CONCLUSION
Further to the May 28, 2018 Council report IR18-7, which provided an update on Reconciliation Regina activities and initiatives from the fall of 2017, this report provides further updates and progress made since Q2 of 2018.
BACKGROUND
Reconciliation Regina, initiated by Mayor Fougere’s Council Motion in the spring of 2016, is co-facilitated by the City of Regina (Regina) and the Office of the Treaty Commissioner (OTC). The group consists of approximately 70-plus Community Champions, including local organizations, community leaders, educators, Elders/Knowledge Keepers, newcomers, survivors, cultural and arts groups, governments, youth, business, faith groups and individuals. All partners are committed to working in partnership towards a strengthened, healthy, vibrant and inclusive community.
Since May 2018, a significant amount of work has been occurring, including hosting several public events in partnership with community organizations, completing the transition from a City-led entity to a stand-alone incorporated body governed by a Board of Directors (Council) and planning efforts to advance the community action plan. The Plan will ensure reconciliation continues as a living process, based on information sharing and coordination of joint activities and initiatives that reflect a celebration of diverse cultures, resilience, healing, respect and strengthened partnerships for the wellbeing of all Regina residents.
The Government of Canada has provided total grant funding assistance of $266,450 through the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Urban Programming for Indigenous Peoples (UPIP). This grant funding has been instrumental in enabling the development and implementation of events and initiatives under Reconciliation Regina, including funding for a Coalition Coordinator to coordinate all activities.
DISCUSSION
Specific initiatives that Reconciliation Regina has partnered with or led between May 2018 and May 2019 include:
• Healing/Sharing Circle – Elders Gathering
• Official launch of Reconciliation Regina
• Community Champion and Governance Subcommittee meetings
• Involvement in National Indigenous Peoples Day activities
• Screening of the film, ‘Indian Horse’ – public free of charge event
• Distribution of a questionnaire and survey to gather information for the Community Action Plan
• Participation in the Smudge Walk
• Creation of a Reconciliation Regina video
• SaskGaming, Regina Open Door, RDBID sessions – promote Reconciliation Regina
• Participation in Orange Shirt Day activities
• Hosting Youth Symposium
• Attendance at provincial and national reconciliation coalition meetings
• Farewell community event for Elder Norma-Jean Byrd
• Hosting of a Blanket Exercise
• Reconciliation Wall at City Hall (in progress)
• Read for Reconciliation event
• Creation of the Reconciliation Regina Board (Council) – including three meetings and a Strategic Planning Session
Results achieved between May 2018 and May 2019 include:
• Additional organizations/individuals participating as Community Champions
• Create awareness of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, as well as the purpose of Reconciliation Regina to individuals, organizations and other stakeholders in Regina – both Indigenous and non-Indigenous
• Participants of Reconciliation Regina sharing knowledge, information, mentorship, culture, as well as opportunities to gather together for events, resulting in a better understanding of the past, to create a more positive, respectful community for future generations
• Progress on the Community Action Plan based on collaboration and cooperation to support and respond to the Calls to Action
• Hosting further speakers’ series and Community Champions meetings, to raise awareness and educate the public
• Creation of a communications strategy to better communicate the work of Reconciliation Regina
Incorporation of Reconciliation Regina:
To ensure Reconciliation Regina is a truly sustainable community-led process, the City and its community stakeholders (Community Champions) recommended that incorporation to a non-profit entity was necessary.
The transition to a non-profit organization required the creation of a governing body (which includes the criteria and other specifics for its members), as well as a governance structure and operational and financial management guidelines. The City remains committed to continued involvement and support for Reconciliation Regina.
Incorporation will also enable continued access to UPIP funding. The Government of Canada’s intent for the funding is to support existing local Coalitions and incent new Coalitions that bring together all orders of government and stakeholders to identify key local priorities and needs, and ensure efficient and coordinated delivery of urban Indigenous programs. The primary goal of the Coalition will be to promote collaboration at the local level, to identify local needs, and to develop local plans to address identified priorities.
Reconciliation Regina officially incorporated on September 10, 2018. To support this entity, a Board of Directors (Council) was created that includes the following members:
Janine Windolph, Chair
Chris Holden, Member
John Hopkins, Member
Gillis Lavalley, Member
Cadmus Delorme, Member
Elder Tim Poitras
The Council held a Strategic Planning Session, facilitated by Praxis Consulting Ltd., on January 30, 2019. The session included workshops on evaluating and identifying priorities, initiatives and opportunities for action over the next three-year period. To note, the initiatives described below will require endorsement by the Reconciliation Regina Community Champions.
Based on effort, impact and feasibility, each identified priority was ranked and evaluated. The opportunities/initiatives are listed below:
Years 1 and 2:
• Initiatives/events that focus on empowering women
• Economic Development forum
• Naming of an Indigenous space(s) (i.e. boardroom, meeting rooms, etc. within City Hall – encourage the same of Community Champions)
• Conversation series – hosting opportunities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples
• Research and development for the creation of a monument to honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW)
• Completion of the Community Action Plan
• Recognition of Reconciliation Regina and/or First Nations/Metis peoples as part of City of Regina signage
• Annual event that would coincide with Indigenous history month
• Social media strategy
• Creation of a “Reconciliation Wall” at City Hall
• Reconciliation calendar of events
• Creation of a Youth Advisory Committee
• Creation of an Elders Advisory Committee
• The above committees would be a resource for Reconciliation Regina’s Council and for community organizations
• Incorporate Indigenous knowledge into City Hall and other organizations (Community Champions)
Years 2 and 3:
• Identify recruitment and retention employment strategies (encourage Community Champions to also adopt/champion)
• Education and Awareness Campaign (modules, tool kits)
• Neighbourhood clean-up projects (i.e. alley clean-up and other volunteer events – purpose is to instill and create a sense of neighbourhood/community pride)
• Work with Community Champions to identify opportunities to support Indigenous families (specifically survivors, promote self-care and holistic health)
• Collaborate to support initiatives and share information on a regional, provincial and national basis
• Create a fundraising strategy to ensure the sustainability of Reconciliation Regina
• Genealogy research to instill and provide a better understanding of who we are
• Update, monitor and evaluate the Community Action Plan
Expected results of the initiatives include:
• Empowering and supporting Indigenous women, Elders/Knowledge Keepers and youth as leaders and the future of our communities
• Honouring Indigenous peoples/events/background through the naming of monuments, spaces, streets, etc., to create awareness and recognition of the significant achievements of Indigenous peoples in our community
• Events that promote, honour, recognize and teach cultures, languages and protocol to Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples
• Additional organizations/individuals participating as Reconciliation Regina Community Champions
• Community Champions sharing knowledge, information, mentorship, culture, as well as opportunities to gather together for events resulting in a better understanding of the past, to create a more positive, respectful community for future generations
• An inventory of individual organizations’ actions responding to the Calls to Action will be documented, monitored and evaluated through a living, evolving Community Action Plan
To facilitate the many events and initiatives identified, Reconciliation Regina has submitted a three-year (2019/20 to 2021/22), $300,000 application for grant funding from the Government of Canada, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Urban Programming for Indigenous Peoples (UPIP). The application is pending approval.
Reconciliation Regina Annual Event and Communications Strategy:
Work continues on a communications strategy that includes a public awareness campaign. The goal is to effectively tell the Reconciliation Regina story – its purpose, objectives and goals – so that Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals can clearly understand the meaning and significance of reconciliation and the importance of healing those who have been harmed by the residential school experience. To fulfill this commitment, Reconciliation Regina will work with Sweetgrass Communications to facilitate the public awareness campaign’s goals.
Community Action Plan:
Components of the Action Plan recently completed include an on-line survey for all residents in the city and surrounding areas, seeking feedback on what reconciliation means to individuals, suggestions to promote healing in the community, and ways to honour and recognize reconciliation. This on-line survey was followed by a questionnaire to Community Champions for the purpose of documenting the actions taken to fulfill the Calls to Action and other initiatives that promote healing and reconciliation that do not necessarily fit within any specific Call to Action.
The draft plan will separate the community’s responses to the Calls to Action under four categories: (1) supporting economic and social participation; (2) respecting and promoting the rights of Indigenous peoples; (3) relationship building, and; (4) fostering strong leadership in reconciliation. There will also be a section on the history of Indigenous peoples in Regina and surrounding area and of Reconciliation Regina. The Community Action Plan will be a living document that will be measured, monitored and updated on an annual basis.
The final component of the Action Plan will involve hosting Community Champion sector meetings (i.e. faith-based organizations, education, arts and cultural organizations, governments, etc.) to collectively work on ways in which sectors as a whole can respond to the Calls to Action, as opposed to singular, silo work.
City of Regina – internal response to the Calls to Action:
The City of Regina remains committed to the following municipally-directed Calls to Action:
43. We call upon federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments to fully adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as the framework for reconciliation.
47. We call upon federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments to repudiate concepts used to justify European sovereignty over Indigenous peoples and lands, such as the Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius, and to reform those laws, government policies, and litigation strategies that continue to rely on such concepts.
57. We call on federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments to provide education to public servants on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law and Aboriginal-Crown relations. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights and anti-racism.
75. We call upon the federal government to work with provincial, territorial and municipal governments, churches, Aboriginal communities, former residential school students, and current landowners to develop and implement strategies and procedures for the ongoing identification, documentation, maintenance, commemoration and protection of residential school cemeteries or other sites at which residential school children were buried. This is to include the provision of appropriate memorial ceremonies and commemorative markers to honour the deceased children.
77. We call upon provincial, territorial, municipal and community archives to work collaboratively with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to identify and collect copies of all records relevant to the history and legacy of the residential school system, and to provide these to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
Significant progress has been made and will continue on the municipally directed Calls to Action, through initiatives such as the Memorandum of Understanding between the City and the Federation of Sovereign Indian Nations (FSIN) regarding Call to Action #57, the Protocol of Recognition, Partnership and Respect between the City and the File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council (FHQTC) and the collaborative work with the Regina Indian Industrial School (RIIS) Commemorative Association. There are many additional initiatives that will be identified and documented in an internal strategy currently under development.
RECOMMENDATION IMPLICATIONS
Financial Implications
There are no financial implications associated with this report; however, as the reconciliation
process evolves and the City continues to respond to the municipally-directed Calls to Action, there may be policies, programs and initiatives that require funding. Any such initiatives will be submitted as part of the annual budget development process.
Thus far, there have been minimal costs associated with meetings and events; for the most part, the City’s contributions have been in-kind.
Environmental Implications
None with respect to this report; however, as the reconciliation process evolves and the City continues to respond to the municipally-directed Calls to Action, there may be policies, programs and initiatives that require funding. Any such initiatives will be submitted as part of the annual budget development process.
Policy and/or Strategic Implications
All Canadians, levels of government and community stakeholders have a responsibility and role to play in the reconciliation process. As such, it is integral to the health and wellbeing of the community, province, nation and society, in general, that the City, as an organization, participate in redressing the legacy of residential schools and advancing the process of Canadian reconciliation.
Other Implications
None with respect to this report; however, as the reconciliation process evolves and the City continues to respond to the municipally-directed Calls to Action, there may be policies, programs and initiatives that require funding. Any such initiatives will be submitted as part of the annual budget development process.
Accessibility Implications
None with respect to this report.
COMMUNICATIONS
Through Reconciliation Regina’s Communications Subcommittee, any and all communication activities will be discussed between all parties involved, and a community communications strategy will be developed.
DELEGATED AUTHORITY
There is no delegated authority associated with this report as it is for informational purposes only.
Respectfully submitted, 
| Respectfully submitted, 
|
Sheila Harmatiuk Senior Advisor, | Chris Holden City Manager |
Government & Indigenous Relations