CIHR Interim External Anti-Racism Advisory Committee: Guidance on Engagement with Communities Marginalized by Racism and Development of a CIHR Anti-Racism Action Plan
Terms of Reference

Mandate

The mandate of the interim CIHR Anti-Racism External Advisory Committee is to provide CIHR's Vice President-Research, Learning Health Systems (VP-R, LHS) with guidance on:

• approaches to engaging communities marginalized by racism on systemic racism within the funding system, and
• CIHR's actions and action plan relating to anti-racism.

Co-Chairs and Membership

Co-Chairs

The committee will be co-chaired by a health researcher from a community marginalized by racism and CIHR's Associate Vice-President, Research Programs – Strategy, who will sit as an ex-officio member.

Membership

• Members will be selected and approved by the VP-R, LHS based on their collective skills, knowledge and functional roles relevant to engagement with communities marginalized by racism and the development of an action plan to address systemic racism across CIHR programs, policies and services.
• There will be 10-12 members, including the external Co-Chair.
• The committee will be comprised of individuals from the health research community who are members of diverse communities marginalized by racism and/or have expertise in addressing systemic barriers faced by communities marginalized by racism.
• Membership will be gender diverse (i.e., women, men, and gender diverse individuals), and will include representation across regions, career stages and official languages.
• The Director General, Science Policy will sit as an ex-officio member.

Observers

Agency and Institute staff with a tangible work requirement that aligns with a specific item may attend meetings with approval from the Co-Chairs. The Director General of Strategic Partnerships and International Relations; CIHR’s SD co-champion for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; CIHR’s SD co-champion for the Indigenous Health Research Action Plan; and a member of the Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health Institute Advisory Board will be standing observers for all meetings.

Roles and Responsibilities

Roles and Responsibilities of the Committee

• Advise CIHR of actions and best practices related to the committee mandate;
• Advise on possible topics and formats for engagement necessary to inform a CIHR anti-racism action plan (e.g., listening sessions, conversations with experts, etc.);
• Act as liaisons with additional contacts and leverage networks, as necessary, to indicate who should be engaged and/or consulted on the listening sessions and action plan, including as they relate to anti-Black racism, model minority myths, and other forms of racism and microaggressions experienced by those marginalized by racism;
• Communicate any linkages with other discussions and/or initiatives related to systemic racism within the health research ecosystem;
• Suggest ways CIHR can support and/or amplify these other discussions and/or initiatives related to systemic racism within the health research ecosystem;
• Advise on actions CIHR can undertake, outside of the formal action plan, to address anti-racism and/or systemic barriers in CIHR's policies, programs and processes in the immediate and interim timeframe;
• Review and provide feedback on drafts of the anti-racism action plan;
• Advise on appropriate longer-term oversight mechanisms to implement the anti-racism action plan, including potential ongoing advisory bodies;
• If a longer-term external advisory structure is established, help promote a CIHR-led open call to reach potentially interested candidates within communities marginalized by racism.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Co-Chairs

• Approve the agendas for Committee meetings;
• Manage proceedings and keep meetings focused;
• Ensure the meeting space remains open to discussion and manage conflicts swiftly and effectively;
• Approve invitation of ad hoc participants and presenters, as required;
• Maintain communications with the committee outside of scheduled meetings;
• Report to the VP-R, LHS and other CIHR internal governance committees (including strategic plan priority groups) on the activities of this advisory group, as required.

Roles and Responsibilities of Members

• Review materials in advance and participate actively in meetings;
• Carry out assigned actions set by the committee;
• Provide input into materials via email between meetings;
• Abide by principles of helping to create and maintain a safe space for committee discussions.

Meetings

Meeting will be conducted at least monthly by teleconference, or as deemed necessary at the call of the Co-Chairs.

Reporting

The CIHR Co-Chairs of the Anti-Racism Action Plan Advisory Committee will serve as a representative to governance bodies and other groups at the request of the VP-R, LHS.

Action and decision items will be recorded during meetings and will be circulated to members and saved in the appropriate folders within five business days of meetings.

Quorum

A majority of its members (50% +1). The Committee will make its recommendations based on consensus wherever possible. Where consensus is not possible, the Co-Chairs will ask the members to show their support for the item being discussed using an 8-point scale (i.e., Gradients of Agreement – see Appendix A).

Authority

The External Anti-Racism Advisory Committee is established under the authority of the VP-R, LHS.

Evaluation

The Terms of Reference are effective starting August 4, 2021, and will be ongoing until the action plan to address systemic racism in CIHR's programs, policies and processes has been approved (tentatively planned for early 2022). The Terms of Reference will be reviewed quarterly until the governance structure for the strategic plan is finalized, and every six months afterwards (if applicable) until the committee is disbanded.

Official Languages

All members will be encouraged to participate in the meetings in the official language of their choice. Briefing material and records of decision will be produced in one of the official languages, the agendas will be bilingual.

Code of Conduct

Meetings will be conducted in accordance with the CIHR Code of Conduct.

Confidentiality

Advisory Committee members must adhere to the following requirements:

1. Committee deliberations are confidential, meaning that the committee members should not discuss or in any other way divulge to third persons comments made during meetings and committee's advice to CIHR until such a time when CIHR makes that information public;
2. Members should also protect the confidence of the information contained in documentation they receive from CIHR, and not use it for their own benefit or for the benefit of others;
3. All enquiries or representations received by the committee members about the work of the committee must be referred to CIHR.

Conflict of Interest Prevention and Management

In accordance with the CIHR Policy on Conflict of Interest Prevention and Management for Scientific Directors, Members of Governing Council and Advisory Bodies, committee members have a duty to bring an independent judgment to bear on all CIHR issues they are asked to consider and therefore, to avoid situations where their personal interests may prevent them from discharging this duty with integrity.

To minimize the risk of COI, committee members who are non-CIHR employees should:

• Complete the Declaration of External Interests Form at the beginning of their term and annually thereafter,
• Proactively declare their relevant external interests during meetings, and
• Collaborate in the resolution of potential conflict of interests situations in the interests of CIHR and for the public good.

When in doubt about the required disclosure, committee members should seek advice of the committee Co-Chairs. The Co-Chairs and the members have full support of the CIHR COI Officer for COI-related advice and assistance via Declaration@cihr-irsc.gc.ca.

Secretarial Support

The Science Policy Branch will provide secretarial support for this committee.

Appendix A

Gradients of Agreement 8-point Scale

When necessary, the Co-Chairs are asked to inquire of the support for a particular item using the scale below. The Co-Chairs will then discuss briefly and, based on what they see, they will determine if the commitment level is strong enough to determine a resolution or if they need to continue the discussion.

Sources: What is the Gradients of Agreement technique? Lucid Meetings^{Footnote 1}; Tips and Tools for PEPFAR Teams: The Gradients of Agreement, USAID^{Footnote 2}

Date modified:

2021-09-09