Active Bystander Training Being Offered in Huron County

by Bob Montgomery

Huron County's Immigration Partnership and Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada are hosting an Active Bystander training event this week.

Huron County Immigration Partnership Manager Mark Nonkes says most of us have witnessed discrimination at one time or another and wondered what is the safest way to react without starting a fight. How can you express dissenting views in a way that challenges another person without creating a scene, but supports the person that is the target of the discrimination.

Nonkes says the Active Bystander trainings are a licensed program from Quabbin Mediation, with facilitators from Mennonite Central Committee Canada that are being used by Immigration Partnerships across Ontario to help people develop the skills they need to intervene when they witness discrimination or harm to another person.

Nonkes says every situation is unique and the response has to be appropriate for the situation. Nonkes says too often when we're faced with that type of situation we don't know what to do, so we choose to do nothing. He says the Active Bystander training takes you out of that and helps you develop the skills to take some action and support the person that's being picked on.

Nonkes says the Active Bystander training will teach people to analyze harmful situations, identify skills and strategies that feel safe and effective and disrupt or deescalate harm in the moment or later. He says the zoom event runs from 1:00 until 3:30 on October 5th and anyone interested in joining can email home@huroncounty.ca and he'll provide with the link to join in.