "I've been in a lot of hearings over my years and this one is the most meaningful and the most painful. I heard so much anger and so much pain from our neighbours. ... Not all of us experience the city in the same way." #yyccc
Farrell: "If we don't make a difference in the way people experience their city in an equitable way, we will have failed as a council." #yyccc
Carra: "I came into this thinking I had a very strong handle on systemic racism ... but I also knew I was going to get a serious masterclass in the difference between theory and practice. And I did." #yyccc
Carra: "I have been a big supporter of our police force over the years as a best and brightest example of community policing ... and that might be true, but oh my goodness, if you are not convinced that we have a long way to go to make it right..." #yyccc
Carra giving a shoutout to Gene and the IT crew that helps the meetings run including the remote aspect of everything. Gene is TRULY the biggest hero at city hall. Things could not run without him and his team.
Nenshi: "I have presided over thousands and thousands of public hearings. And the number of people of colour, of Black people and Indigenous people we've heard from in the last 3 days is an order of magnitude higher than the number ... I've seen in the last 10 years."
Nenshi says there are clearly people that the city doesn't often hear from in public hearings or otherwise. #yyccc
Nenshi actually sounds like he's getting a bit choked up here, which I have never seen from him in my experience reporting on this city. He's talking about the story of his parents coming to Canada, racism he's experienced.
Nenshi: "I haven't had any encounters with the Calgary Police Service ... but I have been on the ground with a knee in my back and a gun to my head and told 'you matched the description of a suspect.'" #yyccc
Nenshi notes that nothing he's ever gone through compares to what Black or Indigenous people have gone through, what women of colour experience. #yyccc
Nenshi: "Despite being heartbroken, exhausted and angry, I return to a place of gratitude." Says it's possible to make change in Calgary — "we can do it here." #yyccc
Coun. Chahal is closing now. He says he's proud of everyone who told their stories, sometimes felt he wanted to tell a few of his own, but "I'll have my time." #yyccc
Chahal: "For too long governments and bureaucrats have paid lip service to this issue. ... Your voices will lead to change if you are committed to remaining vocal." #yyccc
Chahal says in Canada, and particularly in the West, people have ridiculed and blamed Indigenous people and never accepted them as equal. "We were raised on a whitewashed version of history." #yyccc
#yyccc now voting on this at the committee level. Although I think all council members are here and voting, this will be up for discussion again at council. It's carried unanimously.
Nenshi says the statement from CPS, police commission and police unions today is "truly historic" and it happened through "leadership" from a lot of people, he's thanking the volunteers who sit on police commission.
Nyall DaBreo is about to speak. He's still at council and has been sitting through the public hearings through all three days, which is an absolutely heroic effort for someone who is not a #yyccc member.
DaBreo says on the one hand he's happy to see the city where he was born and raised acknowledge systemic racism, but that's after hearing three days of stories, and the people who spoke out have been speaking out about these issues for years. #yyccc
DaBreo: "The accountability has not been there" on police violence. He says it's interesting to see the statement from police come at the same time as the public hearings are putting these issues in the spotlight.
DaBreo: "I'm sitting here with a diverse council. And that's a special moment for me" but he can't pretend things are ok. (Currently in chambers are Nenshi, Chahal, Gondek and Carra. Plus Dr. Malinda Smith.) #yyccc
DaBreo: "I'm a proud Calgarian and a proud Canadian. It doesn't mean I'm going to stop demanding rights and wanting to feel safe." #yyccc
Dr. Malinda Smith, the co-chair of this public hearing, with the final words now. She says it's been a privilege to "experience the gift of storytelling" from so many people over the past three days. #yyccc
Smith: "This is not a moment for bureaucratic exercises. It's a moment for us to hold those stories close ... and think about how we're going to be accountable to each and one of those people who told stories going forward." #yyccc
Smith: "People are weighed down by racism. They're burdened. They're tired." She describes how people told harrowing stories, read poetry, and also showed hope and strength. #yyccc
Smith says we must "sit with the discomfort" of knowing that every space we enter in the city of Calgary is marked by racism. #yyccc
Smith notes how what Nenshi says is right — Calgary and Canada represent a great "experiment" in pluralism but it is also a place where systemic racism exists. Both realities exist at the same time. #yyccc
Someone for the love of god get the video of Dr. Smith's full statement at the end of this hearing and put it out there for everyone to see. To be quite honest everyone needs to hear this in full. I cannot do it justice in tweets.
Smith: "For the longest time in my career I was the only Black woman political scientist in Canada. Now there are six of us."
Smith addressing policing again. "Profiling, I'm sorry, is racist." She's referencing the diversity of the Black population in Canada, but being stopped by police because of the colour of your skin is racism. #yyccc
Smith: "Driving while Black, flying while Muslim, is a thing. ... Basic necessities of life are denied. That's systemic racism." #yyccc
Smith: "Public spaces are for white people is what profiling tells us, what carding tells us." #yyccc
I will say it again: EVERYONE. NEEDS. TO. LISTEN. TO. THIS. ADDRESS. I cannot believe I get to see this on a free public platform.
Smith says of people who spoke at the public hearing: "Their testimonies cannot be in vain. Their traumas cannot have been reanimated in vain." #yyccc
Smith: "This is your moment and your time. ... The gift we were given with those stories is the opportunity to change the narrative of Calgary going forward." #yyccc
The committee meeting is adjourned. The recommendations will be back in front of #yyccc at a meeting on July 20.
I'll have a story on all this in the morning. Good night for now.
