The City of Vancouver is located on the unceded, ancestral, and traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ Nations, territories that have never been surrendered to the Crown through treaties or agreements. Despite this, Vancouver is also a chosen home to a large number of immigrants.
The City of Vancouver has created and facilitated the Vancouver Dialogues Project in 2010 to host spaces for Indigenous and immigrant communities to come together, and published First Peoples: Guide for Newcomers in 2014 to inform Newcomers about Indigenous matters. However, there have been little to no efforts by the City to create spaces for Indigenous People and immigrants to engage with each other or updates on the Guide.
It has been nearly 15 years since the City facilitated the Vancouver Dialogues Project and 10 years since the publication of First Peoples: Guide for Newcomers, the City of Vancouver must reintroduce these efforts for its residents as a part of the City’s reconciliation and diversity journey. The City should curate an advisory committee to inform the process of updating the content and format of the new Vancouver Dialogues Project and First Peoples: Guide for Newcomers, as well as to follow the engagement best practices to make the opportunities as accessible as possible for the Indigenous and immigrant residents.
To avoid disruption of these efforts due to municipal budget and election cycles, the City should also work towards the establishment of the Vancouver Dialogues Institute a few years after the reintroduction of the Vancouver Dialogues Project. The City of Vancouver must commit to creating safe and welcoming spaces for its Indigenous and immigrant residents to come together and build trust amongst each other.
Watch Sayano’s policy presentation: