Can*Con wishes to receive community feedback before it implements this change to its Code of Conduct. A consultation period of three weeks (until August 6, 9am ET) is now opened. Please email canconchairs@gmail.com with your feedback (only emailed feedback will be included in our final review). Feedback will be kept confidential and only be seen by Can*Con co-chairs Marie Bilodeau and Derek Künsken, and their legal advisors.
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The co-chairs of Can*Con, in their continued effort to create a safe and welcoming atmosphere for all its attendees, are considering changes to Can*Con’s Code of Conduct, especially as the con strives to reach out to youth and traditionally underrepresented peoples.
The Code of Conduct can be viewed in full here, and below is the proposed addition, in a single bullet point:
- Can*Con will respect and implement bans against individuals who have been banned for reasons of conduct or harassment by other conventions and conferences. Should such individuals banned by other conferences feel that the original ban was in fact due to race, religion, or any other identifiers as listed by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, they may appeal the Can*Con ban to the co-chairs.
Can*Con is a private event, and the co-chairs take seriously their responsibility to ensure a safe experience to its attendees. Can*Con cannot, in good faith, offer a respectful environment without taking into account incidents of harassment or other such behaviour at other conferences.
Implementation will take place as follows:
- All individuals already registered to the 2018 con will be sent the new Code of Conduct, once ratified, and they will be notified of the update (all attendees must agree to the Code of Conduct when registering);
- Can*Con will reach out to other Canadian con runners regarding this policy;
- All information shared will be kept confidential;
- Can*Con will also seek to work with other cons globally to help facilitate information sharing and create a safer and more inclusive environment for all fans.