The Compost Education Centre reconnects many people, young and old, to simple, land-based, resiliency practices. We understand that this cannot happen without also actively working towards right relations, anti-oppression, and environmental justice, making them an integral part of our mission. It is for this reason that, over the past 5+ years, our staff have been reflecting on, discussing, and crafting a formalized anti-oppression policy. We’ve now arrived at something “final,” and we would love to share it with our community.   If you have any thoughts, comments, or questions, we invite you to share them with us! Our hope is that this policy will serve as a guiding light, informing us as we go about our day-to-day, and will remain iterative and adaptable. To keep our community informed about our journey, we will continue to update the “Our Commitments in action” section of the Anti-Oppression Statement on our website with blog posts that communicate what changes and efforts we have implemented towards our stated goals and objectives.

Anti-Oppression Policy

The Compost Education Centre (CEC) recognizes that many of the economic, political, social, cultural and institutional dynamics of domination, power and privilege existing within society at large also exist within our organization on both individual and systemic levels. People in our society face levels of oppression and discrimination based on race, colour, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, culture, ethnicity, language and linguistic origin, socio-economic class, ability, religion or faith or beliefs, ancestry, nationality, family status, and residency/migration status. This policy seeks to outline the steps to ensure that the CEC community (staff, volunteers, members, program participants, and board members) are consistently working to address these dynamics at individual and institutional levels. This policy is intended to act as a guiding policy for other policies, organizational procedures, and workplace behavior. 

The policy objectives are to: 

1. Encourage the anti-oppression learning journeys of CEC community members. 
2. Embed anti-oppression learnings into organization policies, procedures, practices to guide internally focused decision-making (e.g. hiring) and externally focused decision-making (e.g. programming and advocacy). 
3. Empower and amplify marginalized voices in the development and evaluation of our programs. 

We want to acknowledge that no written policy can dismantle oppressive structures, but it expresses our sustained dedication to this work. Additionally, we face certain organizational limitations that constrain our ability to pursue anti-oppression initiatives. We name the following as our limitations and recognize that there are more limitations that we have not: 

• Our staff and board are predominately comprised of settlers. 
• We are an able-bodied and predominantly white-led organization 
• We primarily teach settlers how to do hands-on regenerative soil practices.   
• Our education is contingent upon the availability of treaty lands for hands on regenerative soil practices. 
• We have limited funding allocated for accessibility improvements to our site as we are constrained by the physical space that we operate in  
• As a non-profit organization, we are accountable to colonial institutions who influence our ability to distribute wealth and power within our organization and beyond. 
• Our physical location influences and limits the communities and individuals that we can serve with our work. 

Context 

Our main operations occur on Lekwungen lands. Historically, Lekwungen lands were primarily prairie meadows. These meadows were cultivated through controlled burning for staple crops like qʷəɬáʔalʔ (Camas). Upon their arrival, the Hudson’s Bay Company chose Camosack (Victoria Harbour) because it was bordered by gently sloping meadow that was suitable for farming without the need to clear the land (presently Míqәn or Beacon Hill Park). Since then, “Victoria” has been known as the Garden City because of its mild winters which are ideal for growing whole and nutritious foods. The legacy of “Victoria” would be impossible without the thousands of years of Indigenous hands-on regenerative soil practices (HORSP).   Since the onset of colonization, many other systemic inequities along the lines of religion, race, class, and gender have prevented everyone from accessing food and processing wastes, resulting in disconnection from land and community.  

Given this legacy of HORSP as well as inequities of the colonial food systems on these lands, we understand that our vision to cultivate resilient communities, which enable the land and all living beings to thrive, is reflective of a desire to feed communities and return nutrients back to lands that were not necessarily ours to begin with.  As an organization, we are curious and mindful about our role and responsibility in cultivating healthy relationships with all people and beings while being respectful of these histories.  

Anti-Oppression Learning Journey 

CEC community members are encouraged to pursue a proactive journey of learning, empathy, and action to identify, confront, and dismantle systemic power imbalances on personal and organizational scales. Some of the tools that the CEC provides as an organization include to support these learning journeys are: 

• A DEI onboarding package for new board members, volunteers, and staff. 
• Additional professional development opportunities on the topics of DEI for board members and staff. 
• Quarterly staff discussions to understand and address systemic oppression as a staff team. 
• The re-establishment of community agreements annually and with the addition of new permanent staff. Community agreements are guidelines to ensure open, active, inclusive, and respectful dialogue and participation. 
• A regular assessment system to evaluate the effectiveness of our anti-oppression initiatives using feedback to continuously refine and improve our policies and practices. The assessment system relies on the use of a survey form that’s administered periodically to evaluate the effectiveness of our anti-oppression initiatives and continuously refine our policies and practices. 

Engagement with External Movements 

The CEC recognizes that our work is connected to broader political issues and that we are empowered to mobilize our communities in support of human rights. 

In their roles, staff may be asked to engage with public policy issues (e.g. through communications, signing open letters) on behalf of the organization. Before staff engage with public policy issues, they must evaluate the following: 

1. Does the issue relate directly to the organization’s mission, goals, and values? 
2. Does the issue align with the organization’s anti-oppression policy?  
3. Is there a conflict of interest i.e. does the Executive Director’s personal interests influence their decision to sign on behalf of the organization?  
4. What is the potential positive or negative impact of engaging with the issue?  
5. How does engaging affect stakeholders such as donors, beneficiaries, partners, and the public?  
6. Does the issue have partisan implications that could impact the organization’s reputation, funding, or charitable status?  
7. Does engagement on behalf of the organization increase the strength and potential effect of the engagement? 

In addition to evaluating the criteria above, staff may consult with board members and other staff to determine whether there’s consensus in engaging on the public policy issue. The Executive Director will maintain a record of all public policy issue engagement (considered, pursued, and declined) as well as the reasons for the decision. 

Additionally, we commit to supporting staffs’ personal commitments to movements rooted in diversity, equity, and inclusion. To enable conscious action and support employee wellness, the CEC: 

• Allows staff to take bereavement leave to process the grief of the current moment and the weight of its history (see Section 7.2 in the Employee Policy Manual). 
• Collates and shares existing resources such as mutual aid, counselling, workshops, and fundraisers among team members. 
• Pauses our operations at strategic moments. The decision to pause our operations at strategic moments will be taken by staff via a consensus-based decision-making model after a landscape survey of other organizational actions. 
• Gives three paid “Advancing Equity and Justice” days to all full-time staff to enable the participation in activities and organizing around advancing equity and justice outside of the work that we do together (see Section 7.9 in the Employee Policy Manual). 

Non-Harassment / Non-Discrimination 

The Society prohibits discrimination or harassment based on race, color, religion, creed, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other status protected by the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. Each employee has the right to work in a professional atmosphere that promotes equal employment opportunities and is free from discriminatory practices. Violations of this policy will not be tolerated.  

Discrimination includes but is not limited to making any employment decision or employment related action based on race, color, religion, creed, age, sex, disability, national origin, marital or veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law. 

Harassment is generally defined as unwelcome verbal or non-verbal conduct based upon a person’s protected characteristic. Harassment: 

• Denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward the person because of the characteristic, 
• Affects the person’s employment opportunities or benefits, 
• Has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with the person’s work performance, and/or 
• Has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. 

Harassing conduct includes but is not limited to epithets; slurs or negative stereotyping; threatening, intimidating or hostile acts; denigrating jokes and display or circulation in the workplace of written or graphic material that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group based on their protected characteristic. 

Sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, visual or physical conduct of a sexual nature, when: 

1. Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment; 
2. Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual; or 
3. Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. 

  

Examples of sexual harassment include: unwelcome or unsolicited sexual advances; displaying sexually suggestive material; unwelcome sexual flirtations, advances, or propositions; suggestive comments; verbal abuse of a sexual nature; sexually oriented jokes; crude or vulgar language or gestures; graphic or verbal commentaries about an individual’s body; display or distribution of obscene materials; physical contact such as patting, pinching or brushing against someone’s body; or physical assault of a sexual nature.  

Addressing Complaints and Concerns 

We take all complaints and concerns regarding oppressive or discriminatory practices seriously and are committed to investigating and addressing them in accordance with our principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Individuals within the Compost Education Centre are encouraged to approach one another about oppressive behavior and to hold each other accountable to the principles of Anti-Oppression in a respectful and compassionate way. If an employee chooses to bring forward an informal complaint, they may approach the Executive Director or a Board member. During this initial interaction, the Executive Director or Board member will inform the complainant that they have the option to proceed with either a formal or informal complaint process.  

This policy applies to both internal conflicts (i.e. between employees, between the Executive Director and employees, between employees and volunteers) as well as external conflicts (i.e. between employees and program participants, between employees and the public).  

1. Employees should report any grievances, harassment, or discrimination incidents. Employees have the choice of reporting to the Executive Director, to the designated Board Directors (e.g. in case of a complaint against the Executive Director), or to all staff via the anti-oppression discussion (see section 10.3) format. When/if complaints are made to all staff, the Executive Director is still responsible for resolving the conflict. Complaints can be made verbally or in writing. 
2. All complaints and subsequent discussions will be treated with the highest level of confidentiality with information shared only as necessary for investigation and resolution. There is an interest in resolving conflicts with promptness and timeliness. When it is not possible for the process to be prompt, the party responsible for resolving the conflict (either the Executive Director or the designated Board of Directors) will ensure prompt communication with the parties involved about the process. 
3. The party responsible for resolving the conflict (i.e. the Executive Director or a designated Board member) will conduct a prompt, fair, and thorough investigation to establish the facts, determine context, and assess the complaint’s validity. As part of the investigation, the party responsible for resolving the conflict may initiate an anti-oppression discussion (with approval from the complainant) with all staff to work through the complaint with all staff. 
4. Post-investigation, considering the complainant’s desired outcomes, the Executive Director or designated Board member will propose a resolution. If the Executive Director or designated Board member feels like they don’t have the capacity to propose a solution, they may access external resources or experts (including confidential discussion with other Board Directors) to support the process. The Board of Directors can approve the financial expense of accessing additional resources and expertise. 
5. Both parties will be informed of the proposed solution and the steps taken to address the complaint. Examples of potential resolutions include:
   • Offering counseling support services to those affected by the incident (to be financially covered by insurance or by the CEC). 
   • Facilitating a mediated discussion between parties to reach a mutual agreement. Implementing warnings, reprimands, or other appropriate disciplinary measures against the perpetrator. Providing additional anti-oppression training to prevent future incidents. 
   • Reviewing and updating workplace policies to better protect employees. 
   • If either party disagrees with the resolution, they may appeal to the Board of Directors (excluding any members previously involved) within ten working days via a verbal or written process. 
   • Securely store all documentation related to the complaint and resolution process so that they are only accessible to authorized personnel. 

The CEC prohibits any form of retaliation against individuals who report grievances or participate in investigations.