Côte des Neiges—Notre Dame de Grâce

By Joel Ceausu

Côte des Neiges—Notre Dame de Grâce Borough Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa says her latest position at the city is a boon for the borough. “I want to tell you, the people of CDN-NDG, my appointment to the executive committee is excellent news for the borough” Katahwa told council this month. “Since I took office, I’ve always told you that you’re the first winners from good co-operation between the city centre and our borough. My appointment is a continuation of this vision,” she said, thanking Mayor Valérie Plante and executive committee chair and Plateau Mont-Royal Mayor Luc Rabouin for their trust.

• Cited in the announcement of her inclusion to the city’s 19-member executive committee as a “rising figure” in the Plante administration, the new member responsible for systemic racism and discrimination, human resources and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, Katawha began the February meeting by noting “January 7 (sic)was Holocaust Remembrance Day, a dark chapter in our global history. On January 29,” she continued, “we commemorated another dark moment that marked our society, the attack on Quebec City’s Grand Mosque, which occurred seven years ago. There is also Black History Month which began at the beginning of February.”

By highlighting “these three moments in history, it is crucial to recognize and fight one of the roots of the deepest and most destructive of tragedies experienced by Jewish, Muslim, and Black communities and so many others,” she said. “That is, toxic ideology that claims the existence of a hierarchy between humans and that continues to threaten our communities. This manifests itself in the form of hate speech, acts of violence and systemic structures of inequality.”

Katahwa, who also sits on the STM board of directors, joins her Projet Montréal borough colleagues, Côte des Neiges councillor Magda Popeanu (Organizational performance, Citizen Participation and Democracy) and Loyola councillor Despina Sourias (Housing, Cleanliness and Protection of Rental Housing) on the executive committee.

• Editors Note: International Holocaust Remembrance Day is commemorated on January 27.

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