Vancouver set to put U.N. Indigenous declaration into action

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Vancouver is set to become the first Canadian city to put the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into action – a shift that could see three First Nations receive property and other tax revenue, have parcels of municipal land given back and their members appointed to decision-making positions such as the local police board.

At a large ceremony inside the Museum of Vancouver on Wednesday, a task force steered by municipal councillors and leaders from the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations released their report detailing 79 calls to action that the city can undertake to build a more equitable relationship with Indigenous peoples.

Squamish council chairperson and task force co-chair Khelsilem told the gathering the strategy came about because of a “genuine, mutual respect” between those involved, and a desire to create a meaningful pathway for reconciliation in the city. Khelsilem identified a crucial call to action: the strengthening of co-operation between the city and the three Indigenous governments that could create a formal body that makes decisions together on certain issues or policies.

“The task force was, in some ways, an experiment of how we would do this work,” Khelsilem said. “When it comes to shared decision-making, the city is already doing that in many ways – this is just now embedding it within the processes overall. … It actually builds it as a standard practice.”

The report has passed through the councils of the three nations and its recommendations are sorted into themes: social, cultural and economic well-being; ending Indigenous-specific racism and discrimination; self-determination and inherent right of self-government; and rights and title of Indigenous peoples.

Co-chair of the team Christine Boyle, one of six city councillors re-elected last Saturday, told reporters at the event that she believes the current council will vote to adopt the report and its recommendations at their final sitting next week, given the unanimous vote the municipal politicians passed in creating the task force a year and a half ago.

Ms. Boyle said she was most excited about the calls to better educate people about the current presence of the three First Nations on their unceded territory through a sustained campaign that could incorporate public art, as well as training and hiring Indigenous people to teach locals and tourists alike about their culture.

She said that growing up in Vancouver, she only ever learned about past Indigenous history, so shifting public perception toward these nations’ futures will be powerful.

Councillor Dennis Thomas, a member of the task force from the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, said the most important call to action was the revenue sharing recommendations, which include a host of options such as creating new funding agreements and waiving city fees and taxes for the nations and their members.

“Just realizing the generational wealth that was created while we were oppressed, what do those steps look [like going] forward?” Mr. Thomas said.

One of the recommendations in the report calls for the three nations to each get one of their members a seat on the Vancouver Police Board, which Khelsilem said is part of the report’s push to put Indigenous people into decision-making positions at the city. Khelsilem cited the greater co-operation and understanding the West Vancouver Police Department has created by having a Squamish member sit on its board for the past dozen years.

“When there are incidents or things happen in the community, having those relationships and that direct line of connection [to the police board] has a lot of value,” said Khelsilem, who added the police department itself is amendable to more Indigenous oversight.

Another call to action asks the city to work with the police to address systemic and structural racism.

The release of the report Wednesday was marked with a ceremony, with attendees including outgoing Mayor Kennedy Stewart; the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, RoseAnne Archibald; and Terry Teegee, Regional Chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, which represents more than 200 communities.

In a separate statement following the event, Mr. Teegee said the Vancouver and three nations’ achievement was admirable and “must be duplicated across the province” by other municipalities.

Nearly three years ago, the B.C. government passed new legislation supporting the adoption of the international document, stipulating that the province must undertake “consultation and co-operation” with Indigenous peoples to make its laws, policies and practices more equitable.

Last year, Mr. Teegee, told The Canadian Press that the province had only made “incremental” changes and not the larger massive shifts many Indigenous people were expecting.

Vancouver City Council unanimously adopted a motion in March, 2021, to create a United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples task force in partnership with the nations, which produced what officials say is the first co-developed strategy to implement the UN declaration between a municipality and Indigenous governments in Canada.

With a report from The Canadian Press