A St. Catharines regional councillor says it's a start, but was disappointed last week's council meeting dealing with police and racism had to end without any recommendations.
The meeting which started at 4:30 last Thursday ended when it ran into the 6:00 regular council meeting.
As a result, they were unable to vote on a motion from St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik asking police provide council with reports on carding, information on data entry for racialized people, police training on de-escalation techniques and a report outlining the public complaint process.
Laura Ip notes even if the region approves the motion, they do not have the power to enact change within the force.
Ip says under the Police Services Act, the region has no authority.
But she adds, the reports will provide the region and the public with lots of important information.
And she notes, from there, hopefully it will empower people to go to the province to see that changes are made.