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Truth and Reconciliation policy needed: Richmond city councillor

The city hasn't ever done an Indigenous land acknowledgement as it is in court over disputed lands in south Richmond.
Maria Rantanen
Maria Rantanen
michael-wolfe-green-richmond-queensborough
Richmond city Coun. Michael Wolfe is calling for the city to adopt a Truth and Reconciliation policy.

One Richmond city councillor is calling for the city to create a Truth and Reconciliation policy.

A motion from Coun. Michael Wolfe outlines specific actions for the city to take, including meeting with the Musqueam Council, training in Indigenous-specific racism and decolonization for city staff and council and implementation of the municipally relevant sections of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Richmond city council has never done a land acknowledgement before its meetings, unlike the Richmond Board of Education.

However, Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie has told the News in the past that, because of an on-going lawsuit over a 780-acre parcel of land in south Richmond between the Cowichan and other First Nations and the City of Richmond, it’s not possible to do a land acknowledgement.

The lawsuit has been on-going since early 2020 and is not expected to wrap up until next summer, according to David Robbins, one of the lawyers representing the Cowichan Tribes and other First Nations groups who launched the lawsuit already in 2014.

Wolfe’s motion, which will be dealt with at Monday’s committee meeting, also asks to honour “culturally significant sites” in Richmond in consultation with the Musqueam as well as include Indigenous history on the City of Richmond’s website.

Furthermore, he's asking the city to appoint a committee or task force, or one person, to address Indigenous issues.

Two Richmond elementary school teachers have been collecting a petition asking the city to adopt a Truth and Reconciliation policy – they will present it to city council on Monday, Nov. 28.

In their petition, Alisa Magnan and Katherine Myers claim there has been “very little action toward Truth and Reconciliation by the city of Richmond.”

Magnan and Myers explain that the 200 years of colonialism has caused “significant harm to Indigenous Peoples,” and it’s up to all Canadians “to do our part to make it better.”

They also plan to speak to Wolfe’s motion at Monday’s committee meeting.