Plan unveiled for Indigenous office at Toronto city hall
The new unit would exist within city manager Peter Wallace's office and report directly to him.

TheStar.com
Nov. 1, 2017
David Rider

Toronto is on track to get an Indigenous Affairs office at city hall, with a staff of five and a mission to help First Nations, Métis and Inuit people engage in reconciliation efforts.

The new unit would exist within the office of city manager Peter Wallace and report directly to him, while working with city departments and Indigenous groups and individuals across the city, a new staff report states.

Toronto, with a rapidly growing Indigenous population of more than 46,000, according to the 2016 census, would join Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Hamilton in having such an office. Three of those cities have more than the single dedicated Indigenous Affairs position that Toronto currently has within its Equity, Diversity and Human Rights office.

The report to the Aboriginal affairs committee says city council will be asked to support Wallace’s plan, while the budget committee will be asked to expand his budget by $480,000 for four new staff and $40,000 to hire a consultant to help develop strategic, work and engagement plans for the new office.

Wallace wants authorization to seek “appropriate” federal, provincial, non-profit and private-sector funding to help offset those costs.

A dedicated office, like that which welcomes newcomers and co-ordinates services for them, has been the goal of some Indigenous leaders since modern Toronto amalgamated in 1998.

“The relationship needs to be honoured in a significant way,” Kenn Richard, executive director of Native Child and Family Services of Toronto, told the Star recently for a story about the city’s efforts to “Indigenize” after the Indigenous consultant quit and launched a human rights complaint against the city.

“The city has been paralyzed on this point for whatever reason.”

Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation Chief Stacey Laforme hailed Wallace’s plan as “a welcomed next step as Toronto moves forward on a path to reconciliation.

“The city has committed to eight priority calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation report. These calls to action require long-term commitments and require adequate resources in order to be implemented in a meaningful way.”

A dedicated office would give his First Nation, which counts Toronto land among its traditional territories, a key point of contact for initiatives with the City of Toronto including “the proposed Indigenous District, amendment of Canada’s citizenship oath, our efforts to have Treaty lands recognized by the city’s major league sports franchises, Indigenous awareness initiatives, and equal access to health care,” Chief Laforme wrote in an email.

The Indigenous Affairs office would aim to support city division efforts to develop and implement reconciliation initiatives, co-ordinate cultural competency training for city staff, promote Indigenous civic participation and inclusion in decision-making, and more.

Councillor Mike Layton, co-chair of the Aboriginal affairs committee, cheered the city manager’s decision to move the office proposal forward.

Without funding, however, nothing meaningful will happen, Layton said, as the city prepares to launch deliberations on what is expected to be a heavily debated 2018 election-year city budget.

“I have confidence the mayor (John Tory), the city manager and council will show leadership on this, and find access to funding from other levels of government, to invest in our very significant Aboriginal population,” Layton said.

The proposal goes to his committee Friday and is expected to go to Tory’s executive committee and full city council later this month.