City Hall listens; now the hard work begins

A two-hour lunch-time ceremony March 6 held under the glass-covered pyramid that covers the central public assembly area of Edmonton City Hall marked the latest stop on a road that may lead to good things for the city's more than 30,000 Aboriginal residents.

The ceremony was held to release Your City, Your Voice Report: Sharing the Results. Last year, Edmonton's Aboriginal Urban Affairs Committee initiated a dialogue process with the Aboriginal communities in the city. Through talking circles and other methods of consultation, the committee heard from more than 1,800 Aboriginal residents who participated between June and December of 2005. Those 1,800 provided feedback on key issues regarding living in Alberta's capital city.
More than 500 of those people agreed to fill out surveys, and some of the answers to the survey questions got the city council's attention.

The urban Aboriginal population of Alberta's capital city is now the second largest in Canada, trailing only Winnipeg. Migration to the city has been constant and the numbers are growing. But when asked if Aboriginal residents found Edmonton to be a "welcoming" community for Aboriginal people, a significant number of survey respondents said, "no."

A whopping 30 per cent of respondents "disagreed" with the assertion that Edmonton is a welcoming city for Aboriginal people. An additional 11 per cent "strongly disagreed."

Only four per cent "strongly agreed" and 13 per cent "agreed." Many of those who did not find Edmonton to be suitably welcoming complained of racism and discrimination.

"The message is clear," said Councillor Ron Hayter, who played host to the gathering of 200 people. "We must work harder to ensure that Aboriginal people living in Edmonton feel welcomed and supported. Improving relationships with Aboriginal people involves looking at the socio-economic impediments to success. It is hard to feel welcome in a city if you are living a life marginalized by under-employment or poor housing."

Stephen Mandel, Edmonton's mayor, agreed.

"Edmonton city council has prioritized good relations with Aboriginal communities in this city," he said. "And we are very happy that Aboriginal people who participated in the dialogue process have indicated a willingness to move forward with the establishment of a relationship agreement-an accord-between the City of Edmonton and Aboriginal Edmonton."

Only the first of several phases of the bureaucratic process of gathering information and deciding what to do with it has been completed. The goal is to bang out an accord that will satisfy all the stakeholders. As things unfold, a new Edmonton resident with a lot of political experience will be there to keep things on track.

Retired Senator Thelma Chalifoux, a Metis community activist before being appointed to the Senate, is a member of the Accord Initiative Elders' circle.

"Much to my chagrin, I've had to move into Edmonton. I'm a bush woman but my family has said, 'No, you can't stay out in the bush by yourself.' I feel safer out there than I do here, but I'll learn. And I'd like to see anybody come and attack me because I've got a good old frying pan that they'll get. And that's empowerment. That's what this dialogue is doing," she said.

Shelter and housing were the most frequently identified issues for Aboriginal people. These were followed closely by a need for more understanding and respect of Aboriginal histories, culture and languages; a need for improved employment and skills training; improvements in Aboriginal health and well-being; and culturally appropriate education for Aboriginal children and youth.

Chalifoux said past efforts to bring Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people together didn't succeed because there was resistance to the idea that Indigenous peoples were here and were part of thriving societies before contact with European settlers.

"Nobody listened. We were voices crying in the wind. Our leaders did everything they could but nobody heard us. We were the pioneers. We were the ones that, really, helped the newcomers to survive in this harsh land. If it wasn't for our ancestors, a lot of you people wouldn't be here because your ancestors would have died," she said.

The data will be examined and discussed for a few months before the next step is decided.
"The next steps have not been fully established," said Derek Chewka, chair of the Edmonton Aboriginal Affairs Committee. "The Elders have indicated that a period of reflection on what Aboriginal people have said is very important. There is agreement that the next phase of the process must be community-driven and inclusive of all willing partners."