Region facing criticism over reconciliation efforts
Posted Aug 21, 2020 09:15:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Regional Council is facing criticism over it's lack of engagement with Indigenous activists, during Thursday's virtual council meeting.
Members of the Land Back Camp in Victoria Park were presenting their petition to council, and making their case about the importance of—and lack of—Indigenous spaces within the region.
“There are First Nation, Metis and Inuit youth who have not been able to access their culture, their songs, their language in this urban space,” said co-organizer Amy Smoke at the meeting. Smoke spoke of their own experiences growing up disconnected to their culture. They had formally been homeless, incarcerated, a sex worker and a drug addict, until connecting with the few Indigenous spaces available in the region: the White Owl Native Ancestry Association, the Healing of the Seven Generation and post-secondary Indigenous spaces.
Smoke feed was mired in connectivity issues, resulting in a choppy feed. Some community members watching expressed disappointment that Smoke was not given a second chance to call into the meeting on a more secure line. A full transcript was later released by the group, here.
While the Land Back Camp is not trying to replicate the work of existing groups, they found themselves fulfilling a service gap for the youth staying at the camp.
“We're not asking simply of waiving of fees or land use as one would for a family picnic. We are demanding our sovereignty treaty rights as Indigenous people,” said co-organizer Terre Chartrand. “Rights guaranteed in our agreement as well as the Ontario Human Rights Code, the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission), through UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples), through the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Summary Report, through Feathers of Hope report, and your own moral obligations as the corporations of your municipalities to honour these agreements.”
The Land Back petition presented to council not only called for the waiving of fees for Indigenous events and ceremonies, but also land in Victoria Park and Waterloo Park be given over as for those purposes as well. They also demand that the cities create a paid positions for Indigenous people to engage in reconciliation work, along with a paid Indigenous advisory committee.
Melissa Bowman and Susan Cadell of Waterloo Region Yes in My Backyard (WR YIMBY) also showed up as delegates, throwing their support behind the Land Back Camp.
Following the meeting, delegates walked away feeling dismayed and ignored by council.
Disappointing that 4 delegations spoke @RegionWaterloo this evening about demands of #Landback & not one councilor came forward with any questions for any of us. It was like crickets, & ultimately another way to erase Indigenous peoples.@amysmoke1 @m2bowman @SusanCadell
— Lori Campbell
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