We have great respect for New Westminster embarking on a “deep dive” to get at the truth so it can tackle reconciliation.
City council last week approved a motion by Coun. Nadine Nakagawa, with input from Coun. Chuck Puchmayr, that includes a number of steps for the city.
- Making it mandatory for all city staff to attend training on the history and legacy of residential schools.
- Providing mayor and council with training to understand the legacy of residential schools and colonialism.
- Undertaking research to better understand the historical actions of the city as they relate to First Nations.
- Ensuring this research respects and incorporates the experiences and stories of the First Nations that claim the territory upon which New Westminster is built to ensure the history isn’t told from a colonial perspective; and sharing this information with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
- Providing the community with opportunities to learn the history and legacy of colonialism in New West.
- Establishing a formal territorial acknowledgement built from the information learned from First Nations during the research process, and having the territorial acknowledgment approved by First Nations that claim the territory before it’s formally adopted by the city.
These are all laudable steps for New West, which is one of the few cities in B.C. taking the hard road on this issue.
Having said this, there are far too many unanswered questions with this motion to let them just slide.
The city is already spending about $65,000 on a consultant to develop a framework for truth and reconciliation.
Councillors Chinu Das and Patrick Johnstone both expressed concern about how the initiatives would mesh with work that’s already underway by the consultants. They supported tabling the motion and meeting with staff and consultants about how it dovetails with the work that’s already underway and ensuring work isn’t being duplicated.
Johnstone said such a discussion would help develop an “understanding of what the resources are going to be required” in carrying all of this out, adding that this motion could “potentially represent a step backwards” in the process because it could create uncertainty about the role of the consultants and city staff.
We agree. Taxpayers need to know what kind of price-tag this is going to involve and we’re thankful at least one council member brought up the issue of “resources.” It seems absurd to not take a breath and meet to ensure everyone involved is clear of how it will all work together.
Like we said, we applaud the city’s efforts on truth and reconciliation, but the public deserves far more detail than what is being provided.
