Meetings… More Meetings! - An inside look at the meetings of the SDP

On May 10, 2023, the Regent Park Social Development Plan network will be holding a community meeting reporting on the work and achievements over the past year.

For those of you who are unaware, the Regent Park Social Development Plan (SDP) is a community wide initiative aimed at bringing all residents and groups together to stimulate positive social change around four priority areas, each represented by a working group (community safety, community building, employment and economic development and communication). These working groups meet monthly. In addition to the working groups, there are also four standing committees (Evaluation and Benchmark, the Funding Committee, the Community Benefits Oversight Working Group and the Planning Committee). Some of these committees meet monthly, some bi-weekly and some, like the Planning Committee, meet every single week! As if all these meetings were not enough, almost all the workgroups and committees have task groups or sub-committees that meet in between these meetings to help carry out the work and activities. Lastly, the SDP is governed by the SDP Stakeholders Table that meets four times a year. As you can imagine, with a structure as complex as the SDP, on any day of the week there will be one or more meetings related to the SDP and their activities.  “Who goes and what is the point of all these meetings?” one might ask.

The bulk of attendees that go to these meetings are TCHC residents, but they also include market residents, the Regent Park Neighbourhood Association (RPNA), members of grassroot groups, support staff from local community agencies, as well as representatives of Toronto Community Housing and the City of Toronto. The SDP also involves the participation of businesses and, depending on the meeting, employees of Tridel and Daniels may be in attendance. Despite the support of agency staff and professionals, a unique feature of the SDP structure is that no one is delegated with authority. While each of the working groups and committees have annually elected resident and agency co-chairs, in general, meetings are facilitated by rotating members (often residents) and meetings themselves are run like collectives, by which I mean, agenda items can be proposed by anyone and almost all decisions are made by consensus.

As you can imagine, attending meetings with 20 + people not only from across different cultures, education and income levels, but also with various ideas, perspectives, values, beliefs and experiences - can be extremely taxing. The reality is that it can be very difficult to identify the things you have in common and make group decisions– especially when everyone in the meeting must agree. In fact, many would say this is an impossible feat. And truth be told, the SDP is comprised of members with passionate opinions on almost everything and it’s a guarantee that there will be strong opposition to whatever is proposed no matter how small or large the issue. Time and time again, I have sat in SDP meetings where members are at odds with one another – and when I say at odds, I really mean at odds!  Unfortunately, at times these passions result in members losing sight of the issues they are advocating for and attacking or insulting the character of the person they are arguing with. Even when there is an absence of put downs, other disrespectful behaviours may be exhibited that may make members feel unsafe to voice their opinion and even attend meetings. On top of these dilemmas, whether an SDP meeting is effective or not, regularly depends upon the abilities of the rotating chair to manage conflict and prevent members from interrupting each other, straying from the agenda or launching into long winded speeches that eat away at time and belabouring a point. 

Despite these challenges, it would be wrong in my opinion to characterize the SDP and their endless meetings as dysfunctional. Imperfect as it is, the SDP is structured the way it is to ensure that residents and community members can participate in real and earnest discussions about their community and come up with collective solutions on how to address the needs and gaps that are barriers to social inclusion and cohesion. The SDP is also designed to engage and empower residents to have a say in decisions that impact their lives. Rather than have only agency professionals lead meetings and organize activities, the SDP makes a real effort to provide opportunities for residents to practice facilitating meetings and develop their leadership skills through involvement in planning and organizing. Furthermore, for many residents, this is the first time they have had an opportunity to attend a meeting or organize an activity where they are valued as equal participants with professionals. The SDP is a place where resident opinions, ideas and input are genuinely sought, and where they can question and hold authorities to account for the role that they play in resident lives - whether that is police, elected representatives, other agencies, City of Toronto or Toronto Community Housing.

The SDP is imperfect and yes, heated words may be exchanged and arguments can be better stated. But through discussions with others with differing perspectives and opinions, attendees have the chance to exchange ideas, build trusting relationships and learn what motivates others in believing or feeling what they feel. Often, these discussions lead to a complete change or compromise in a position, once held to be true – how else can consensus decisions happen?
For those that justify their non-involvement and withhold their contribution by arguing that SDP is dysfunctional, and their numerous meetings are a waste of time –one only has to look at everything that the working groups, committees, sub-committees and task groups have achieved in the past year, not to mention its successes in years gone past. Believe me it would be a long list!

A brief summary of the successes of the past year is contained in this report issue of Catch da Flava. However, on May 10th, Regent Parkers and their families will have an opportunity to attend in person to hear more about these achievements as well as the challenges. The only problem is – community members will have to attend ANOTHER MEETING!!!

By Adonis Huggins

Adonis is the Agency Co-Chair of the SDP Communications Working Group & the Executive Director of the FOCUS Media Arts Centre.