How are we working together?
The Provincial Urban Leaders Working Group (comprised of the Victoria Urban Indigenous Leadership Table, Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction and Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation) that supports Action 4.21 has met regularly throughout 2024 and included a private gathering of B.C.’s urban Indigenous Coalitions held in October 2024.
Action 4.21 and Action 4.22 are intrinsically linked, and should work together concurrently, rather than in a linear fashion with one following the other. The Province continues to engage with partners and other urban Indigenous organizations with the goal of building an engagement model that enables communication and collaboration between the Province and urban Indigenous People and establishing an annual meeting.
Following the October 2024 gathering, a report was shared with the Province that identified a number of recommendations and community support for continuing to build an engagement model to communicate and collaborate with a broad group of urban Indigenous voices. As a building block towards this model, on a monthly basis, B.C.’s four urban Indigenous coalitions gather, and as a Provincial Urban Leaders Working Group member, the Victoria Urban Indigenous Leaders Table shares updates with the broader group related to Action Plan priorities.
Are there challenges?
A grassroots, community-led approach is essential to build trust-based, long-term relationships, and strengthen the engagement process. Risks include the currently narrow scope of engagement, which needs to be broadened (both in geographic area and recognition of the diversity and complexity within the urban Indigenous population in B.C.) to ensure voices from throughout the province are included. In addition to internal capacity, partners have expressed the need for durable funding and a continued prioritization of funding for urban indigenous service providers.
Highlights
In October 2024, the four urban Indigenous coalitions in B.C. (located in Victoria, Vancouver, Surrey and Prince George) came together in Victoria to share their wealth of knowledge and discuss ongoing involvement in a province-wide engagement model with urban Indigenous People, as described trough the implementation of Action 4.21.
The gathering, hosted by the Victoria Urban Indigenous Leadership Table, resulted in a 32-page report, including 10 recommendations. Feedback at the gathering was positive and participants expressed gratitude that the hosts ensured a grassroots, community-driven approach was maintained, reflective of agency autonomy and the desire to remain non-representational and non-political. The recommendations in the report indicate a path forward towards establishing an engagement model with urban Indigenous people, with upcoming work suggesting increased involvement from the B.C. government.
This reporting year a new website (Urban Indigenous Peoples in BC) launched, meeting objectives established in the Provincial Urban Leaders Working Group Workplan, and acts as a repository for information sharing and learning resources to increase awareness of B.C.’s urban Indigenous People. The site includes statistical information, a helpful historical timeline, as well as reporting from partners, including the Gathering of Urban Indigenous Coalitions, and delivers on the recommendations from a what we heard report, released in October 2023.