The Covid-19 pandemic has presented Canadian communities with a unique set of challenges over the last year. In its wake, the pandemic has shone a light on the systemic racism, inequities and discrimination prevalent within our society, and has ignited a conversation about equality, fairness and respect. As an expert in the field, Indira Naidoo-Harris will be outlining the pressing need to promote gender equity, diversity and inclusion principles in Canadian institutions and will explore the need to identify and combat systemic discrimination, particularly gender discrimination in Canada. She will tie this broader conversation in with her own personal experiences as a newcomer to Canada, as a national broadcast journalist, public servant and VP of Diversity and Human Rights at a major Canadian university.
Event Speaker: Indira Naidoo-Harris is a trusted public leader, policy-maker, journalist and advocate. Currently serving as the AVP of Diversity & Human Rights at the University of Guelph, Naidoo-Harris is working to foster a culture of inclusion by leading discussion and education efforts about inclusivity, equity and accessibility.
She is a former Ontario cabinet minister, well-known journalist and human rights advocate. Elected in 2014 as Halton’s MPP, she held several cabinet posts, including Ontario’s first ever Minister of the Status of Women, and Minister of Education.
Naidoo-Harris has developed and worked on policies, strategies and frameworks that have changed lives including Ontario’s Renewed Early Years and Childcare Policy Framework, the Strategy to Deliver Free Preschool Childcare for Children in Ontario, Ontario’s first Comprehensive Dementia Strategy, and the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan.
As the first official voice for women in the province, Naidoo-Harris headed the Women’s Economic Empowerment Strategy and the Strategy for Gender-Based Violence. She also worked on anti-human trafficking legislation, led consultations across the province with women’s and Indigenous groups, victims of violence and social reformers, and worked with business and government officials on pay equity and other issues.
She served as Associate Minister of Finance, and Minister Responsible for Early Years and Child Care.
