Staff training, fee waivers, a 'working group': How local cities and Waterloo region are responding to the TRC

Read our earlier coverage of this issue from January 2020. 

Today is the first-ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. 

More than six years after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its calls to action, what are the Region of Waterloo and local cities doing to respond? 

CBC Kitchener-Waterloo has been looking into it. Here are a few highlights. 

Training for municipal staff

One of the clearest calls to action for municipalities is #57 on the list of calls to action, which says all levels of government should educate public servants about the history of Indigenous people, including the history and legacy of residential schools, treaties, Indigenous law and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

In January 2020, the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo — along with the Region of Waterloo — told CBC K-W they planned to introduce permanent staff training on Indigenous history early that year. 

The City of Kitchener said in a statement this was delayed as training had to be shifted to a virtual format when the pandemic hit. 

By now, the three cities and the region have each trained between 150 to 250 of their respective staff. The municipalities are using a curriculum developed by Dr. Darren Thomas, who was appointed associate vice-president of Indigenous initiatives at Wilfrid Laurier University this summer. 

Michael Seymour, who is Haudenosaunee Mohawk and lives in Kitchener, said education is an important step — and should be offered as widely as possible. 

"A lot of people had no awareness or education on the residential schools," said Seymour, who is part of a project at the University of Waterloo that aims to Indigenize science, technology, engineering and math.

Seymour said it's important that everyone understands the truth, "not to give a sense of guilt of the horrendous things that did happen, but to give a sense of understanding, [and] with that understanding will come respect."

Waiving facility fees

As of Sept. 30, all three cities and the region have waived facility and rental fees for Indigenous communities who wish to hold ceremonial and cultural events in public spaces.

This had originally been a demand put forward last year by organizers of Land Back Camp.

The cities of Kitchener and Waterloo passed local policies on the matter in 2020. Cambridge and the region followed suit this month —  with regional council moving to waive fees until staff develop a policy to "support the access and use of public facilities by Indigenous peoples to carry out cultural and ceremonial practices."

Elaine Garner said this change would have made a difference during her career. Garner, who co-founded the White Owl Native Ancestry Association in Kitchener, recalls the organization ran on a tight budget and that money spent on rental fees could have been better used elsewhere. 

"It's really nice now not to have to pay, because our great love of feasts and dancing is part of our culture, and so it's wonderful that we'll have a place where we can do that," said Garner, who is Anishinaabe and now lives in Guelph. 

Bangishimo Johnston, a Land Back Camp founder, said the waiver should go beyond ceremonial and cultural events, and be equally available to Indigenous people who simply want to gather with one another on their land. 

Johnston hopes the region's next move will be to dedicate space for an Indigenous community hub, and believes the old Charles Street bus terminal would be a good fit. 

"We need land, we need space, and allowing us to have an Indigenous community hub in downtown Kitchener — which is a central, accessible location — would meet so many needs for so many Indigenous community members," said Johnston, who is also Anishinaabe. 

Reconciliation Action Plan 

In August 2020, the region announced that it — along with area municipalities and the Grand River Conservation Authority — would work together to develop a Reconciliation Action Plan. 

CBC K-W requested an update from the region this week about the plan. No one was made available for an interview, but a spokesperson pointed to a recent council report with an update on the region's actions toward reconciliation. 

According to the region, a Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group has been formed, made up of representatives from all local municipalities. The group has five sub-committees focused on the following issues:  

• Learning and Development.
• Honorarium and Compensation Practices.
• Indigenous Placekeeping and Land Opportunities.
• Communications and Events.
• Heritage, Cultural Landscapes, Plaques and Commemoration.

Garner thinks it's important that Indigenous people be included in the working group and its committees. 

"We're always sort of looked at from the inside looking out, and we'd like to be in the inside, too," she said.

Seymour agreed. 

"The Two Row Wampum Treaty says that we're equal societies, moving along the stream of life as partners," he said. 

"As partners, we should develop things from the beginning." 

CBC K-W asked the region to clarify if members of the Indigenous community are part of the working group, and if not, why not. 

In response, a spokesperson said in an email, "We are collectively on a long journey of reconciliation and continuing to build strong relationships."

"Cooperatively, with the residents of this region we serve, we are committed to broad engagement with the many Indigenous residents and will adapt committees, plans and approaches based on feedback as the work progresses," the statement went on to day. 

"We will share more information as engagement continues."

Asked when the region expects to complete the action plan, the spokesperson said "completion of the plan depends on engagement" but didn't provide a specific timeframe.