City council commits to better relations

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Edmonton City Council formally approved and presented to the public what's being hailed as a historic agreement between Aboriginal peoples and the capital city.

The Aboriginal Declaration, approved by council on Aug. 30, is designed to strengthen relations between the groups. It is a public acknowledgement of Aboriginal people's contributions to the city's past, present and future and acknowledges the role that Aboriginal people have played in the founding of Edmonton.

"The event was wonderful. It was such a positive kind of atmosphere," said Councillor Ron Hayter of celebrations surrounding the public presentation of the declaration. Hayter took a lead role on the Aboriginal initiative on behalf of the city.

The declaration came from a council resolution on May 17 to approve funding for the Edmonton Urban Aboriginal Accord Initiative project. The project was created by the city, in partnership with the Edmonton Aboriginal Urban Affairs Committee, in response to a growing awareness of the needs of Aboriginal people in Edmonton.

The declaration talks not just about hope for the future for Aboriginal people in the city, but also recognizes past mistakes and injustices perpetrated on the peoples.

"There has always been a kind of reluctance on the part of anybody to admit there has been injustices," said Hayter. "Many times, we say, 'Well we had nothing to do with those injustices as a city,' but, in fact, we all played a role in them. We can't say it was the federal government and the province that did this, but we did it too as municipalities in the way we looked upon Aboriginals. For a large municipality like Edmonton to admit that these injustices occurred is a major step forward. No matter where you live, either in Edmonton, Calgary or some small little place, it doesn't mean that you escape from what happened in the past. Everyone has to share the blame and that was our attitude. We have to share the responsibility for what happened in the past. When your leaders, which are city council, accepted the declaration, they also accepted every statement in it. Each and every one of us who is non-Aboriginal has to accept some responsibility for what happened."

The declaration stresses the importance of valuing Aboriginal contributions today as Aboriginal peoples work to re-claim and nurture their cultural abilities. It prioritizes the important role Aboriginal people and especially Aboriginal youth, must hold in the city's future.

Hayter said that to achieve the creation of the declaration, he has shared his thoughts with many Aboriginal people, leaders and organizations.

He recounted a discussion he had with a circle of Elders before the declaration was finished. He said they wanted changes that weren't in context with what the city was trying to achieve. Hayter said that Francis Bad Eagle explained in the simplest terms that this "declaration is like building a bridge, building a bridge from the past into the future.

"He went on to say that if you start arguing what you are going to build a bridge out of, we are not going to get the bridge built," said Hayter. "It was common sense and you could see everybody nodding. He brought such common sense to the discussion and that was really appreciated."

For Alvena (Laboucane) Strasbourg, president of the Metis Child & Family Services Society (MCFS), it was an honor for her to attend the presentation. She was happy "that the city wants to recognize us," though she didn't understand why Aboriginal people were being recognized now when "we were here all of this time."

Hayter said the declaration was something that everyone was hoping for, but never really believed would happen. In the beginning, some of the councillors were a bit hesitant, he said, but when it came down to the vote, it was unanimous.

"It was a big step forward and now we have to make sure that we respect that declaration and follow it," said Hayter.

In doing so, there wil be better lines of communication between the city and the Aboriginal people that live there. When it comes to programs or city activities, "Aboriginals will be automatically considered and not as an after-thought, and that is key.

"Aboriginals have to be on the list. They have always been a part of the community, but they haven't really been a part of our ongoing process but that has definitely changed."

This declaration is meant to ensure that Aboriginal peoples take their rightful place in building a strong Aboriginal presence and voice in the cultural, social and economic future of Edmonton.

"I think this declaration will be very beneficial to both parties in the long and short future," said Donald Langford, executive director for (MCFS). "This will better our future, especially for the younger generation because the majority of Aboriginals in the city of Edmonton are made up of the younger generation."

Edmonton has the second largest urban Aboriginal population nation-wide, and growth projections indicate that within 10 years it could have the largest urban Aboriginal population in Canada.

According to Langford, the next step would be to create new jobs for Aboriginal people.

"With this declaration it should open up more doors to Aboriginal people to maybe find jobs working for the city," he said.

He stressed many times throughout the interview with Alberta Sweetgrass how the public presentation of the declaration was such a "joyous occasion."

"Once we got into this, I knew we had to keep going and get to a final destination, a positive destination. Now, about four months later, I'm trying to come down from the excitement. It was just a wonderful moment in history."