Brampton’s State of the City 2020: The snoozefest that wasn’t?

BY CHRISTINA GWIRA

On Tuesday, February 4^th, 2020, I was given the opportunity to attend the Brampton Board of Trade’s State of the City. This was the first time that I had attended or heard about this event, but was super grateful for the invitation that was extended to me. When it comes to events like these, I tense up for two reasons. The first is in respect to my age, will I be the youngest person in attendance? The second is in respect to, well, the obvious… will there be people on the stage, within the crowd, on my table who look like me? Pleasantly, the event took place LITERALLY around the corner from my house; I could have walked there if I wanted, but this was a business event, so turning up with a light sweat was ill-advised. So I Lyfted there instead.

I’ve driven – and ran – in front of the Millennium Banquet Hall for over 5 years, and inside was impressive, as was the food and service… kinda. After checking my jacket, I met an elder in the bathroom, and we were both there… adjusting our wigs; I kid you not. It was an incredible, bonding moment, which just further made me feel out of place at the event that I was walking into. I mean, if myself and an elder were both, changing a big aspect of ourselves to look… “presentable” for the company that we were about to delve into, was this really a space that I wanted to place myself in?

For about a year now, I’ve been contemplating whether or not to join a board of trade; whether the Brampton one, or find a way to finagle my way into Mississauga’s BOT (that’s short for Board of Trade, as an FYI). I asked another young, Brampton entrepreneur who is currently a member of Brampton’s BOT whether or not he found value in an event that he attended a  couple of days after the State of the City event; my inquiry was met with the shrug emoji. This event really and truly didn’t persuade me to join a board of trade, but it did allow me to learn more about the great work that is happening all over the city, and for that, I was happy.

One thing that really ground my gears about the event was the lack of respect that the attendees had for most of the speakers, especially the MC, CEO Todd Letts. It reminded me of my days during assembly at St. Edmund Campion, and that’s putting it mildly. I really enjoyed meeting Vanessa White, the current chair of Brampton BOT. I was introduced to her by the dope Clare Barnnett, Director Economic Development & Culture. The three of us gushed at Vanessa’s beautiful green dress, and talked about the pains of wearing panty hose and dealing with suits; both the item of clothing and the pish-posh people from Toronto.

I was really grateful for the work Chief Nishan, who was previously profiled within Toronto Caribbean Newspaper by Simone Jennifer Smith. It really touched my heart that the downtown Brampton core was getting a mini-police station. I travel and work in Downtown Brampton every day, and having more police presence is definitely welcomed. What really warmed my heart was hearing about how they were testing out a new program that paired officers with mental health professionals to be able to assist the police force with diagnosing whether a situation required police attention, or needed the help of a medical professional instead.

I was also really pleased to hear about council’s decision to call a health crisis in Brampton. A few weeks ago, many took to Facebook to encourage Brampton residents to take a drive down to Georgetown’s hospital, if they felt that they needed emergency health help. It was good to hear that Premier Ford has heard the call of the council, and is “working” and doing something about the situation, which is truly a crisis.

Overall, I think that Mayor Brown and the team at City Council are doing their best to solve the problems and issues that the city of Brampton is facing. Vanessa’s address was focused on the word momentum, and I feel like Brampton is definitely making moves in making itself a city of the future.