The Conduct and Consent Committee is a small group of volunteers who meet year round to discuss the evolution of our community’s understanding and enactment of conduct and consent.
We exist to provide a meaningful process for community members to raise concerns relating to the SideBurn event, its volunteers and attendees. By holding space for community members when incident reports are made, the Conduct and Consent Committee are guided by the desire to provide a more impartial and meaningful process to make recommendations to the Flame Ontario Arts Collective Board related to these reports.
Core Values
Diversity: To properly do our job, we need to hear many different kinds of voices and allow a platform for individuals to select case leads that best reflect their needs.
Humility: Our mission is challenging, and the process will be iterative. We acknowledge that we are capable of making mistakes, and we will be open to feedback and we should seek to reduce harm and move forward in a better way. Our goal is not to be right, but we will continue to strive to get it right.
Timeliness: These are sensitive issues that require immediacy. We will do our best to work quickly within our capacity as volunteers and keep all interested parties apprised of our progress.
Compassion: We want to be centered on dignity, kindness, and compassion; seeking healing, growth, and reconciliation where possible.
Transparency: Processes should be transparent even when details must be obscured.
Mission Statement
The Conduct and Consent Committee exists to provide a compassionate assessment process for conduct concerns raised by community members (including concerns raised about members of the Flame Ontario Arts Collective Board or Conduct Committee) relating to the SideBurn event and its attendees.
We are all responsible for ensuring that SideBurn is a safer space for all attendees. The Conduct and Consent Committee exists as a group of volunteers who are committed to maintaining the trust and confidence of our participants by holding space for attendees to bring forward concerns about conduct and consent violations at SideBurn. By working together with the community to understand the incidents and people that impact SideBurn attendees and their experience at the event, we hope to enact positive change and work with individuals to find a path toward healing.
The Conduct and Consent Committee will work with the community to broaden and strengthen our knowledge and understanding of consent. We will contribute to establishing community support networks and systems to address conduct and consent violations.
The Conduct and Consent Committee will actively work to provide a more impartial and meaningful process to recommend remedial action, conditional participation, or exclusion of people at official SideBurn events based on direct reports (Incident Reporting Form) to the SideBurn Conduct and Consent Committee.
The Conduct and Consent Committee only recommends actions to the Flame Ontario Arts Collective Board: it remains the responsibility of the Flame Ontario Arts Collective Board to enact those recommendations as is appropriate.
While some mediation is likely to occur during assessments, it is not the primary goal of the Conduct and Consent Committee, and participants are encouraged to seek help from friends, loved ones, and mentors to obtain the support they require.
Conflict of Interest Policy
All Conduct and Consent Committee members are also required to understand the process should an Incident Report include allegations against a Conduct and Consent Committee member or Flame Ontario Board Member (referred to as Board Members though out).
The process set out in this policy shall be followed when a conflict or potential conflict arises, or if an incident report includes a Conduct and Consent Committee member or Board Member.
A conflict of interest may also arise if an incident report involves a Conduct and Consent Committee member and/or Board Member.
The situations in which potential conflict of interest may arise cannot be exhaustively described.
Conflicts generally arise in the following situations:
a. Conduct and Consent Committee member or Board Member is directly involved in the incident being reported, either as the reporter, a witness, or the subject of the report.
b. Conduct and Consent Committee member is unable to remain unbiased in decision making relating to an incident reported for any reason.
Should the conflict involve a Board Member, notification will be made to the Flame Ontario Board.
a. May continue in their role (while abstaining from the identified conflict);
b. Be temporarily suspended from their duties with the Conduct and Consent Committee.
If the Conduct and Consent Committee member’s behaviour or conduct is the source of a report, the member will be immediately (temporarily) suspended from their duties with the Conduct and Consent Committee. All access to reports, documentation, and meetings will be suspended until the incident is reviewed. At the conclusion of the investigation, a vote will take place to determine if the involved party should remain in their role with the Conduct and Consent Committee.
The Flame Ontario Board must be notified of the conflict and must designate a representative to oversee the incident investigation and review. The Board representative is to remain in an oversight role to ensure the integrity of the review is maintained as it relates to the Incident Report. The reporter of the incident must be notified of the chosen Flame Ontario Board representative.
If an incident report is made regarding a Flame Ontario Board Member’s behaviour or conduct, the Conduct and Consent Committee will immediately call for an emergency meeting within seven [7] days to review the report and put forward recommendations to determine if the Flame Ontario Board Member:
a. May continue in their role until the incident is fully investigated and reviewed, or
b. Be temporarily suspended from their duties with the Flame Ontario Board until the incident is fully investigated and reviewed.
A full report must be submitted to the Flame Ontario Board about any conflict of interest, the immediate actions taken, and the recommendations put forth by the Conduct and Consent Committee.
